There is no time like your 20s to indulge in an eternal thirst for guidance, experience, knowledge and understanding. Your 20s are basically the decade where you have the time of your life and prepare for the rest of your life. When I think of what I would like to have figured out by the time I’m 30, I find my mind wandering to 5 things: Understanding my identity, shaping my beliefs and worldviews, figuring out a right career path and sorting out my friendships and relationships. Here are 30 books to help us through these 5 life aspects:

1- Jane Eyre – Charlotte Brontë

Jane Eyre

The book: Brontë writes about an orphan who is struggling to navigate this cruel world. Despite all the tyranny, social stigma and unfairness she witnesses, Jane Eyre remains strong willed and resilient. It is a timeless story of the formation of a strong and independent female protagonist. Throughout the book, Jane maintains her integrity and refuses to let love justify betraying her beliefs.

Why you should read it: Knowing and respecting our self-worth is a lesson we all need and there’s no time like the present.

2- The Age of Innocence – Edith Wharton 

the-age-of-innocence

The book: The Age of Innocence has been argued to be the most convincing love story you’ll ever read. I argue that it’s easily the most convincing love triangle ever written. Aside from love, the novel is about old New York and how conformity was the key to survival at that time.

Why you should read it: Because it’s the first novel written by a woman to win a Pulitzer.

3- Norwegian Wood – Haruki Murakami 

Norwegian WoodThe book: Haruki Murakami writes about the transition from adolescence into adulthood. He depicts how permanent and serious everything suddenly feels like and how that sometimes leads to suicide.

Why you should read it:  Because turning 20 is tough. Because there comes a time you cease being a teenager and find yourself pushed into full-time employment, maturity and responsibility. Because it will help you make sense of that time.

4- The Picture Of Dorian Grey – Oscar Wilde

The Picture Of Dorian Grey

The book: Youth is characterized by vanity and selfishness. In this spectacular novel, Oscar Wilde does a phenomenal job in portraying just that. Dorian Gray is the subject of a portrait by painter, Basil Hallward, who is in awe of Gray’s beauty. Gray sells his soul and integrity for everlasting beauty and youth, so while he keeps his youth intact, his painting starts to look more monstrous day after day.

Why you should read it: This is a novel that will challenge you to accept that everyone has a darker side we are not aware of or may not see.

5- Bad Behavior – Mary Gaitskill

bad Behavior

The book: Mary Gaitskill skillfully writes a collection of erotically charged stories that will make you laugh and feel scared at the same time. Her stories tackle sex subjects, perversion and the darkest sides of human nature.

Why you should read it: Bad Behavior is a must read if you want all of your sex questions answered without the need to ask them out loud.

6- The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath 

The bell Jar

The book: The Bell Jar sheds an authentic light on the realities of mental illness as it’s a novel about a young woman’s spiral into depression.

Why you should read it: I recommend this book because we all have dark moments and it’s necessary to remember that someone’s been in our shoes and felt what we felt. Sylvia Plath did not only go through what we’re going through, she felt it and wrote about it beautifully and coherently. If you feel confused and lost most of the time, go buy a copy of the Bell Jar and lose yourself right.

7- 50 Shades of Feminism – Lisa Appignanesi 

50 Shades of Feminism

The book: 50 Shades of Feminism comprises 50 essays written by very different women from different cultures with different backgrounds and different opinions about feminism.

Why you should read it: If you are a feminist, you will want to inhale the pages of this book. If you are not a feminist, you will be. If you are angry at the way feminism is currently portrayed and would like to see the different shades of it, this books is for you.

8- Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov

Lolita

The book: This is a terrifying novel that has stirred up a lot of controversy and continues to divide opinions. Some see it as a story about a pedophile, which is packed with sick erotic overtones. The way you perceive this novel will solely depend on your broadmindedness and what you choose to focus on.

Why you should read it: One thing we all agree on, though, is that the novel is full of endless contradictions between love and life and it’s written poetically and beautifully.

9- Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar – Cheryl Strayed

Tiny Beautiful Things

The book: This is a beautiful compilation of life advice that resonates with almost everyone who has been through life. Cheryl Strayed has given us the most heartfelt and honest antidote to life’s ails.

Why you should read it: Because you won’t be disappointed and you will change your perspective on at least one thing in your life.

