6 books you should read before you turn 30, according to the ELLE team

It’s widely accepted that your twenties are a difficult decade. As you leave the comfort and structure of your teenage years behind and enter the tremendous uncertainty of young adulthood, you’re almost certain to experience heartbreak, major decisions, new beginnings, and generally a healthy dose of chaos.

So it helps to have a bookshelf full of books to help you navigate this difficult chapter. Whether it’s self-help guides written by women who have been through it before, or timeless fiction that poignantly puts every complex feeling into words, there are certain books that are best read before you turn 30.

And that’s where we come in. Below, the ELLE editors reveal their picks for the books you should read before your 30th birthday.

The panic years are the years between your late twenties and mid-forties (that’s a whole lot of years), but I’d suggest you do yourself a favor and read this before you turn 30. You’ll realize that 30 isn’t the life-ending precipice your 29-year-old self expects, and that it’s OK to keep hitting the snooze button on your biological clock while you figure out whether or not you want kids. Plus, Nell is really funny.

Alexandra English, Features Editor

Love is confusing at all stages of life, and few have explained the what, why, and how of this distinctly human experience as successfully as bell hooks. Hooks, a black and queer academic, is one of the most significant philosophers of our generation, and her treatise on love reminds us that vulnerability, feeling, and caring should remain at the center of life.

Rebecca Mitchell, Senior Digital Writer

I read this in my mid-twenties, living between London and Sydney. I didn’t have a full-time job and my relationship of many years had ended.

Everything in my life was in disarray. I found this book strangely comforting because although there is a breakdown, there is also a recovery.

A good read for those before age 30 to get through the bumpy years.

Naomi Smith, Fashion Director

Deborah Levy may have written Cost of living while she is in her 60s, but her writing will resonate with women of all ages. Part memoir, part meditation on modern womanhood, Levy’s voice is a balm when you feel lost in your own life. I return to this book, and to the other two books in the trilogy (Property And Things I don’t want to know)each year.

Teneal Zuvela, digital author

I can’t count the number of times in my twenties I questioned the path my life was heading in and whether I could have ended up somewhere else. The Midnight Library explores those doubts and our tendency to constantly long for something more with a simple story about reshaping one’s perspective. A must-read for women (and men) of all ages.

Kirsty Thatcher, digital writer

How do we know we are doing it right? by Pandora Sykes

This book was given to me by a close friend for my 29th birthday.^th birthday as a reading before I reach the big 3-0. “How do I know I am “How do you do it right?” is one of those thorny questions you constantly ask yourself in your twenties and on milestone birthdays, so it’s only fitting that it’s on the list. This collection of essays is a witty and wide-ranging examination of modern life and all the anxieties that come with it.

Maddison Hockey, Senior Shopping Editor