What are the best books to read in your 20s?

Your 20s are when you're figuring out who you are professionally and personally, so read strategically.

• I read "Educated" by Tara Westover in my mid-20s and it fundamentally changed how I thought about autonomy and family systems, something I'm still processing.
• "Braiding Sweetgrass" by Robin Wall Kimmerer taught me respect for nature and systems thinking I apply professionally now.
• For career-building, "The Lean Startup" by Eric Ries shaped my entire approach to problem-solving.
• "Sapiens" by Yuval Noah Harari provided historical context for understanding modern society.
• I also recommend reading people unlike you, "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander, "Hillbilly Elegy" by J.D. Vance to develop empathy and perspective. 

Your 20s are your intellectual expansion years before life responsibilities narrow your focus. Read widely: philosophy, memoirs, science, fiction. Build your reference library of ideas now because you'll spend your 30s applying them.

Most people in their 20s are reading the right books to impress others, not because those books matter to them. I wasted so much time forcing myself through dense literary fiction because my book club friends said I should. Then I started reading thriller novels and creative nonfiction I actually enjoyed, and suddenly I read more books in a year than in my previous five years.

Your 20s should be about discovering your reading taste, not conforming to some intellectual checklist. Yes, read some challenging stuff, but also embrace genre fiction, young adult novels, memoirs that matter to your life. I learned more about decision-making from "The 99% Invisible City" than from "Thinking, Fast and Slow."

Read reviews from people with your values, join communities you genuinely like, and give yourself permission to DNF books. Your reading life in your 20s should be about developing habits you'll maintain, not proving something to yourself or others.