Books with Characters in Their 20s

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.

What Kind of Books Are on This List?

One of our main goals for the Lifetime of Reading challenge is to create understanding and reinforce an appreciation for those in different phases of life. As a result, in researching books to recommend for this month, we’ve focused primarily (but not exclusively) on contemporary stories that can help those of us with our 20s in the rearview mirror understand what it is to be twenty-something in today’s society, with its unique challenges, pressures, and opportunities. The main characters in these books vary in race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, class, ability/disability, and more.

Books with a Main Character Who’s 24 Years Old (POPSUGAR 2024 Reading Challenge Prompt)

While we cover all ages on this list, we grouped the 24-year-old characters together first for anyone looking specifically for a book that meets this POPSUGAR Reading Challenge prompt.

Hana Khan Carries On book cover

Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book

100% Would Recommend to a Friend

Book Summary

Hana, 24 years 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 have her own radio show where she can highlight her fellow Muslims’ life stories.

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.

The Book Girls Say…

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.

Puma Years book cover

Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book

100% Would Recommend to a Friend

Book Summary

Laura, 24 years old

In her early twenties, Laura lacked direction and decided to quit her job to embark on a backpacking trip in Bolivia. She found herself at a wildlife sanctuary on the edge of the Amazon jungle. It was filled with over a hundred lost and hurt animals and an equally complex cast of employees and volunteers. Laura was assigned to work with a puma named Wayra.

Set against the backdrop of deforestation, the illegal pet trade, and forest fires, this memoir explores what happens when two creatures needing rescue find one another.

The Book Girls Say…

The Puma Years was a 2021 Goodreads Choice Award nominee for Best Memoir.

In 2007, author Laura Coleman went to Bolivia to volunteer with Comunidad Inti Wara Yassi (CIWY), an NGO that manages three wildlife sanctuaries. This work inspired her to start the UK-based charity ONCA (Panthera onca means jaguar).

Kindle Unlimited as of: 11/03/2023

Also Featured on These Book Lists:

Books Set in South America

Friend Zone book cover

Book Summary

Kristen, 24 years old

Kristen is doing her best at adulting and planning her best friend’s wedding while also planning an unfortunate surgery that means she won’t be able to have her own children. She tells herself it’s okay as her boyfriend doesn’t want kids, even though she does. 

When she meets the best man, Josh, their friendship grows rather quickly. Soon, it’s like they’ve known each other forever. While he’s everything a great boyfriend should be, especially compared to her current boyfriend, she keeps him firmly in The Friend Zone, both out of respect for her relationship and because she knows the thing he wants most is a large family. And that’s the one thing she can’t provide.

The Book Girls Say…

In 2019, The Friend Zone was nominated for Best Debut Novel & Best Romance.

Books with 20-Something Main Characters

Close Enough to Touch book cover

Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book

97% Would Recommend to a Friend

Book Summary

Jubilee, 27 years old

From the ages of 17 to 27, Jubilee has lived in a world of solitude because of a rare allergy to human touch. Her last experience in the world lead 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. 

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. 

Their stories are endearing, quirky, and more humorous than you might expect based on each character’s difficult circumstances.

Also Featured on These Book Lists:

Books with Characters in Their 20s

The Women book cover

Book Summary

Frankie, throughout her 20s

Frances “Frankie” McGrath is a 20-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’s description describes this book as “a novel of searing insight and lyrical beauty” that is “profoundly emotional” and “richly drawn.”

The Book Girls Say…

The Women is an intense look at what it was like to be a nurse on the ground in Vietnam, but also what it’s like to come home to a very different scope of practice. It doesn’t shy away from the long-lasting effects of war on those who enlisted with the intention of doing good.

Know my Name by Chanel Miller

Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book

100% Would Recommend to a Friend

Book Summary

Chanel, 23 years 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.

The Book Girls Say…

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.

Also Featured on These Book Lists:

Books with Characters in Their 20s

Book Summary

Lucy, 26 years old

Lucy is a teacher’s aide hoping to adopt her student, seven-year-old Christopher. He tragically lost his parents, but she needs to be in a better financial situation for both the actual adoption process to be approved and to take care of Christopher long-term.

She’s always found comfort in books, especially the Clock Island series by Jack Masterson. The author stopped writing and became reclusive years ago, but she still regularly re-reads his work. Just when Lucy is about to give up on adopting Christopher, Jack Masterson re-emerges and announces a new book. However, it’s not a standard release. Four contestants will get to come to the real Clock Island and compete for a chance to win the single copy in existence, which is worth at least six figures.

