Jalen Gooch

You’ve graduated from university, and in between applying for jobs you find yourself with a surprising amount of free time. Instead of spending another few hours scrolling TikTok. Why not pick up a book? (I promise Moo Deng will be waiting right where you left her.)

Being in your 20s after graduating is a very unique time full of many complex feelings. It can be difficult to navigate and you can often feel isolated in your experiences.

Today, I wanted to share a few of the books I’ve read that explore this period of your life or offer practical advice on how to thrive in this era. When I read, I’ll go back and forth between a Fiction and Non-Fiction book to make sure to keep things balanced (please don’t diagnose me), so for this list I choose 5 for each.

I linked the titles to their respective StoryGraph Webpage and ordered them by pages low to high. (When I am in a reading slump I will look for a book with the least amount of pages possible, so I wanted to give you all some options on where to start.)

I’d love to hear what books defined your twenties and life post-grad so please comment below your favorites.

Non-Fiction

1. Designing Your Life | Bill Burnett & Dave Evans

• Genre: Nonfiction, Self Help, Informative, Reflective, Medium-Paced
• Pages:  240
• Favorite Quote: “You can imagine a career and a life that doesn’t exist; you can build that future you, and as a result your life will change.”

Designing Your Life was written by Stanford Professors Bill Burnett and Dave Evans based on a course that they taught to undergraduate students. The book applies principles of design thinking to help the reader build their ideal life and career. Worksheets can also be found on the Designing Your Life Website that supplement the lessons in the book.

In my last semester of university, I met with a career counselor seeking advice on where to start. She recommended this book to me, and it completely changed how I viewed establishing a career for myself.

Why I recommend: As opposed to the generic, get good grades, build a resume and apply for jobs, this book encourages you through self-reflection to explore your passions and look for ways you can bridge the gap between your career and ideal life by chasing these passions.

2. The Courage to Be Disliked: How to Free Yourself, Change your Life and Achieve Real Happiness | Ichiro Kishimi, Fumitake Koga

• Genre: Nonfiction, Philosophy, Psychology, Self-help, Informative, Inspiring, Reflective, Slow-Paced
• Pages: 288 pages
• Favorite Quote: “A healthy feeling of inferiority is not something that comes from comparing oneself to others; it comes from one’s comparison with one’s ideal self.”

The Courage to Disliked is a best-selling book in Japan that was recently translated into English. The book explores the teachings of renowned Psychologist Alfred Alder and how they apply to the everyday struggles we face.

It is written as a conversation between a philosopher and a young man in which they both try to convince the other of their view of the world. It discusses how when we try to live to please others, we rob ourselves of the ability to live our lives to the fullest potential. 

Why I recommend: After graduating university, everyone begins to move through life at their own pace. It can be easy to compare ourselves to others and feel down about not being at a certain place at a specific time, and this book does a great job countering a lot of those negative thought patterns. 

Check out the sequel: The Courage to be Happy: True Contentment is Within Your Power

3. Everything I Know About Love: A Memoir | Dolly Alderton

• Genre: Nonfiction, Memoir, Emotional, Funny, Reflective, Medium-Paced
• Pages: 368 Pages
• Favorite Quote: “I am always half in life, half in a fantastical version of it in my head.”

Everything I Know About Love is one of my favorite books of all-time. In this memoir, Dolly Alderton recounts her life and experiences navigating jobs, evolving friendships, loss and and love. The book is filled with humor, personal stories, and touching moments that beautifully illustrate the complexity of life at this age.

Reading this book felt like catching up with a close friend who I had not talked to in a while. (This book will also always have a special place in my heart, because the first time I read it, I was sitting in my car outside of the Pet ER on Christmas day because my cat had decided to throw up 12 times that morning “for attention”, and it was a much needed distraction).

Why I recommend: Going through your twenties it can feel as if you are the only person experiencing the loss of friendships and relationships, or struggling to grow in this transition period. This memoir validates all of the messy emotions you are feeling and reminds you that this is all a part of life and growing up.

