4 Must-Read Books for Twenty-Somethings
Your twenties are a strange decade. We legally become adults in the USA at 18, yet our brains don’t fully develop until we’re at least 25, specifically the frontal lobe that controls decision-making. The beginning of the decade signals youthful milestones like the ability to go to a bar at 21 without praying you don’t get kicked out. The end of the decade screams “when are you having babies and are you married yet?” pressure from elders, peers, and our Instagram feeds. Career-wise we are a Drake lyric the entire time: “somewhere between I want it and I got it.” Our mental health could be explained by the verse right before the last: “somewhere in-between psychotic and iconic.”
If life’s a journey, then our twenties are the part of the trip where we think we know where we’re going at first and then realize we made a wrong turn somewhere. Then we pull over and try to map out the rest of the trip, not realizing there will always be a fork in the road and nothing will ever go exactly as planned.
Though this decade can be challenging, there’s plenty of literature to help us cope, try our very best to navigate even if life doesn’t always go as planned, make intentional decisions and grow along the way. Below are 4 must-read books for twenty-somethings.
More Than Enough by Elaine Welteroth
If you haven’t read this book yet, do it! Elaine Welteroth is a BOSS. More Than Enough takes us through Elaine’s life journey from adolescence, college, and into her career. Her career would result in her becoming the second Black woman to be named editor in chief for a Conde Nast publication in their 107-year history at 29 (what a way to end your twenties!!). Elaine recounts her time moving up through life, including relationship fumbles, career pivots, and a commitment to showing up as herself in all spaces. More than Enough is essential reading for twenty-somethings seeking to, as Elaine put it, claim space for who you are.
You are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Sincero
If you’re looking for a how-to guide on being a boss after reading More than Enough, this is the book for you. Jen Sincero’s guide in You are a Badass takes an outlined approach to our mindsets around fear and going after what it is we truly want. You are a Badass is a guide for developing the confidence to go after our wildest dreams. The book goes over the power of gratitude, our perceptions of ourselves, and how to use our mindset to become more successful in our lives. If you’re having difficulty with confidence or believing in yourself, this is a must-read.
Happier Now: How to Stop Chasing Perfection and Embrace Everyday Moments by Nataly Kogan
Unlike the other 3 books on this list, I didn’t buy Happier Now in a bookstore. It was actually gifted to me by a colleague a few years ago, and I am grateful it was. Happier Now is a manual on being happy right now where you are. Sometimes we as twenty-somethings get destination addiction where we believe our happiness is rooted in a life we have not yet actualized. We think that we will be happy when our careers are established, when we’re living in another country or when we have our lives figured out. Happier Now dispels the myth that happiness exists anywhere other than where you are right now. The book goes over our perceptions of and how we can use gratitude, kindness, joy, self-care practices, and more to live happier lives right where we are now.
The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter and How to Make the Most of Them Now by Meg Jay
This, by far, was my favorite out of the bunch. I read this book not once but twice at two very different periods in my twenty’s. The first time I read The Defining Decade, I didn’t take it too seriously. I was 22 and still in college, so a lot of the information about careers, finding your passion, living with a partner while not being married, and even anxiety didn’t apply to me yet. I was still living in a bubble of college comfort.
The book became relevant to me again during quarantine as I have entered the last stretch of my twenty’s. The Defining Decade frames why our twenties are crucial at the beginning of the book with these fun facts below:
“Eighty percent of life’s most defining moments take place by age thirty-five. Two-thirds of lifetime wage growth happens in the first ten years of a career. More than half of us are married, or dating, or living with our future partner by age thirty. Personality changes more during our twenties than at any time before or after. The brain caps off its last growth spurt in the twenties. Female fertility peaks at age twenty-eight.” — Meg Jay, Ph.D., The Defining Decade
This doesn’t mean you need to plan to have a family by twenty-eight or find your partner by thirty. There are many cases where these statistics don’t fit. However, this book teaches you from various accounts of twenty-something clients in therapy with Dr. Jay, that our twenties lay the foundation for the rest of our life. The decisions we make now impact where and who we are later. We have to be intentional, thoughtful, and introspective during these years to ensure we follow our designed and desired path and not aimlessly let the years pass.
Let these books be a guide as you navigate this strange decade. You got this.
Yours Truly,
Marielle
