20 books for your twenties

[@drjuhia8925]

"i feel like i know myself less as i go through 20s, less than i thought I knew myself in my teen" is so on point. That's what i like about books and book community we find solace in commonality of being human instead of an "escape" as some people describe it. Books that helped me through my 20s were Catcher in the rye Flowers for Algernon Poisonwood Bible Prayer for Owen Meany

[@gabriellas]

i read A little life during this self isolation period and i definitely loved it. i'm 22 so still finding those books that will define my 20s... but friendship is definitely a topic that i enjoy reading about.

[@whatpageareyouon]

I’m glad you liked A Little Life! Hopefully this list gives a glimmer of the same likability 💫

[@TheFloMachine]

I'm 25 and I would definitely pick A Little Life as well to answer your question. Another book that comes to mind which I think just represents friendship and life well in the sense of it being about growing up and breaking away from known frameworks of your life, and how decisions lead you through life and takes you down unforeseen pathways, is Stay If You Can, Leave If You Must by Helga Flatland.

[@whatpageareyouon]

I’ve never heard of it! If we share a kinship to A Little Life and friendship then I’d ought to definitely check out Stay If You Can, Leave If You Must

[@springonion8124]

I’m 20! Barely “in my twenties” but I’ve read and loved a few of these and will keep the rest in mind as I continue growing into this decade lol

[@lottevanhemert1315]

Thanks so much for this video! This is exactly what I was looking for today while compiling a list of books to help me through my post-graduate slump! Most of the recommendations I find online for people in their twenties are non-fiction books on how to get a job or make the best of your relationships, but I was looking for fiction books with characters to relate to. Awesome recs and great descriptions, keep up the good work!

[@whatpageareyouon]

Thank you! And yeah! I actually tried finding more books about being in my 20s and was surprised there weren’t too many results and thought to myself that I might as well give my hot takes haha. Thanks again! 💫

[@IvyTran13]

I recently turned 21, so I barely count. But a book that really moved me in a way that’s relevant to this time in my life is Chemistry by Weike Wang. It’s about a chemistry PhD student who quits her PhD and learns her sense of self after. As a lot of students are in their 20’s, I think the redundancy and despair of higher education expressed in the book is very relatable. It’s also beautifully yet succinctly written in a stream of consciousness style and quite witty

[@whatpageareyouon]

It's on my TBR! I've been recommended it a good amount of times and I think I'll really enjoy it, it'll be interesting how I'll reflect on it with thoughts alongside this list

[@IvyTran13]

whatpageareyouon I’d love to hear your thoughts! You talk about books in a way I wish I could. Personally, when I read Chemistry, I was so moved by reading my particular experience of being Asian American and a science student put on the page for the first time that I cried

[@HannahsBooks]

Happy birthday! Lovely list. I read a few of these books in my own twenties and found them deeply meaningful-and deeply meaningful still now that I am in my early 50s. That idea of self definition really is lifelong. We never outgrow the formative stage, it seems!

[@whatpageareyouon]

Thanks Hannah! I hope I find my years beyond my twenties just as enlightening!

[@saintdonoghue]

26! Wonderful! Happy Birthday - and thanks for making videos!

[@RestaUM_livros]

I think it is so interesting how much you retain of the experience of reading books. I love reading but after I finished a book and months go by, most of the times I can't barely remind what was all about, let alone describe it with such details and consideration. Loving your channel. Cheers from Brazil.

[@whatpageareyouon]

For me, I approach reading kind of how I would if for assignment for school. That sounds like torture haha but I really enjoy close reading and booktube has been a nice outlet for that!

[@xLiesForALiar]

"a series of essays that every character in an A24 film would be reading" lmao. oh, i've heard great things about so many of these, and a few i've seen you recommend multiple times which makes me especially eager pick them up before my twenties are over. a book that's felt really formative for me is My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok. it's the first book that i remember having actually challenged my perspective on something in a meaningful and enduring way (like you, i've only considered myself a serious reader in recent years, and because i had negative experiences with required reading in high school, for a long time nothing i read really impacted me in the way literature is often meant to). happy birthday, by the way!

