Play 2026 Book Bingo
Books with Characters in Their 20s
By: Angela & Melissa
Updated:
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, we may earn a referral fee from qualifying purchases.Whether you found this list searching for 20-something main characters or as a participant in the Lifetime of Reading Challenge, we hope you’ll find a perfect read on our list of main characters in their 20s.
One of our main goals for this challenge is to foster understanding and reinforce appreciation for people in different life stages.
Life During the Rocket Years
For most, the 20s are spent learning to be independent, gaining life skills, and answering fundamental questions about who they are and what they want to do with their lives. This decade has been called “the rocket years” because the decisions made in your twenties set the trajectory for the next 40+ years of your life.
While no two experiences are the same, some common themes include college and job hunting, exploring relationships, and forming an identity independent from your parents’ or family’s expectations. The twenty-something experience now looks much different from what it did in the past. While this was once the decade when most people married and started families, recent research shows that 95% list a career as their most important objective for the decade from 20 to 30, prioritizing this goal over seeking a long-term relationship and having kids.
Books with 20-Something Main Characters
Women of a Promiscuous Nature
Book Summary
Ruth is a 24-year-old, unmarried woman who has never shared more than a kiss with a man. But one day, she’s walking through town to her diner job when she’s stopped by the local sheriff, who insists that she accompany him to a health clinic. By the end of the day, she is one of dozens of women suspected of being “promiscuous,” held at the State Industrial Farm Colony for Women.
Dorothy is the colony’s superintendent and believes she is transforming degenerate souls into upstanding members of society. And she creates these transformations through her strict rulebook and harsh consequences for anyone who doesn’t stay in line.
Why This is a Great Pick
This novel is based on the real early-20th-century ‘American Plan’ policies (linked to the Chamberlain–Kahn Act). It’s one of those lesser-known aspects of US history that can be hard to read about, but is important to learn about.
Joe Nuthin’s Guide to Life
Book Summary
Joe’s mum has spent her whole life trying to prepare him for independence, knowing he’ll have to find a way to be okay when she is gone. As long as he has a routine or clear instructions, he can do anything. But when his routine breaks or new aspects are introduced, he has a hard time coping. So she writes everything down in an instructional notebook that becomes his own personalized guide for life
Joe is now 23 and ready for a job. If his mom can get him settled into his new routine, maybe he can spend a night alone at their home so she can get her first break in his lifetime. His new job at the Compass store brings both friendship and bullies, but the job isn’t the only big change in his life this year.
Our Thoughts on This Book
Melissa loves books that evoke all kinds of emotions, and this is her new favorite! She laughed, gasped, cried, and had a hard time putting it down. She recently convinced her husband to pick it up, and he also rated it highly.
It would have been great without the Friends references, but they pushed it past 5 stars for her, since she appreciates the show almost as much as Joe does.
Before I Forget
Book Summary
Twenty-six-year-old Cricket’s life is about to change in a big way. She currently works for an eccentric woman’s wellness company in Manhattan and lives with roommates to make ends meet. Her older sister, Nina, lives with their aging father, who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, at the family home in the Adirondacks.
Cricket has avoided the home she loves for a decade. When she was 16, a tragedy occurred, and it’s easier for her to avoid the painful memories. But now Nina has an incredible opportunity to conduct medical research in Stockholm, which means decisions about Dad’s care must be made. It’s time for Cricket to face the realities of both the past and the future as she returns to Catwood Pond.
About the Author
We found this comment from the author on Goodreads that explains her personal connection to this storyline: “My father had Alzheimer’s and died when I was in my early thirties. It was a topic that I wanted to write about, but it took me a while to figure out an angle that felt fresh and unexpected. I wanted to honor the emotional truth of what it means to navigate Alzheimer’s, but I also wanted to tell a story that was whimsical and fun to read. A tricky balance to strike, for sure.
I also wanted to speak to the theme of reinvention. I “reinvented” myself in my mid-thirties, when I finally decided to pursue my dream of writing fiction. So I wanted to explore how Cricket reinvents herself in her 20s AND how Arthur reinvents himself in his 70s, despite his illness. I believe we are never too old (or too depressed or too lost or too “settled”) to find new interests, talents, and ways to make meaning in our lives. In fact, that’s what living is: to make meaning and grow from our circumstances, no matter what they are.”