10- The Satanic Verses – Salman Rushdie

Satanic Verses

The book: It is one of the most controversial novels of our time or possibly ever written. The book portrays the Islamic religion as deceitful and sexually deviant religion so it offended many Muslims. The controversy of the novel, however, still matters and is still relevant.

Why you should read it: Because it’s necessary to challenge our beliefs and to dare ask ourselves questions we don’t have the answers to.

11- Do Cool Sh*t – Miki Agrawal

Do Cool Shit

The book: As its title suggests, the book is a reminder that we all have the power to choose what we do. Miki Agrawal challenges societal norms and conformities and urges people to think for themselves.

Why you should read it: Our generation was faced with the issue of following traditional career paths that we weren’t necessarily excited about. This book is written for us.

12- Tuesdays with Morrie – Mitch Albom

tuesdays-with-morrie

The book: Tuesdays with Morrie is a transcendent novel that explores life, friendship and love. It’s the book that really lets us know what to do with the lemons life gives us as well as how to appreciate our lives.

Why you should read it: Because no matter how much we plan, life always takes an unexpected turn.

13- The Five People You Meet in Heaven – Mitch Albom

The Five People You Meet in Heaven

The book: This is a novel about Eddie, a wounded war veteran who dies on his 83rd birthday. He awakes in the afterlife where he learns that heaven isn’t a place, but an answer to the looming and eternal question “why was I here?”

Why you should read it: Because it’s an interesting read that offers a new perspective about heaven. In the book, life is explained to a dead man by people he once knew and strangers alike.

14- Walden – Henry David Thoreau

Walden

The book: Henry David Thoreau speaks to us about his two-years experience living alone in a small cabin he built near Walden Pond.

Why you should read it: The book is a manual for self-reliance and a guide on shedding off all the weight of modern life and living simply.

15- The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays – Albert Camus

The myth of sisyphus and other essays

The book: Albert Camus tries to make sense of the absurdity of the world by acknowledging how absurd the world truly is. He discusses the meaning of life and whether life actually has meaning.

Why you should read it: Because it’s actually a self-help book that kicks every other self-help book’s butt!

16- Cosmos – Carl Sagan 

Cosmos

The book: Cosmos is a mind expanding book that addresses human being’s place in the infinite universe. Reading it is the equivalent of going down a rabbit hole that you can’t get out of.

Why you should read it: It’ll make you think, like really think.

17- Meditations – Marcus Aurelius

Meditations

The book: Meditations by Marcus Aurelius was written over 1800 years ago and is still relevant to this day. It is a collection of personal writings on maintaining your emotions and keeping your mentality in check.

Why you should read it: It offers timeless advice on how to overcome hardships and how to be the master of your emotions and not vice versa.

18- Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll

alice's adventures in wonderland

The book: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland just had to be on this list. Although a children’s fiction, this whimsical tale of nonsense spoke to us as adults in a much more frightening way than it did when we were kids.

Why you should read it: Because of magic mushrooms that cause Alice to grow and shrink depending on which side she eats. Because of the proverbial rabbit hole we keep falling into. Because of the talking animals. And because Alice knows.

19- Room – Emma Donoghue

Room

The book: Although this book becomes hard to read at some points, it’s still a book worth reading and worth putting in the effort. It tells a story of a five year old boy who has spent his entire life in ONE room and his mother who has been kidnapped. The boy, who has no idea there is a whole other world out there, narrates the story so touchingly.

Why you should read it: Because it makes you think of what life would have been like if you only knew about the things you can touch and see with your own eyes? What would you be like if you never knew of all the countries you’ve never visited? Of all the places you’ve never been to?

20- One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel García Márquez

One Hundred Years of Solitude

The book: Gabriel García Márquez astounds us with an epic tragedy following a long line of familial insanity blended with a lot of supernatural elements. This novel is not an easy read so get ready to use up every ounce of your brain and to soak up every word and immerse yourself in the world Márquez has built for us.

Why you should read it: It’s a fascinating read that helps us understand the importance of a loving family.

21- Siddhartha – Hermann Hesse

Siddhartha

The book: The title of the book literally translates to “he who found the meaning”. We can only assume that continues to meaning of existence. The book is set in ancient India and provides a model for the hard and epic journey that is morphing into adulthood.

