1. The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Beautiful and Damned explores the issues of greed and power in the context of the pre-World War I era. The main characters, Anthony and Gloria Patch, are vain, self-obsessed and haughty. The novel plots their downfall from uppity socialites to fiscal ruin. Buy it here.
2. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
The Sun Also Rises portrays the lives of the members of the 'Lost Generation'; men and women whose early adulthood was consumed by World War I. This group suffered great moral and psychological aimlessness, and it is the futile search for meaning in the wake of World War I that shapes Hemingway's masterpiece. Buy it here.
3. Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by Tom Robbins
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues is an exploration of freedom and a journey of self-discovery. Robbins introduces the reader to Sissy Hankshaw who learns valuable life lessons that inform her of the person she is destined to become. Her story is told through a mixture of love, humor, and descriptive language. Buy it here.
4. Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Though Hamlet is often included on high school reading lists, it needs to be read again when one is old enough to truly understand its meanings. Hamlet is a story of self-discovery in which the famous line "to be or not to be" is thoroughly explored. Buy it here.
5. Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage by Alice Munro
As unprepossessing as her characters may seem, Munro knows that their lives include the far reaches of ambition, betrayal, regret, and wisdom. There is no guarantee of a happy ending within the story; it is a personality test of a story because most readers assume one interpretation of the other. Buy it here.
6. Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
Leaves of Grass is a collection of poetry written over an entire lifetime and organized thematically into sections. Whitman desired his readers to see a self, formed by the words and the themes of the book. Topics include those of a political, social, personal, and sexual nature. Buy it here.
7. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
Kerouac gave voice to a rising, dissatisfied fringe of the young generation of the late forties and early fifties. Though it has been over fifty years since the time period of this book, the feelings, ideas, and experiences in the novel are still remarkably fresh, with expressions of restless, idealistic youth who yearn for something more than the bland conformity of a generally prosperous society. Buy it here.
8. The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer
Palmer's book is a little bit diary, a little bit TED talk, and a little bit how-to guide. She asked her fans to fund her next project, this book, on Kickstarter, where she raised over a million dollars for the project. From this experiment, she has produced a hazy philosophy of asking, built on the pillars of trust, reciprocity, couch-surfing, and a lot of body paint. Buy it here.
9. Walden by Henry David Thoreau
Walden is a written account of the years Thoreau lived alone in a small cabin in Massachusetts. He built his own cabin and grew his own vegetables, and in the process, he had multiple transcendental experiences. He used these experiences to examine the fundamental elements of identity. Buy it here.
10. The Defining Decade by Meg Jay
Some say the twentysomething years do not matter. Some say they are a second adolescence. Other say they represent an emerging adulthood. The purpose of the book is to show twentysomethings how work, relationships, personality, social networks, identity, and even the brain can change the most in this decade if we make the most of our twenties and use our time wisely. Buy it here.
11. Exit Here by Jason Myers
Myers follows the life of a college student home for summer break who spends his time drinking, doing drugs, partying, watching porn, and hooking up. This college student has this feeling that something is missing and starts to sense the true emptiness of his life, but he struggles with leaving the party scene behind. Buy it here.
12. The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano
A prime number can only be divided by itself or by one; it never truly fits with another. Misfits who are haunted by childhood tragedies and destined to be alone meet one another, are forced to separate and are reunited by chance, causing a lifetime of concealed emotions to surface. This is a story about loneliness, love, and the weight of childhood experiences. Buy it here.
13. White Teeth by Zadie Smith
White Teeth focuses on the later lives of two wartime friends and their families in London. The novel is centered around Britain's relationships with people from formerly colonized countries in Africa, Asia, and the Carribean, opening up the reader's eyes to a whole new perspective. Buy it here.
14. The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh
In this book, the Vietnamese Buddhist monk presents several methods for becoming liberated, suggesting that we treat each of our activities as an opportunity for being aware. For example, when we are breathing, we should be aware of our breathing. He warns that meditation should not be an escape from reality, but it should lead to an increased awareness of reality. Buy it here.
15. Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close
Wickedly hilarious and utterly recognizable, Girls in White Dresses tells the story of three young women grappling with heartbreak and career change, family pressure and new love -- all while suffering through an endless round of weddings and bridal showers. Close brings us through those thrilling, bewildering, what-am-I-going-to-do-with-my-life years of early adulthood and perfectly captures the wild frustrations and soaring joys of modern life. Buy it here.