Pick This Book If…
If you love page-turning novels that feel like they have a fresh and unique perspective, this is a quick read at 274 pages. Melissa loved it and was surprised it didn’t get more attention when it was released.
Margo’s Got Money Troubles
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
96% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Twenty-year-old Margo has overcome her not-so-great childhood, being raised by a struggling and self-absorbed single mom. She only saw her father, a pro-wrestler, occasionally. She was the product of an affair, and her dad still has another family.
But now Margo is in college, determined to make a better life for herself…until she gets pregnant. And unfortunately, just like her mother, her baby’s father has another family. He’s also her professor. When he assumes she’ll eagerly have an abortion, she recoils and wants the baby.
Making ends meet as a new mom who was forced to leave school isn’t easy. But life finds a way. In this case, it’s in the form of her own father coming to live with her for the first time and her unique work-from-home job…an OnlyFans page.
Our Thoughts on This Book
While many books have been written about young women from tough backgrounds with terrible mothers, Margo was a breath of fresh air in contemporary fiction.
While you won’t agree with all her choices, she’s a smart, persistent, and caring problem-solver…and that’s vital because her life is full of problems. Despite the title, themes, and cover image, this is a quick, uplifting read overall.
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
The book has alternating narration between two twenty-eight-year-old twin sisters, Fern and Rose. Fern thrives on routine and must avoid crowds and noise. She does all she can to avoid getting upset, which has led to tragedy in the past.
Rose is her rock, so when Fern finds out Rose can’t have a baby, she decides to get pregnant and give Rose her baby to pay her back for always taking care of her. In her mind, this is a straightforward plan. But the plan ends up revealing layers of dark secrets along the way.
What to Expect in This Book
Wow. This one has some incredible twists and turns that will keep you reading to find out what will happen next! Melissa listened to it on audio and enjoyed the narration. She also loved that it was very suspenseful without being scary or gory.
The Women
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Frances “Frankie” McGrath is a 21-year-old nursing student who has been raised by her conservative parents to always do “the right thing.” But when her brother ships out for Vietnam in 1965, she begins to change her views of right and wrong. Frankie impulsively joins the Army Nurses Corps and follows her brother to Vietnam. As she tends to the green and inexperienced young men who have been sent to fight the war, she is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction. Returning home to a changed America doesn’t prove to be any easier.
While The Women is the story of Frankie going to war, it also shines a light on the story of all women who risk everything to help others. The publisher describes this book as “a novel of searing insight and lyrical beauty” that is “profoundly emotional” and “richly drawn.”
Why You’ll Love This Book
There are so many books shedding light on the stories of women during WWI and WWII, but ever since we launched the Decades Reading Challenge back in 2020, we’ve been lamenting the lack of fiction about women’s roles in Vietnam. We weren’t disappointed in how much we learned about the difficult role of nursing during the war, and the long-lasting effects of the job.
Book Club Resources for The Women
We have a printable book club guide for The Women available on Etsy, including discussion questions, themed games, printable bookmarks, and more!
You can also find free resources for your book club discussion of The Women on our website.
Hana Khan Carries On
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Twenty-four-year-old Hana Khan is a young Muslim woman born and raised in Toronto, Canada, to immigrant parents. Like many 20-somethings, she works numerous jobs while trying to make her own dream a reality. Hana interns at a local radio station, anonymously runs a podcast, and works part-time at her family’s struggling halal restaurant. However, her true ambition is to host her own radio show where she can highlight the life stories of her fellow Muslims.
When a new family with a handsome son named Aydin arrives in town with plans to open an upscale halal restaurant that threatens to put her family out of business, Hana is determined to do whatever it takes. In a You’ve Got Mail-esque storyline, she turns to one of her podcast listeners for advice.
Things are complicated further by a hate-motivated attack on the neighborhood and Hana’s growing attraction to her rival, Aydin.
Additional Context for This Read
While this book is squarely in the rom-com genre, it also provides insight into the young Muslim experience.
The More You Know: If you are not familiar with the term halal, it means lawful or permitted under Islamic law, and in the context of food, it is similar to the concept of kosher in Judaism. Halal does not refer only to meat, but in that context, it refers to meat that has been slaughtered in a particular manner. You can read more and find links to some halal recipes here.
