Your twenties are a time of change, self-discovery, and growth. You are embarking on a journey through your burgeoning adulthood and beginning to build a life for yourself. Here are some authors whose works and characters are sure to resonate with and guide you during this time in your life.
Dolly Alderton
Dolly Alderton feels like your cool aunt who absolutely gets you, which is fitting for the former agony aunt columnist. Before that, Alderton got her start as a writer working as a dating columnist for The Sunday Times. This translates into works that are chock full of advice and wisdom, whether nonfiction or fiction.
Everything I Know About Love
Dolly Alderton’s witty and perceptive memoir is all about the trials and tribulations of growing up and entering adulthood. She candidly recounts her experiences dating, job hunting, and most significantly, forming close female friendships. Part personal stories and part hilarious vignettes, it will make you want to leap into adulthood, experience life, and tell your friends all about it.
Dear Dolly
For more advice from your favorite agony aunt, check out this collection from Alderton’s column. She touches upon everything from sex to social media with her signature humor and empathy. While she grants her wisdom to those from many different age demographics, there are definitely nuggets of truth that will speak to issues faced by those in their twenties
Sally Rooney
This Irish writer has quickly made a name for herself with her well-known emotional and poignant literary fiction. She has a way of examining different relationships like no one else. One of her notable flares as a writer is the absence of quotation marks, aiding her examination of heartbreaking miscommunication between individuals.
Normal People
Connell and Marianne come from vastly different worlds. Connell may not come from money, but he has a loving mother and a solid group of friends. Marriane by contrast appears to have everything, but her family is cold and her life is lonely. When they form a connection and begin hooking up during school, their different social circles drive them to keep it a secret.
Now they’re both at university at Trinity College Dublin and their situations have been somewhat reversed. Marianne has come into her own, surrounded by newfound worldly and intellectual friends. By contrast, Connell has closed himself off and now lives his life unsettled on the periphery.
The novel ebbs and flows across their time together, unpacking their connection and the impact a single person can have on your life.
Beautiful World, Where Are You
Best friends Alice and Eileen are each navigating life in their late twenties. Alice is a writer, who after meeting Felix, a warehouse worker, quickly invites him to travel to Rome with her. Back in Dublin, Eileen has recently gotten out of a relationship and now finds herself back to flirting with her older childhood friend Simon. As they each navigate these burgeoning relationships, Alice and Eileen exchange email correspondence where they share their thoughts on the state of the world and their places in it.
Elif Batuman
This Pulitzer-nominated Turkish-American author and academic pulls from her own experiences when writing her brilliant works of fiction. She has spent much of her time in academia studying Russian literature, and its influence is heavily present in her work.
The Idiot
The daughter of Turkish immigrants, Selin, is about to embark on her first year at Harvard. In addition to starting classes and making friends, she also begins exchanging emails with Ivan, a Hungarian math student. After her first year, she spends her summer in Hungary and France but it is unlike the traditional college student European summer she has imagined of the typical American student. Selin finds herself on a journey of self-discovery, first love, and vocational ambitions.
Sarah Thankam Mathews
This Indian-American author immigrated to the United States when she was 17. Her debut was impressively nominated for the National Book Award. After losing her job during COVID which blocked her path towards becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen, she penned her bestselling novel while starting a mutual aid organization. Her story is one of resilience that is sure to inspire you.
All This Could Be Different
Though graduating from college during the recession, Sneha is doing alright. She’s working a desk job in Milwaukee ready to climb the corporate ladder. She can get the check at dinner all while sending money back home to her family in India. While exploring her sexuality, she finds herself crushing on the gorgeous and enigmatic Marina. Although, trouble is looming and Sneha’s life is filled with secrets, job struggles, and eviction.
Hopefully these authors and their works can offer you comfort, advice, and understanding during this exciting era in your life. Part of the power of literature is understanding that your struggles are universal ones. Whether you’re dealing with uncertainty in friendship, work, school, or love these books are sure to resonate with you.
For some books to discover your best self, click here!
For some more Bookstr team recommendations, click here!