[@whatpageareyouon]

Thank you! Great to have a suggestion from a fellow recent-reader, I’ll keep Potok in mind!

[@hes8518]

recently turned 20 really needed this 🫂

[@joshf.4270]

Happy birthday Alex!! I started The Pisces yesterday and I’m really enjoying it so far. Much more than I expected!

[@whatpageareyouon]

We seem to be having the same initial feelings while reading it! I hope you’re still finding it an enjoying read 💫

[@TheMiguelh7]

Happy Birthday and great recommendations 💫 I really want to read some of them. I am 27 and I think I've been reading seriously since 18. It's hard to pick books that have shaped my 20s because I don't want to simply pick my favorite ones. I think that only books that were originally made for children are the ones that have shaped my 20s the most, like Where the wild things are, Winnie The Pooh or Peter Pan (yes, I know) don't get me wrong though, I read literay fiction 90% of the time (recently I read There There, Girl Woman Other and currently reading Ducks Newburyport) but those children books have matched and even shaped my personality more. Thanks for bringing this topic up, you've made me think a lot.

[@whatpageareyouon]

Children’s books have equal merit! Your sentiments toward Pan and Pooh make me think of my own toward Dahl and his books. I’d say those are just as formative to me, for sure! Thank you for your thoughts!

[@Sarahac8]

Happy birthday! I'm currently reading The Catcher in the Rye but haven't read any of the others you mentioned. Going to add a bunch of these to my to-read list. Thank you for another great video!

[@whatpageareyouon]

Thank you! I hope this list has some gems for you : )

[@alyssababasa6285]

also a 1994 baby here. you have the most insightful reviews! i love this list!

[@whatpageareyouon]

Thank you! Since we're both 1994'ers do you have a book that you feel encompasses your twenties so far??

[@levitybooks3952]

I wonder if when you're in your thirties these books will have a different effect on you. I'd definitely recommend revisiting your favourite in the future, I reread Cat's Cradle from my teens in my early twenties and found the part of me that loved it first was still alive and kicking!

[@whatpageareyouon]

I’ll be curious too! Have yet to read a Vonnegut but maybe that’ll end up in my thirties list haha

[@levitybooks3952]

@@whatpageareyouon If you ever do, make it one of Slaughterhouse V, Cat's Cradle or Sirens of Titan!

[@mshibachi]

Great list! I’m 27 and looking forward to reading some of these. Love your insight into books.

[@whatpageareyouon]

Thank you! If you have any suggestions I’d love to hear them too!

[@lucyrutherford]

Happy Birthday! The books I read in the first half of my 20s that I will always connect with that time are On Chesil Beach, Conversations with Friends, Normal People, The Idiot and My Year of Rest and Relaxation, because I think they are all about young adults realising adulthood is both exhilarating in its freedom and disappointing in its mundanity. And about how you don’t change as much as you think you will which is again disappointing but then also kind of a relief. And I very much related to those themes, especially reading most of those books around 24/25 and able to already reflect on the first few years of adulthood.

[@whatpageareyouon]

Thanks Lucy! And I agree with that feeling of relief, I think I understand it more and more as I progress through my twenties. Are you excited too for Normal People coming out on Hulu this week???? 👀 📺

[@lucyrutherford]

whatpageareyouon I am so exited!! It’s on Stan here as sadly we don’t have Hulu in Australia, but thankfully it’s being shown at the same time here!

[@ChaoticBibliophile]

Interesting picking books for your 20s while in your 20s, with still a few years to go. I definitely experience that feeling of having read something at exactly the right time to get what I needed out of it, especially during transitional periods (I am also in my 20s). I agree with you on Sally Rooney being a better short story writer, though I enjoyed Conversations with Friends’ exploration of power dynamics and affection, not only because of the age differences, but because of vulnerability/openness seen as desirable but potentially destructive. Frances and Bobbi competing for Melissa’s attention, Nick being so closed off and Frances trying to always play it cool, even how her and Bobbi have difficulty admitting to shortcomings outside of what they’ve incorporated into their personas… It’s all fascinating, especially since the book offers no real solution or perspective, just the possibility of more tender living. I also agree with you on so many of your picks: Convenience Store Woman, The Friend and STB, for example. I am currently reading In the Land of Men (only four chapters in) by A Miller, which is all about starting your first job after college, having landed there by chance (she talks about luck a lot, in the best way), and being driven while still trying to figure yourself out. A Month in the Country is on my TBR for May, so now I’m looking forward to it even more! Thanks for this list!