Dear Dotty
Book Summary
Like most 20-somethings, Rosie doesn’t have it all together. She’s still struggling to figure life out, especially after her parents announce the end of their thirty-year marriage, her best friend cozies up with her archnemesis, and she accidentally sleeps with Mr. Wrong.
Rosie has always struggled to fit in with her hyper-accomplished family, and now she feels like she’s losing herself while trying to fit everyone else’s definition of perfect. When she gets fired from her unfulfilling job, she knows she needs a push to figure out her next steps, and she turns to her great aunt Dotty for help.
Dotty is a globe-trotting, martini-swilling occasional nudist, and the one person in the family who makes Rosie feel like she can be herself. When Dotty dies suddenly, Rosie loses her one ally and begins to spiral.
But when new details of Dotty’s past begin to emerge through a series of emails from her many friends, Rosie discovers that her aunt’s life wasn’t as charmed as it appeared. This is the permission she needs to finally focus on what she really wants for her own life.
Kate & Frida
Book Summary
In 1991, twenty-something Frida arrives in Paris eager to begin a career as a war journalist covering the war in Bosnia. She sends an inquiry to a bookstore in Seattle, but what she receives back is more than just the book she requested.
What begins as correspondence between Frida and a young Seattle bookseller named Kate soon blossoms into an important friendship for both women throughout a very transformative period in each of their lives.
Why You Should Consider This Book
We love books about books, as evidenced by our Book Lover’s Reading Challenge, so we can’t wait to get our hands on this new novel about friendship, food, and books!
Readers of Kim Fay’s Love & Saffron may recall that Frida is Joan’s daughter from L&S, but these two novels read as standalones.
Kate & Frida is especially recommended for fans of books like The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society and 84 Charing Cross Road.
Close Enough to Touch
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
97% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
For the last decade, Jubilee has lived in a world of solitude because of a rare allergy to human touch. Her last experience in the world led to a major anaphylactic shock during her first kiss, so it’s safest at home. However, when she loses her mother, she decides to reenter the world.
Now, at age 27, she finds employment as a librarian, and there she meets Eric. He’s a divorced father with custody of a troubled 10-year-old son, Aja, and a 14-year-old daughter who lives with her mom and won’t speak to him. Jubilee, Eric, and Aja bond over books at the library, and each begins to find their own healing.
Such a Fun Age
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
91% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
This novel focuses on the intertwined relationship between Alix, a successful white woman, and Emira, her toddler’s 25-year-old Black babysitter.
Emira is about to turn 25, is struggling to find direction in her career, and is about to be kicked off her parents’ health insurance. Babysitting for the Chamberlains provides the extra money that she needs to get by. One evening, when Emira takes the toddler shopping at the high-end grocery store in Alix’s neighborhood, an overzealous security guard believes she kidnapped Briar. The encounter between Emira and the guard is filmed, making Emira both angry and embarrassed. Alix is also upset and determined to do something about it, but then the viral video brings something from her own past to light.
Our Thoughts on This Book
This book provides piercing social commentary on race and privilege and addresses current social justice issues head-on. It’s a fantastic read!
Just for the Summer
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Every woman Justin goes on a date with seems to find their soulmate right after breaking up with him. It’s his curse, and now, thanks to a Reddit thread, everyone knows.
However, his viral embarrassment may have a silver lining. Emma has the same problem and has sent him a message. The solution is obvious. They’ll date each other, break up, and then destiny will bring them each their own soulmates.
Traveling nurse Emma finds a job in Minnesota and rents a cute cottage on Lake Minnetonka for her summer fling with Justin. But when Emma’s toxic mother shows up and Justin has to assume guardianship of his three siblings, they’re suddenly navigating a lot more than they expected. Will these challenges quickly rip them apart, or does fate have other plans?
Our Thoughts on This Book
Abby Jimenez’s books never fail to make us laugh out loud, but this is much more than just a breezy beach read. It also deals with many complex, heavy topics, which makes this novel an excellent summer book club pick!
When Just for the Summer was released, it was originally marketed as a standalone (and can definitely be read as such). However, after reading it, we both felt like it should have been listed as part of the series because you get brief but important updates on characters from the first two books. Goodreads and other sites have since been updated to include this title as Part of Your World Book #3.
Book Club Resources for Just for the Summer
We have a great printable Just for the Summer book club guide available on Etsy, including discussion questions, themed games, custom bookmarks, and more!