4. Maybe You Should Talk to Someone | Lori Gottlieb

• Genre: Nonfiction, Memoir, Psychology, Emotional, Reflective, Medium-Paced
• Pages: 415
• Favorite Quote: “We tend to think that the future happens later, but we’re creating it in our minds every day. When the present falls apart, so does the future we had associated with it. And having the future taken away is the mother of all plot twists.”

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone was one of the first books that got me back into reading. The book follows therapist Lori Gottlieb, who following an unforeseen circumstance of events, finds herself regularly meeting with a therapist to untangle the feelings she is dealing with. Her own experiences, as well as the lives of her patients are beautifully recounted throughout the piece.

I picked up this book when at the time I was thinking about pursuing becoming a therapist and thought it would provide insight into the field. I walked away not only with what I expected, but a deeper understanding of the human experience and the struggles we all inevitably face. (I cried numerous times when reading this book.)

Why I recommend: Similar to the last recommendation, this is a particularly difficult time in our lives and it can be easy to tunnel vision on not having a job or losing friendships that we miss out on all the life that is happening around us. This book does a phenomenal job reminding you of the important things in life and how we can rely on others to get through these difficult times.

5. Work Won’t Love you Back | Sarah Jaffe

• Genre: Nonfiction, Business, History, Sociology, Challenging, Informative, Reflective, Slow-Paced
• Pages: 425
• Favorite Quote: “The compulsion to be happy at work, in other words, is always a demand for emotional work from the worker. Work, after all, has no feelings. Capitalism cannot love.”

I got a lot of slack from my parents when I told them about this book, but Work Won’t Love You Back is a must read for anyone post-graduate looking for jobs. In the book, Sarah Jaffe explores how in modern society, the emotional ties or connections an individual has for a certain career or field are weaponized in order to exploit, overwork, or underpay them.

Examining the role of unpaid interns, teachers and caregivers, nonprofit organizations and more, Jaffe argues that we need to realize the value of the work that we provide and fight to be compensated fairly.

Why I recommend: The current state of the hiring market is a mess right now, especially for those applying for entry-level jobs. There are a lot of job postings out that will take advantage of the fact that you are new to the market and desperate for a job. This book does a great job reminding you of your worth as an individual and encouraging you not to settle for less than you deserve.

Honorable Mentions:

• The Defining Decade – Meg Jay
• You Are a Badass – Jen Sincero
• Educated – Tara Westover

Fiction

6. A Psalm for the Wild-Built | Becky Chambers

• Genre: Fiction, LGBTQIA+, Science Fiction, Hopeful, Inspiring, Reflective, Medium-Paced
• Pages: 147
• Favorite Quote: “You keep asking why your work is not enough, and I don’t know how to answer that, because it is enough to exist in the world and marvel at it. You don’t need to justify that, or earn it. You are allowed to just live.” 

A Psalm for the Wild-Built takes place centuries after humanity has split between the robots they once created as tools for humans. The story follows a tea monk who crosses paths with a robot who has been tasked with answering the question: “What do people need?”

This is a short, cozy read that explores the travels of the two as they meet people and seek to answer this question. Full of loveable characters and touching moments, this book beautifully grapples with the ideas of existence and purpose. (I received this book as a gift from a friend and devoured it in a single night.)

Check out the Sequel: A Prayer for the Crown-Shy

Why I recommend: Your 20s are known to be a period in which you are struggling to determine what your purpose is and what will make you happy in life. This short book does an exceptional job grounding the reader by reminding them that the things we need most in life are often closer in reach than we could ever imagine.

7. Days at the Morisaki Bookshop | Satoshi Yagisawa

• Genre: Fiction, Contemporary, Emotional, Lighthearted, Reflexive, Fast-Paced
• Pages: 147 Pages
• Favorite Quote: “Love is wonderful. I don’t want you to forget that. Those memories of people you love, they never disappear. They go on warming your heart as long as you live.”

In Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, 25-year-old Takako’s life is thrown into chaos when her long-term boyfriend casually announces that he is marrying another woman. She loses her jobs, struggles to keep her friendships, and spirals into a deep depression. Everything changes when she receives an invitation from her uncle to stay with him for a while at the family’s second-hand bookshop.

This book beautifully captures the feeling of life spiraling out of control and feeling as if you are a passive actor in your own life. Yagisawa uses humor and charm to create a beautiful story in which through falling in love with books, Takako is able to face her fears and forge a new path.

