Once college and life get in the way, many young adults find it hard to fit in a classic hobby, reading. One of my biggest struggles is figuring out which book section I should be looking in. Am I too old for young adult science fiction? Am I too young for the adulty books? Aren't there books out there that I should be reading? While none of them are labeled for us, I've compiled a list of books that every twentysomething woman should read, full of recommendations from a lot of twenty-somethings.
1. "Change Your Brain, Change Your Life Before 25" by Jesse Payne
"The brain is particularly malleable until the age of 25, which means that even more than your parents or your teachers, you have the power to change your brain. And the things you do today—from what you eat, to how you sleep, to what you do for fun—can change your brain in drastic ways. This book provides a powerful, prescriptive program for you to avoid the common dangers and pitfalls that can jeopardize your future and train your brain for a lifetime of success. "
2. "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes and Other Lessons from the Crematory" by Caitlin Doughty
"Smoke Gets in Your Eyes tells an unusual coming-of-age story full of bizarre encounters and unforgettable scenes. Caring for dead bodies of every color, shape, and affliction, Caitlin soon becomes an intrepid explorer in the world of the dead. She describes how she swept ashes from the machines (and sometimes onto her clothes) and reveals the strange history of cremation and undertaking, marveling at bizarre and wonderful funeral practices from different cultures."
3. "Yes Please" by Amy Poehler
"In her first book, one of our most beloved funny folk delivers a smart, pointed, and ultimately inspirational read. Full of the comedic skill that makes us all love Amy, Yes Please is a rich and varied collection of stories, lists, poetry (Plastic Surgery Haiku, to be specific), photographs, mantras and advice. With chapters like "Treat Your Career Like a Bad Boyfriend," "Plain Girl Versus the Demon" and "The Robots Will Kill Us All" Yes Please will make you think as much as it will make you laugh. Honest, personal, real, and righteous, Yes Please is full of words to live by."
4. "Bossypants" by Tina Fey
"At last, Tina Fey's story can be told. From her youthful days as a vicious nerd to her tour of duty on Saturday Night Live; from her passionately halfhearted pursuit of physical beauty to her life as a mother eating things off the floor; from her one-sided college romance to her nearly fatal honeymoon -- from the beginning of this paragraph to this final sentence."
5. "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
"The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it—from garden seeds to Scripture—is calamitously transformed on African soil. What follows is a suspenseful epic of one family's tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa."
6. "The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F**k: How to Stop Spending Time You Don't Have with People You Don't Like Doing Things You Don't Want to Do" by Sarah Knight
"This brilliant, hilarious, and practical parody of Marie Kondo's bestseller The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up explains how to rid yourself of unwanted obligations, shame, and guilt--and give your f*cks instead to people and things that make you happy"
7. "#Girlboss" by Sophia Amoruso
"#GIRLBOSS includes Sophia’s story, yet is infinitely bigger than Sophia. It’s deeply personal yet universal. Filled with brazen wake-up calls (“You are not a special snowflake”), cunning and frank observations (“Failure is your invention”), and behind-the-scenes stories from Nasty Gal’s meteoric rise, #GIRLBOSS covers a lot of ground. It proves that being successful isn’t about how popular you were in high school or where you went to college (if you went to college). Rather, success is about trusting your instincts and following your gut, knowing which rules to follow and which to break."
8. "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me (And Other Concerns)" by Mindy Kaling
"In Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, Mindy invites readers on a tour of her life and her unscientific observations on romance, friendship, and Hollywood, with several conveniently placed stopping points for you to run errands and make phone calls. Mindy Kaling really is just a Girl Next Door—not so much literally anywhere in the continental United States, but definitely if you live in India or Sri Lanka."
9. "Adulting: How to Become a Grown-up in 468 Easy(ish) Steps" by Kelly Williams Brown
"If you graduated from college but still feel like a student . . . if you wear a business suit to job interviews but pajamas to the grocery store . . . if you have your own apartment but no idea how to cook or clean . . . it's OK. But it doesn't have to be this way. Just because you don't feel like an adult doesn't mean you can't act like one. And it all begins with this funny, wise, and useful book. Based on Kelly Williams Brown's popular blog, ADULTING makes the scary, confusing "real world" approachable, manageable-and even conquerable."
10. "The Opposite of Loneliness: Essays and Stories" by Marina Keegan
"As Marina wrote: “We can still do anything. We can change our minds. We can start over…We’re so young. We can’t, we MUST not lose this sense of possibility because in the end, it’s all we have.” The Opposite of Loneliness is an unforgettable collection of Marina’s essays and stories that articulates the universal struggle all of us face as we figure out what we aspire to be and how we can harness our talents to impact the world. “How do you mourn the loss of a fiery talent that was barely a tendril before it was snuffed out? Answer: Read this book. A clear-eyed observer of human nature, Keegan could take a clever idea...and make it something beautiful” (People)."
Whether you're looking to improve yourself, improve your life, or just have something to think about, there's something for you on this list. Serious, funny, artistic, scientific - they're all here. Hopefully you've found your next book.






