You can also find free resources for your book club discussion about Just for the Summer on our website.
Things You Save in a Fire
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
96% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Cassie was one of the only female firefighters at her Texas firehouse, but she was welcomed as part of the family and loves her job. But when her mother asks her to move to Boston despite their strained relationship, she’s forced to find her footing in a new department.
With a lack of funding, poor facilities, and an old-school hazing culture, the firehouse is not happy to have a woman join their crew for the first time.
Our Thoughts on This Book
Katherine Center became one of our favorite authors over the past two years, and Things You Save in a Fire is one of her best! Some consider this book a simple romance, but we believe the other aspects of the story are more important. In this book, in particular, we feel like the romance is secondary to Cassie’s relationship with her mom.
Additionally, this novel highlights how the role and treatment of women continued to evolve in the last decade.
The Rachel Incident
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
94% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
University student Rachel works at a bookstore, where she meets James, who quickly becomes her new BFF and roommate. The duo runs the streets of Cork, striving for a Bohemian lifestyle but also sharply aware of a looming financial collapse.
When Rachel falls for her married professor, Dr. Fred Byrne, she plots to seduce him after a reading at her bookstore. However, Fred has other desires that launch a series of secrets and compromises that intertwine the fates of James, Rachel, Fred, and Fred’s glamorous, well-connected wife.
Thoughts on This Book
Reviewers say this book is spicy and provocative, so consider whether that is something you enjoy in your reading before selecting this one. It’s also a strong character-driven literary read with more subtle happenings than page-turning plot points. However, it’s a great pick for those interested in stepping into the life of a modern young woman in Ireland.
About the Author
Born and raised in Cork, Ireland, author Caroline O’Donoghue now calls London home. Speaking about her hometown in an interview, she says, “Cork is goth. … It was like that when I was growing up, and it’s like that now.”
Don’t Forget to Write
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
98% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Marilyn wasn’t just caught making out with the rabbi’s son—she was caught by the whole congregation! In hopes of saving their daughter’s reputation, her parents sent her to her great-aunt Ada for the summer. They gave her an ultimatum: spend the summer with Ada, Philadelphia’s premier matchmaker, or kiss her college plans goodbye.
Based on her mother’s description, Marilyn expects Ada to be a humorless septuagenarian. Instead, Ada is sharp and straight-talking, with platinum blonde hair, a Hermès scarf, and a Cadillac convertible. As the summer goes on, Ada and Marilyn set off for the Jersey Shore, where Marilyn helps to scope out eligible matches for anyone but herself. She’s learning a lot from Ada—but not exactly what her parents were hoping for. Marilyn realizes that she doesn’t have to settle, even as her father threatens to disinherit her.
Why We Think You’ll Love It
This book caught our attention when our readers voted it as one of their favorite beach reads of all time. But don’t worry, it’s still a great read year-round with plenty of deeper topics.
After Melissa read it at our readers’ suggestion, she enjoyed it so much that she read the author’s entire backlist.
Queenie
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
85% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Queen Jenkins is a 25-year-old Jamaican British journalist living in London. She is constantly straddling two cultures without ever really feeling like she fits in anywhere. At work, she finds herself continually comparing herself to her middle-class white peers.
A nasty breakup with her longtime boyfriend, Tom, leaves her searching for comfort in all the wrong places, and she makes a lot of questionable and self-destructive decisions while trying to navigate the dating scene.
Like so many twenty-somethings, Queenie constantly asks herself, “Who do you want to be?” This is never an easy question to answer, but it is made especially difficult when paired with racism, anxiety, and the challenges of social media and dating-app culture.
What to Expect in This Book
Queenie is a very lovable but complex character, who you may not always agree with, but who you will come to deeply understand. This book has been billed as a modern-day Bridget Jones Diary, but that description seems to set the wrong expectations. Reviewers describe this book as “snort-your-tea-out funny” one moment, but dark and heartbreaking the next.
Warning: This book addresses mental health issues and includes graphic descriptions of violent sexual encounters, which play a pivotal role in the story.
Maybe in Another Life
Book Summary
One decision can change everything – even though we rarely realize it in the moment. After a decade of moving from city to city for meaningless jobs, 29-year-old Hannah has moved back to her hometown of LA and is staying with her best friend, Gabby. One night, the two go to a bar where Hannah bumps into her high school boyfriend, Ethan. When Gabby asks Hannah if she’s ready to head home, Ethan offers to give her a ride if she wants to stay and visit with him a bit longer. What will happen if she leaves with Gabby? And what will happen if she stays with Ethan?