Why you should read it: Because we all have to grow up at some point.

22- The Graveyard Book – Neil Gaiman

The Graveyard Book

The book: The Graveyard Book is shelved in the young adult fiction section, but I don’t think adolescents will appreciate its nuances as much as those in their 20’s will. It’s a book about a young orphan boy who seeks sanctuary in a cemetery, only to find himself surrounded by ghosts who guide him through adolescence.

Why you should read it: It’ll make you feel young again. Also, because the book is open for many interpretations. There are myriad metaphors and every reader will apply their own take on them.

23- Mouthful of Forevers – Clementine Von Radics

Mouthful of forevers

The book: Clementine Von Radics is my hero. She writes of love, confusion, growing up, loss, family and beauty with such piercing eloquence that speaks directly to every young heart. This book allows you to be soft and demands you to stop apologizing for your femininity.

Why you should read it: Because you have feelings. Because you’re human. Because of this:

“You keep trying to turn your body bulletproof.
You keep trying to turn your heart bomb shelter.
Stop, darling,
You are soft and alive.
You bruise and heal.
Cherish it.
It is what you were born to do.”

24- Letters to a Young Poet – Rainer Maria Rilke

Letters to a Young Poet

The book: In 1903, Franz Xaver Kappus sent some of his verses to Rainer Maria Rilke, a well known Austrian poet, asking him to assess their worth and value. Rilke replied to Kappus’ request in a series of letters, that is now this book.

Why you should read it: Because Rainer Maria Rilke’s words will mend many of your broken pieces. You will collapse into his vast content of advice and relish their power of healing and understanding.

25- A Long Way Down – Nick Hornby 

A Long Way Down

The book: This is a story about four strangers, a teenage girl, a mother, a musician and a former TV talk show host, who come together on New Year’s Eve because they are all trying to do the same thing: end their lives.

Why you should read it: Because suicidal thoughts are a part of human nature. We all wonder what’s the point? What would happen If I kill myself right now? A Long Way Down will empower you to push forward without pushing you forward; it’ll speak to you instead.

26- The Sense of an Ending – Julian Barnes

The Sense of an Ending

The book: The Sense of an Ending is the story of middle-aged protagonist Tony Webster, who has allowed himself to be comfortable with life as a calm divorced man. That is until a lawyer sends him a letter that changes everything. The story sounds mundane, but in the end, it will prove to be genius instead, because it’s all about hindsight and waiting for it.

Why you should read it: Because it deals with nostalgia, something we all know a little too well. It sheds light on the nature of time and how people determine what they value most and why is it that we miss certain things and not others.

27- Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Crime and Punishment

The Book: Crime and Punishment is an argument against nihilism, a gripping concept that was popular among Russian intellectuals at the time and a fairly popular notion to this day. It’s the story of a 23-year-old man who murders two women because he was driven by a nagging impulse and then struggles to deal with the emotional consequences of the act.

Why you should read it: Because it captures the responsibility human beings have over each other that we all tend to forget about so often.

28- The Perks of Being a Wallflower – Stephen Chbosky 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The book: This is the modern day Catcher in the Rye. The story follows Charlie, a freshman in high school who is navigating the world of sex, family drama, drugs, love and friendship for the first time.

Why you should read it: Because we’ve all been there.

29- The Year of Magical Thinking – Joan Didion

The Year of Magical Thinking

The book: This book depicts a remarkable marriage that unfortunately ended too soon. Joan Didion narrates the story of how she got to deal with the death of her husband. The story follows the first year after her husband’s death and the range of emotions she was subjected to.

Why you should read it: It’s THE book for grieving. Dealing with the death of a loved one has no instructions; you just get through it. Yet, with the help of this book, you will learn how to deal with it a little bit better.

30- The Truth – Neil Strauss

The Truth

The book: The Truth is a hilarious and transformational novel that offers razor-sharp anecdotes about relationships and commitment. It unpacks all the doubts we’ve all had regarding committing to a monogamous relationship.

Why you should read it: Because in this age, we’re all a little too afraid of commitment than we should be. I won’t go so far as to say that the book will help you overcome this fear, but it will help you understand and control it.

Now aside from binge-watching, binge-read too! Let me know if there are other books that should have made this list.