Why I recommend: It is not uncommon to mourn the loss of past friendships, routines, and more after graduating. Post-graduate depression is real and it often feels as if there is nothing we can do to change our situation. This book feels like the warm hug and reassurance we need in this often difficult time.

Check out the sequel: More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop

8. Convenience Store Woman | Sayaka Murata

• Genre: Fiction, Contemporary, Literary, Reflective, Fast-Paced
• Pages: 163
• Favorite Quote: “People who don’t fit into the village are expelled: men who don’t hunt, women who don’t give birth to children. For all talk about modern society and individualism, anyone who doesn’t try to fit in can expect to be meddled with, coerced, and ultimately banished from the village.”

Convenience Store Woman explores the life of a woman who takes on a job at a convenience store to make ends meet during college and falls in love. Years later, at 36, she is still working with the same job with no relationship and few friends. Although she is content with her life and her career, her friends and family are concerned and begin to put pressure on her to change her lifestyle.

This is another book, I frequently mention on my podcast, in that it does a great job exploring the expectations society places on us and how those who do not fit these expectations are often alienated or cast aside. 

Why I recommend: When searching for a job or purpose after graduating, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed by the pressure you are not only putting on yourself, but receiving from others. This book beautifully explores the importance of staying true to yourself and pursuing what you truly enjoy.

9. Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory | Raphael Bob-Waksberg

• Genre: Fiction, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Emotional, Funny, Reflective, Fast-Paced
• Pages: 244 pages
• Favorite Quote: “There are two kinds of people, he thought: the people you don’t want to touch because you’re afraid you’re going to break them, and the people you don’t want to touch because you’re afraid they’ll break you.”

Written by the creator of Bojack Horseman, Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory presents a collection of short stories that explore the concept of love. From extremely satirical pieces, to more realistic depictions, Bob-Waksberg explores the many ways in our life love manifests itself.

I didn’t let myself start this book until I had finished watching Bojack Horseman, so if you are a fan of the show, I highly recommend this book. Similar to the show, it goes beyond a surface-layer portrayal of love by discussing parts we often tend to want to overlook. (After all, if you look at someone through rose colored glasses, the red flags just look like flags.)

Why I recommend: Alongside discovering ourselves and starting a career, love plays a major role in our 20s. Whether we are considering the potential of spending our lives with our current partner, dating for the first time, or working to heal our inner child, we all grapple with the concept of love. This book does a great job presenting an unfiltered picture of love in a way that is humorous and thought-provoking.

10. The Midnight Library | Matt Haig

• Genre: Fiction, Contemporary, Literary, Emotional, Hopeful, Reflective, Medium-Paced
• Pages: 288 Pages
• Favorite Quote: “We can’t tell if any of those other versions would have been better or worse. Those lives are happening, it is true, but you are happening as well, and that is the happening we have to focus on.

If you’ve ever wondered what if I would’ve said yes to that date or chosen another career path, The Midnight Library is for you. In this novel exists a library containing an endless amount of books, each representing a life you could be living based on the different choices you made in the past.

Everything Everywhere All At Once meets 16 Candles in this novel where the main character, Nora Seeds, spends time in the library exploring all the different ways her life could’ve turned out. The novel explores how regret often keeps us from living our current lives to the fullest and that we often have no idea the extent to which a decision would have changed our lives, for better or for worse.

Why I recommend: Regret is one of the strongest feelings that arise after graduating. We beat ourselves up for not joining that club, doing more internships, or telling that special someone how we truly felt, when the reality of what life would look like had we done that is often vastly different than what we’d hoped. This book can stop you from falling into this spiral of negative thoughts by reminding you to focus on the here and now.

Honorable Mentions:

• Sweet Bean Paste | Durian Sukegawa
• The Alchemist – Paul Coelho
• Before the Coffee Gets Cold | Toshikazu Kawaguchi
• Good Material | Dolly Alderton

If you’ve made it this far thank you so much for taking the time to hear my thoughts and recommendations. As always I’d love to hear what books have helped you define your time post-grad and anything you would recommend, so feel free to comment below or email me.

Until next time,

Cheers!