In concurrent storylines told in alternating chapters, Hannah lives out two very different versions of her future based on this one decision. As these two different realities play out, this story raises questions about fate, true love, and the concept of soul mates.
You May Enjoy This Pick If…
This book is perfect for fans of the 1998 romantic drama movie Sliding Doors and the novel The Midnight Library.
Too Soon for Adiós
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
94% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Gabby’s dad abandoned her and her mother when she was just a baby. Twenty-nine years later, the last thing she expects is to meet him on the day of her mother’s funeral. Not only does he show up wanting to get to know her, but he also wants to give her a house. Gabby is not ready to forgive him, but she really needs the money, so she accepts the house under two conditions. The first is that she can sell it whenever she wants. The second is that accepting the house doesn’t mean she accepts him.
Gabby hires a contractor to help her prepare the house for a quick sale, but things quickly get more complicated. As she becomes acquainted with the town and with these two new men in her life, she begins to learn more about herself than she thought possible.
Thoughts on This Book
This is a novel about life and love. Gabby is navigating all the typical ups and downs of life in your late twenties, and the book addresses some difficult themes in addition to romance. Reviewers loved seeing Gabby connect with her Mexican-American roots.
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Daniel lives in Athens, Georgia, but unlike most twenty-somethings in this college town, he’s confined to his home most of the time due to his Type 2 Spinal Muscular Atrophy that has left him unable to speak or to move without a wheelchair. Nonetheless, he leads a full life. He has a couple of close friends, loves the excitement of college football, and works online for a regional airline.
When Daniel (26) isn’t dealing with unhappy airline customers, he spends hours watching the world go by outside his window. One young woman passes by so often that she’s become part of Daniel’s daily routine. One day, he’s almost certain he sees her being abducted. He wants to tell the police what he knows, but he wonders if they’ll believe him. So Daniel decides to take the investigation into his own hands.
What to Know Before Reading
Reviewers describe this book as funny, optimistic, and entertaining, but it’s also suspenseful with scary moments. This book uses curse words liberally, so skip it if that bothers you.
Another Book You May Enjoy
If you want a book that also involves a little neighborhood spying without the thrill factor, consider the fast-paced and funny This Won’t End Well by Camille Pagan (which is currently available free with Kindle Unlimited). A bad boss forced 27-year-old Annie to walk away from her career. Then her fiancé walked away, saying he needed some space. She’s vowed to let no new people into her life because they just end up causing trouble. But when Harper moves in next door, Annie is intrigued and finds herself spying on her. Soon she’s teaming up with another amateur detective to keep Harper safe – but does Harper really need their help at all?
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Anna and West didn’t have much in common in college. He was a buttoned-up heir to a grocery chain, and she was a free-spirited artist. Their college marriage was a sham to get her access to subsidized family housing at UCLA. She thought their divorce was finalized at graduation.
Three years later, Anna is a twenty-five-year-old starving artist while West is a Stanford professor. He has little interest in joining the family business, which he views as a heartless corporation, but he is interested in receiving his inheritance.
When it turns out that a clause in his grandfather’s will requires him to be happily married for five years before receiving one hundred million dollars, Liam thinks his marriage to Anna puts him in the home stretch. But now his family is pressuring him to meet his mysterious spouse. First, Liam worries about how his family will react to paint-splatter, foul-mouthed Anna. Then he begins to worry that introducing her into his toxic world of wealth will corrupt his pure-hearted fake wife.
Related Books You May Enjoy
If you love the fake relationship trope, be sure to check out our list of the best fake dating rom coms.
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
92% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
After years of struggling to make it as a writer, James has finally sold his first book in his late twenties – a semi-autobiographical novel about his dysfunctional relationship with his mother. He’s shocked to find out that the editor who has purchased his book is none other than Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
After an embarrassing initial meeting, James and Mrs. Onassis, as she’s known around the office, form an unexpected friendship. By the time his book is finally published, his relationship with his editor has changed him as a writer, a son, and a partner.