The Book Girls Say…

This adventurous story is full of heart with a side of magic!

Good Sister book cover

Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book

100% Would Recommend to a Friend

Book Summary

Fern and Rose, 28 years old

The book has alternating narration between two twin sisters, Fern and Rose. Fern thrives on routine and must avoid crowds and noise. She does all she can to avoid getting upset because that 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.

The Book Girls Say…

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.

Kindle Unlimited as of: 04/05/2024

Also Featured on These Book Lists:

Books Like We Were Liars

Things You Save in a Fire Book Cover

Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book

96% Would Recommend to a Friend

Book Summary

Cassie, 26 years old

Throughout the decade’s challenge, we’ve seen the role and treatment of women continually evolve. However, Things You Save in a Fire confronts some of the biases that have remained into the 2010s.

Cassie Hanwell was a firefighter in Austin and loved her job. But when her mother asks her to move to Boston despite their strained relationship, Cassie’s experience at the new fire house couldn’t be more different.

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.

The Book Girls Say…

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.

If you’ve already read this one, we also recommend her 2023 release, Hello Stranger, which features a 28-year-old main character.

Kindle Unlimited as of: 05/01/2024
Just for the Summer Book Cover

Book Summary

Emma, 28 years old

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?

The Book Girls Say…

We love Abby Jimenez’s books because she’s so good at writing romance that features realistically flawed characters facing real-life challenges. Her 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.

While this new book is not listed in the Part of Your World series, readers of that series will enjoy the cameos from some of their favorite characters from the “Part of Your World” universe.

Also Featured on These Book Lists:

Guide to Abby Jimenez Books in Order

Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book

100% Would Recommend to a Friend

Book Summary

Torre, 25 years old

Author Torre is Australian but plans a year in the US to escape a bad relationship at home.

On a night out in a San Francisco bar, she meets Ivan, a handsome Argentinian adventurer, and they have undeniable chemistry together. The only problem is that he’s leaving on a long trip alone across the ocean in his small boat. This sounds like a worst-case scenario to Torre, who gets seasick and has a fear of the water.

When her only options are saying goodbye to the deep connection she’s developed with Ivan or joining him on the boat, she chooses to face her fear of the water, and they set sail. This memoir chronicles the good and bad of their epic journey together as she embraces adventure in her mid-twenties.

The Book Girls Say…

Melissa read this memoir as an Islands pick for the Book Voyage Challenge last year and had a hard time putting it down because you really begin to feel like you’re with Torre and Ivan on the boat.

Also Featured on These Book Lists:

Books Set on a Form of Transportation

Too Soon for Adiós book cover

Book Summary

Gabby, 29 years old

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 the day of her mother’s funeral. Not only does he show up wanting to get to know her – 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.

The Book Girls Say…

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.

Kindle Unlimited as of: 02/28/2024
How Lucky book cover

Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book

100% Would Recommend to a Friend

Book Summary

Daniel, 26 years old

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 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.

The Book Girls Say…

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.

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?

Paradise Problem book cover

Book Summary

Anna, 25 years old

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 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.

The Book Girls Say…

If you love the fake relationship trope, be sure to check out our list of the best fake dating rom coms.

Also Featured on These Book Lists:

Summer Books to Read on the Beach in 2024

queenie book cover

Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book

83% Would Recommend to a Friend

Book Summary

Queenie, 25 years old

Queen Jenkins is a young 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.

The Book Girls Say…

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 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.

The Maid book cover

Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book

94% Would Recommend to a Friend

Book Summary

Molly, 25 years old

Molly has always been different from her peers. She struggles in social situations and only communicates very literally, both in her understanding of others and in her verbal communication back to them. Thanks to her Gran, she’s still managed to have a good life. However, after her beloved Gran dies, she loses the one person who understood both Molly and the world. 

She’s still excellent at her job as a hotel maid, with her penchant for perfection making this the ideal role. One day, she’s shocked to find the wealthy and infamous guest, Charles Black, dead in his room. When the police question her, her unusual communication is interpreted as deception, and Molly becomes a prime suspect.  She knows that the only way to clear her name is to figure out what really happened before she is arrested.

Between Two Kingdoms book cover

Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book

100% Would Recommend to a Friend

Book Summary

Suleika, throughout her 20s

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

93% Would Recommend to a Friend

Book Summary

James, late 20s

After years of struggling to make it as a writer, James has finally sold his first book – 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 and as a son.