[@whatpageareyouon]

“Tender living” is a perfect summation of CWF, makes me want to reread it to keep that theme of it in mind. I’d never heard of Land of Men, but it sounds very twenties-y! I’ll take your word for it and check it out

[@ChaoticBibliophile]

whatpageareyouon honestly now that I’m finishing it it’s not that good, haha, but still interesting in that respect.

[@montanapatrick5747]

I never would have thought of "A Month in the Country" in that way but you're so right! It's such a wonderful novel but I feel like so much of it just washed over me. I really must reread it soon. (Along with "The Idiot"!)

[@whatpageareyouon]

We already know how we love The Idiot, I hope Month in the Country is a welcomed reread, eventually! Have you seen the movie? I haven’t yet but I’d be curious how its constant internal monologuing would be captured in characters

[@actual-spinster]

really like the idea of this vidoe! and you talked about books i adore [howards end is one of my faves] and also books i rly wanna read like autobiography of a face! also i am turning 25 this year so have been thinking about compiling a "25 of my fav books at 25" recently so this was interesting in that context too!

[@whatpageareyouon]

ah a good idea! I ought to consider that for when I turn 27 for 27 books that may have shaped me the most by then

[@caprisun5117]

Amazing video, i have just started my twenties and will definitely be reading these !

[@RickMacDonnell]

Happy birthday, Alex! This was awesome. Ambitious content 😄 Should I do 30 books for your thirties???

[@whatpageareyouon]

Please do!! 💫

[@JacktheBibliophile]

Happy Birthday Alex! Thanks for this great video. Your observation about A24 and Slouching Towards Bethlehem is spot on haha.

[@whatpageareyouon]

Haha I’m glad someone picked up on it! : )

[@artaa3737]

Great video! :) I own so many of the books you've mentioned. Now I'm even more excited to get to them.

[@thatperson278]

Me who is still a teenager: **looks at half of these books being on my bookshelf**

[@whatpageareyouon]

haha a head start!

[@thatperson278]

@@whatpageareyouon better than never!

[@claywilliams8129]

loved a little life! such a good book that completely devastates you

[@whatpageareyouon]

truthfully!

[@JasmineReads]

Hi Alex! I hope you're doing well ☺️ I loved this video - so fun. Yay for Howards End! I still need to read Conversations With Friends. And The Idiot! Ahhh, The Catcher in the Rye... We will have to agree to disagree on that one 😜

[@whatpageareyouon]

haha agree to disagree it is! : ) It's been such a nice surprise to see you pop back up in my subscription feed this past week, Jasmine! Hope you're doing well too

[@JuanReads]

Happy birthday, Alex!

[@enriqueaguilar4997]

I'm twenty and I love your recomendations. Greetings from Mexico and Happy Birthday!

[@whatpageareyouon]

Thank you! Here’s to your twenties! Hopefully some of these books can be a source of comfort for the decade ahead!

[@thearchive1132]

26?! Good heavens I've heard it aw!* I would have thought you were younger. Happy Birthday fella What a smashing list a few of these are new to me. *Must be said in a Scottish accent :-)

[@whatpageareyouon]

Haha I’m a booktube ingenue, Graham! : )

[@oaoj835]

love yr channel

[@udaykumarraju6972]

Great recommendations...

[@jellytime123]

Hi!! Do you have a Goodreads account? Would love to follow you.

[@whatpageareyouon]

Hello! I do! It’s on my About page 💫

[@felipesalgueiro5334]

Anne Carson

[@RememberedReads]

Happy Birthday! 🎉

[@angim6750]

HBD

[@Patproductions06]

you’re cute