Our Thoughts on This Book
It can be tricky to write historical fiction in which one of the main characters is a famous, real-life person. While Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis did, in fact, work as a book editor at Viking Press and Doubleday after her second husband’s death, Steven Rowley did a fantastic job portraying his fictionalized Jackie O as a private, professional woman full of heart.
Nonetheless, this book is not focused on Jackie Kennedy. While she is a pivotal character, this novel is about James and how he grows and changes.
Someone Else’s Bucket List
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Jodie is the shy sister of a hugely successful and outgoing influencer, Bree. While Bree seems to have life figured out, 20-something Jodie is anxious and unsure of what to do with her life. Sadly, Bree has Leukemia and prepares for her death by recording a series of videos for her sister.
She asks Jodie to complete the final 6 items on her bucket list and let the world watch as she completes each item. The list includes terrifying tasks like flying over Antarctica and having a cameo in a Broadway musical. Jodie is compelled to agree by more than her sister’s dying wish. If she can keep Bree’s followers, a corporate sponsor will pay off the family’s medical debt. And if she can gain followers, more people will benefit by having their own medical debt covered.
While this is largely a book about finding yourself, one of the bucket list items is to fall in love, so there is a romance thread as well.
What to Know Before Reading
This is a heartfelt book that may bring some tears, but reviewers say you’ll also be smiling as characters embrace life and any sadness leads to a beautiful ending. You will need to suspend your disbelief at times and just sit back to enjoy the story without thinking about the likelihood of it happening.
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
95% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Lillian and Madison were boarding school roommates and friends from very different backgrounds. However, they’ve barely spoken since a scandal forced Lillian to leave school.
A decade later, Lillian’s life is not on the track she’d imagined for herself, so when she receives a call from Madison asking her to help care for Madison’s twin stepchildren who are moving in, Lillian figures she has nothing to lose.
But there is a catch: both kids spontaneously burst into flames when they are agitated. Madison needs to keep this fact a secret while her husband runs for public office. Despite knowing nothing about raising kids, Lillian agrees to take on the role, and throughout one summer, she and the kids learn together how to keep their cool – literally. It may even prove to be the start of a whole new life for Lillian.
Our Thoughts on This Book
We were skeptical about the premise, but this darkly comic, big-hearted short novel works beautifully. While the concept of children who catch fire makes it sound like this book is heavy on magical realism, it’s actually the only unusual element and serves as a great metaphor throughout the novel.
Some of our readers for the Lifetime Challenge did not enjoy that there is adult language in the book, so if you never enjoy books with curse words, skip this one.
The Two Lives of Lydia Bird
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
94% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
After Lydia’s fiancé, Freddy, dies in a car crash on the way to her 28th birthday dinner, she wants nothing more than to be alone with her grief. But soon, she discovers that she’s not alone after all – in fact, she wakes up in bed next to Freddy, alive and well. But then she wakes up again, and he’s gone. In this alternate reality, her life with Freddy continues toward their impending wedding.
As Lydia leads these two parallel lives, a new relationship causes her to question where she really belongs.
Tone of This Book
This book weaves together grief, humor, and heart to give you all the feels.
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
96% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
As April wanders the street one night, the last thing she expects to encounter is a new statue that looks like a ten-foot-tall Transformer wearing a suit of samurai armor. So she does what any 23-year-old would do. She names him Carl and has her friend upload a video of her with the statue to his YouTube channel.
When she wakes up the following day, her life is suddenly a viral video. Beyond that, her Carl is no longer the only one. Statues have appeared around the globe, and everyone wants to talk to her about them. She’s left trying to figure out what the Carls are and what they want.
Themes in This Book
Twenty-year-olds in the 2020s have grown up with social media impacting so many facets of their lives. While this book includes sci-fi characteristics, it’s also a great look at what happens when an ordinary person goes viral overnight.
There is a sequel titled A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor.
Reminders of Him
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
88% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Five years ago, Kenna made a tragic mistake that sent her to prison and separated her from her daughter. She is 26 years old when her sentence is complete. She returns to town and finds that only one person will give her another chance. Everyone else has shut her out entirely and is determined to keep her away from her daughter.
Bar owner Ledger is her only remaining link to her daughter, and as she gains his trust, they both know that they risk losing everything if the others find out they are talking. As their connection grows, Kenna must also continue growing as an individual to build a future and find forgiveness.