The Book Girls Say…

It can be tricky to write historical fiction in which one of the main characters is a famous, real-life person. But Steven Rowley did a fantastic job portraying Jackie O as a private, professional woman full of heart.

Also Featured on These Book Lists:

Best Thanksgiving Books for Adults

Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book

92% Would Recommend to a Friend

Book Summary

Emira, 25 years old

This novel focuses on the intertwined relationship between Alix, a successful white woman, and Emira, her toddler’s 25-year-old black babysitter.

When Emira visits Alix’s neighborhood high-end grocery store, an overzealous security guard believes she’s kidnapped Briar, Alix’s daughter. The encounter between Emira and the guard is filmed, making Emira both angry and embarrassed. Alix is also upset and determined to do something, but then the viral video brings something from her own past to light.

Also Featured on These Book Lists:

Best Books of 2020

Someone Else's Bucket List book cover

Book Summary

Jodie, 20-something

Jodie is the shy sister of hugely successful outgoing influencer, Bree. While Bree seems to have life figured out, 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.

The Book Girls Say…

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.

Also Featured on These Book Lists:

Best Beach Reads – Best 2023 Summer Books

Dream Called Home book cover

Book Summary

Reyna, early twenties

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 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 skill 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.

Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book

96% Would Recommend to a Friend

Book Summary

Lillian, 28 years old

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 step-children 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 somehow 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.

The Book Girls Say…

We were both very skeptical about the premise of this book, but it’s an excellent and worthwhile short read! 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.

Also Featured on These Book Lists:

Best Magical Realism Novels

Two Lives of Lydia Bird book cover

Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book

95% Would Recommend to a Friend

Book Summary

Lydia, 28 years old

After Lydia’s fiance, 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. Weaving together grief, humor, and heart, this book will give you all the feels.

The Book Girls Say…

Also Featured on These Book Lists:

Books Like The Midnight Library

Wild book cover

Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book

90% Would Recommend to a Friend

Book Summary

Cheryl, 26 years old

At only 22, Cheryl Strayed was in the midst of a crisis. Her mother passed away, and her marriage was already falling apart. At 26, after many bad decisions, she had nothing more to lose and impulsively decided to walk over 1000 miles along the Pacific Crest Trail.

She hadn’t trained or prepared but decided to set out alone anyway. This memoir shares her experiences on the trail and her reflections on what she learned along the way.

The Book Girls Say…

Don’t go into this expecting to learn how to hike the PCT successfully. She makes reckless choices in her life before hitting the trail and along the way.

Also Featured on These Book Lists:

Best Books From 2012

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing book cover

Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book

94% Would Recommend to a Friend

Book Summary

April, 23 years old

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. 

The Book Girls Say…

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. It has a sequel titled A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor.

Reminders of Him book cover

Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book

85% Would Recommend to a Friend

Book Summary

Kenna, 26 years old

Five years ago, Kenna made a tragic mistake that sent her to prison and separated her from her daughter. 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.

Kindle Unlimited as of: 04/05/2024

Join the Lifetime of Reading Challenge

You can read all about the Lifetime of Reading Challenge and sign up for a free printable challenge book tracker here.

Other Books to Consider

If you are specifically interested in reading a book with a character in their twenties that is set in a different part of the world, we recommend taking a look at our Book Voyage reading lists, which are organized by region. Additionally, if you’re looking for a book that provides a historical perspective, our Decades Challenge reading lists, which cover the 1880s through the present, are a great place to start!

Life During the Rocket Years

For most, your 20s are spent learning to be independent, gaining life skills, and answering fundamental questions about who you are and what you want to do with your life. This decade has recently been termed “the rocket years” because for many, the decisions made during 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 expectations. The twenty-something experience now looks much different than it did in the past. While this was once the decade during which most people married and started a family, recent research data shows that 95% list a career as their most important objective for the decade from 20 to 30, prioritizing this goal before seeking a long-term relationship and having kids.

FIND YOUR PERFECT BOOK LIST

Comments on: Books with Characters in Their 20s

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

5 Comments

  1. 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.

  2. Weezie Fitzhugh says:

    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.

  3. So excited about this list. I found 3 titles that are on my TBR list and then I found I already own them! Bonus!

  4. 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!

  5. Pingback: Lifetime of Reading Challenge: 2022 Reading Challenge - Book Girls' Guide