Books to read in your early twenties

Your twenties can be a hard time to navigate, especially given the fact that is the age we seem to go through the most situational changes: from university to graduation, starting a full-time career to even settling down with a partner. Likewise, it’s not always easy to walk into a bookstore and immediately find something that suits your reading tastes – especially when you’re presented with so many variations of genres on one shelf. Nevertheless, whenever I’m feeling particularly overwhelmed with happenings in my life, I always find myself heading straight for my local Waterstones – and I somehow always manage to walk away with at least one new book. There’s something rather therapeutic about spending upwards of 45 minutes browsing through the entirety of the store. So, for anyone who needs new reading material, here are some of my personal suggestions for books that I think people need to read in their twenties. 

1. Matt Haig, Reasons To Stay Alive (2015)

Matt Haig has been a favourite author of mine since my early teens, due to his complete transparency and candidness with his struggles with anxiety and depression. I find it especially important that, as a man, he has been so open throughout his career to sharing his emotions with the world – given the fact that as a society men are usually taught to suppress any feelings that one may associate with weakness and instead deal with them internally. Haig has written both fiction and non-fiction books, as well as children’s books, but Reasons to Stay Alive was the first book of his I ever read, and it has stuck with me ever since. For anyone who finds themselves struggling to stay optimistic – which, admittedly, is hard in today’s climate – I urge you to take comfort in this book.  

2. Sally Rooney, Normal People (2018)

A novel that has since been adapted into a BBC mini-series starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal, Normal People is a poignant, candid exploration of the fallibility and growth of a relationship. From teenagers in High School to young adults at University, the narrative grapples with various, universally relatable struggles: men’s mental health, strained familial relationships, finding one’s feet in a new city away from home, and the importance of communication. I’ll warn you, however, I’ve only ever been mentally strong enough to read the novel and watch the series once; it will most definitely leave you feeling wistful.

3. Ottessa Moshfegh, My Year of Rest and Relaxation (2018)

Moshfegh gained a lot of traction on social media surrounding her 2018 novel My Year of Rest and Relaxation, and after reading it myself, I can understand why. An unnamed, young, rich – and dare I say, slightly insufferable – protagonist attempts to sleep for an entire year, aided by increasing dosages of various medications supplied to her by her nonchalant doctor. Nihilistic, absurd, and overwhelmingly satirical, it’s a unique depiction of using one’s privilege to evade life’s responsibilities. We can’t all sleep for a year – but we can read about it. 

Please note before reading that My Year of Rest and Relaxation contains content on addiction and misuse of prescription pills, eating disorders, suicide, and emotional abuse. 

4. Donna Tartt, The Secret History (1992)

“But though I can digress with the best of them, I am nothing in my soul if not obsessive”

Donna Tartt, The Secret History

To be honest, I have included Tartt’s first novel in this list of recommendations mostly because it is one of my favourite books of all time. Ask anyone who has also read it, and they will probably say the same thing. Tartt is blessed with a talent that I truly believe only a handful of novelists have, and that is to imagine a narrative that is so spell-bounding, that once you read it once, you are forever tied to the characters. Deception, cult-like rituals, and the fallibility of intellect form a modern-day Ancient Greek-inspired tragedy like no other. 

5. Louisa May Alcott, Little Women (1868)

Little Women is a fundamental novel for anyone who finds themselves struggling with familial, particularly sisterly, relationships. It narrates the story of four sisters from childhood to adulthood, all of whom have different interests and aspirations in life. A touching novel of love and loss, it epitomizes the struggle between what is expected of you versus what you want for yourself. For film adaptation lovers, I highly recommend the 2019 version (dir. Greta Gerwig), starring an array of amazing actors: Florence Pugh, Saoirse Ronan, and Timothee Chalamet – just to name a few. 

6. Alain De Botton, Essays in Love (1993)

This collection of essays found their way to me when I needed them the most. De Botton philosophizes love and heartbreak through a couple’s very first encounter to their eventual breakup. An emotionally tough, yet simultaneously necessary read, Essays in Love is but a fictive encapsulation of the intricacies of love and relationships that we all find ourselves going through at some point in our adulthood. Maybe you’ve just had a big breakup, or maybe it happened months ago but you can’t quite move on just yet – whatever your situation, the book allows you to take comfort in knowing that other people have gone through the same thing.  

Please note before reading that Essays in Love contains a chapter which goes into detail about suicide. 

7. James Baldwin, Giovanni’s Room (1956)

Giovanni’s Room follows the narrative of an American man living in Paris, who meets and starts a relationship with an Italian barman. A bold narrative of shame, confusion, loneliness, and overwhelming guilt, Giovanni’s Room was a profound novel at the time of its publication. Baldwin himself was a canonical literary voice throughout both the American Civil Rights and gay rights movements, with his work addressing the realities of racial and social injustices for minority groups. Widely recognised as an integral piece of gay literature, Giovanni’s Room is a must-read for everyone to understand more about why the fight for gay rights is still so important today. 

8. Haruki Murakami, Birthday Girl (2002)

“There was something cold and hard about her: if you set her afloat on the night-time sea, she would probably sink any boat that happened to ram her.”

Haruki Murakami, Birthday Girl

Murakami’s short story Birthday Girl follows the narrative of a young woman who ends up going to work on her twentieth birthday. The woman’s day takes an unusual, almost fated turn, and leaves us pondering the centuries-old tradition of making a ‘birthday wish.’ A beautifully written and easy read, it is the perfect starting point for anyone wanting to get back into the habit of reading without immediately trying to tackle a long novel.

9. Evelyn Waugh, Vile Bodies (1930)

Insufferable characters versus the glamour of the 20^th century inter-war years, Vile Bodies satirizes the seemingly perfect – yet, actually rather depressing – lives of a group of young, rich socialites in London. With the characters leading aimless, shallow existences, Waugh creates a simultaneously hilarious and disturbingly dark critique of modernity, as he chips away at the superficial surface of these dislikeable characters to reveal the ugly truth about their way of living. 

Please note before reading that Vile Bodies references excessive drinking and suicide. 

10. Naoise Dolan, Exciting Times (2020)

I picked up this book after having it recommended to me by my two best friends, and it definitely didn’t disappoint. Exciting Times is Dolan’s debut novel and is an intimate, politically alert novel following Irish expat Ava, who moves to Hong Kong to teach English. Exploring the intricacies of life as a young adult, modern relationships and modern queerness, the novel instantly becomes relatable for anyone who finds themselves struggling with understanding the trajectory of their own life. If you like the works of Sally Rooney, you’ll love Dolan’s Exciting Times. 

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