The Book Girls Say…
While this book meets the challenge by featuring a 26-year-old, you also get extra credit for reading a book by Colleen Hoover, who is currently profoundly beloved by many, many 20-something readers.
Reading it might give added insight into the minds of what this age group enjoys in novels. We chose this book for the list because it’s her newest release and has a phenomenal rating, but several of her other books also have main characters in their 20s if you can’t get your hands on this one.
Memoirs About Life in Your 20s
Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
In this moving memoir of illness and recovery, Suleika tells the story of nearly losing her life in her twenties and then learning how to live all over again.
The summer after graduating from college, Suleika was getting ready for her “real life” to begin. She moved to Paris to pursue her dream of becoming a war correspondent, but found a different type of war waiting for her. Just before her 23rd birthday, she was diagnosed with leukemia and given just a 35% chance of survival.
She flew home to New York for treatment and spent the majority of the next four years in a hospital fighting for her life while writing about her experience in a column for the New York Times. Finally, after 1,500 days, Suleika was considered cured – but after being focused on mere survival for so long, she realized that she had no idea how to begin her life again.
She decided to start with a 100-day, 15,000-mile road trip across the country to meet some of the many strangers who had written to her in the hospital over the years – among them, a teenage girl recovering from cancer; a teacher grieving the death of her son; and even a death-row inmate.
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Twenty-three-year-old Chanel Miller first took the world by storm in 2016 as Emily Doe after her victim impact statement in a sexual assault hearing against Brock Turner went viral. Her memoir goes into more depth about her life before, during, and after that night. She’s vulnerable and brave, sharing her struggles each step of the way.
While the prominent Me Too Movement started in 2017 with Harvey Weinstein, Chanel Miller’s bravery and beautiful writing in 2016 was a precursor and opened millions of eyes to the second assault women face in the courts and public perception.
Our Thoughts on This Book
Melissa read this and was blown away by the brilliant writing. It’s not just an account of a terrible event, it’s full of beautiful language and raw emotion.
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
This memoir is a follow-up to The Distance Between Us, which covers Reyna’s childhood as her family immigrated to the United States. In A Dream Called Home, she covers the next chapter in her life in her early twenties as she experiences college as a first-generation Latina student.
Her parents aren’t helpful, and she has few resources, but her love of reading and writing provided the knowledge and skills she needed to attend UC Santa Cruz. However, she quickly learned that being accepted was only the first barrier. Often her progress was driven by the pure determination to become a writer.
Read along as she defies the odds by transitioning from undocumented immigrant to college graduate and bestselling author.
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Printable Version of the Challenge Book List
Readers who support The Book Girls’ Guide through our Buy Me a Coffee (BMAC) membership site as Inner Circle or BFF members can access printable versions of the reading challenge book lists. As we update the Lifetime of Reading Challenges throughout the year according to the challenge schedule, the lists will become available in a single-page printable format for our BMAC members.
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If you have a suggestion for a book that you think would be a great addition to this list, please fill out this form.
Book Lists By Character Age
Links to our book recommendations for all twelve of the Lifetime of Reading challenge prompts can be found below:
- Books With Characters in Their 40s
- Books With Characters In Their 30s
- Intergenerational Novels: Books that Connect Generations
- Books With Characters in Their 50s
- Books With Characters in Their 60s
- Books With Characters in Their 70s
- Books With Characters in Their 80s
- Books With Characters in Their 90s and 100s
- Books with a Child Protagonist (Bildungsroman Novels)
- Books Spanning a Character’s Lifetime
- Books with Teenage Main Characters
- Books with Characters in Their 20s
I was afraid that the list of books with 20 something characters would be too heavy in the romance category. What a pleasure to find several classics, some mysteries, and more than a few memoirs! Thanks again for a great list. Wherever the Road Leads, which was on the books that span multiple continents list in December, would be an enjoyable cross-over book. A memoir, the main characters are 28 and 29.
Usually I’ve already read over half of your recommendations, but only a few in this group. So yay! I’m probably going to start off w Taylor Jenkins Reid’s first book since I love her stories.
So excited about this list. I found 3 titles that are on my TBR list and then I found I already own them! Bonus!
This challenge is hands-down the best challenge in which I’ve participated. Your carefully curated lists have options for everyone and the short blurbs are so helpful. I’ve narrowed my choice down to three and I can’t wait to get started!