From 'The Handmaid's Tale' to 'Harry Potter': 30 books to read before you're 30

From inspiring characters to dystopian tales, the team at ‘The National’ bring you this library of life lessons to lap up before you wave goodbye to your twenties. Compiled by Rupert Hawksley

• 

  'War and Peace'' by Leo Tolstoy: Your twenties can be an overwhelming time with lots of choices to make concerning jobs, relationships and everything else in between. Tolstoy comes to the rescue by inviting us to join his characters in their quest for deeper meaning and to seek out authentic experiences. The author emphasises the philosophy that there is “a limit to suffering and a limit to freedom” and that “there is nothing in the world to be frightened of”. This is more than a book – it is a life guide. – Janani Jayabal, data and insights

• 

  'And Still I Rise' by Maya Angelou: I managed to get through most of my twenties – and an entire degree in English Literature – without developing any kind of appreciation for poetry. Then I discovered Maya Angelou. First published in 1978, Angelou’s third volume of poems, 'And Still I Rise', has lost none of its resonance in the subsequent decades. It is searing, soaring, affirming and heart-rending, but also completely accessible. While Angelou may focus on the African-American experience, she manages to capture the human condition in all its complexity. Every girl in the world should have the book’s most famous poem, 'Phenomenal Woman', as her rallying cry. – Selina Denman, head of magazines and travel

• 

  'The Drowned World' by J G Ballard: James Graham Ballard’s 1962 post-apocalyptic novel is set in a London that is now mostly underwater and broiling in the tropical fug of an overheating planet. For those under 30, it’s an unsettling and prescient depiction of how things could look if we don’t change our ways. As usual, Ballard was way ahead of his time. An honourable mention goes to Cormac McCarthy for his 2006 novel 'The Road', a pitiless portrayal of total environmental collapse. – Declan McVeigh, sub-editor

• 

  'Everyday Sexism by' Laura Bates: How refreshingly liberated (and occasionally irritating) it is to have millennials and Generation Z document every waking thought and experience, from body image (Lena Dunham) to mental health (Rachel Bloom, Bryony Gordon). Or so I thought, until a friend started bleating about the plight of the white male, who “can’t say anything any more without getting into trouble”. Laura Bates began the Everyday Sexism Project to highlight the many insidious ways women are maligned, sidelined, undermined and abused, resulting in them still being underpaid and under-promoted. Essential reading for everyone navigating the minefield of insecurities, anxieties and opportunities that are your twenties. – Tahira Yaqoob, comment editor

• 

  'Catch-22' by Joseph Heller: I stumbled upon this novel as a 16-year-old in my local library and was immediately seduced by the brilliant, wickedly funny prose and harrowing plot. The book introduced a side of the Second World War that I had not experienced through the boisterous Hollywood movies I was consuming at the time. The way Heller combines his anti-war message with so much humour illustrated to me the power of great writing – I knew then that I wanted to be a journalist. – Saeed Saeed, arts and lifestyle writer

• 

  'To the Lighthouse' by Virginia Woolf: This beautiful, lyrical novel opens in the summer of 1910 at a sun-dappled, airy house on the Isle of Skye, where the Ramsay family are spending their summer holidays. The colours are bright, the clifftop winds fresh and the chatter excitable. You can almost feel the sea spray on your face. But time has no respect for such beauty and, as the novel progresses, we see the house and its inhabitants change, as Europe is rocked by the First World War. To the Lighthouse is a novel about impermanence and the frailty of family, but it is also a joyous reminder that small things give life its meaning. Woolf’s dreamy prose, which swims loosely across the page, has the wondrous effect of untethering your mind from its moorings. – Rupert Hawksley, arts and culture writer

• 

  'Fever Pitch' by Nick Hornby: 'Fever Pitch' was the first book about being a football fan that I read. I was 13 and it still resonates to this day. Nick Hornby beautifully describes why people bother to stand in a cold stadium with limited amenities, in order to watch 22 people kick a ball around. The passion. The bonding with strangers over something as trivial as an off-side decision. The highs of victory. The despairs of defeat. These are all things that football fans can relate to. The novel has stayed relevant to me over the years as, growing older myself, I have begun to understand the challenges of balancing a passion for football with everything else that life throws at you. – Graham Caygill, sports editor

• 

  'Where the Heart Is' by Billie Letts: This delightful novel set in middle America was selected for Oprah’s Book Club in 1998 and starred Natalie Portman in a film adaptation. When I was in my late twenties, teenager Novalee Nation personified a “phoenix from the ashes” character that I really related to – despite never having given birth in a Walmart myself! A sweet young woman with many faults and insecurities, Nation suffers blow after blow but learns the importance of using her network and resources to build a life she and her family deserve. – Ellen Fortini, listings editor

• 

  'Siddhartha' by Hermann Hesse: 'Siddhartha', which roughly translates to “he who has found the meaning”, is the story of one man’s spiritual awakening. He fasts, renounces personal possessions, becomes homeless and meditates on his quest. First published in German in 1922, the story has a simple structure, yet lessons learnt are deep and profound: “Knowledge can be imparted, but not wisdom. One can find it, but one cannot communicate and teach it.” – Michael Barnard, sub-editor

• 

  'Into The Wild' by Jon Krakaue: 'Into The Wild' charts the tragic real-life story of Christopher McCandless, a young American hiker and adventurer, who left his life in society behind to live completely off the grid. I was 23, almost McCandless’s age, when I read the book and it was just one of those stories that stayed with me. An inspiring yet heart-breaking read. – Samia Badih, arts editor

• 

  'A Kestrel for a Knave' by Barry Hines: It was 1968, and the world was in political turmoil. Paris was rioting, the Vietnam War was tearing American society apart, Black Panther salutes were being given at the Mexico Olympics, and in a crumbling mill town in northern England, Barry Hines was giving the British working class the loudest literary voice they’d had since Charles Dickens. Taking place over the course of just one day, with parts of the story told in flashback, this tale of one bullied, poverty-stricken northern scallywag and his pet kestrel is about class, education and how our background inexorably affects our chances in life. – Chris Newbould, arts and lifestyle write

• 

  'The Phantom Tollbooth' by Norton Juster: Forget 30, I lost my heart to this book at 13. A story of a bored young boy and the competing worlds of numbers and books, 'The Phantom Tollbooth' is everything that can exist in literature, wrapped up in one young-adult novel: amazingly drawn characters, narrative conceits, suspense, metaphor, self-reflexivity, generosity of voice. It blew my mind – it was the first time I realised just how profound a book could be. – Melissa Gronlund, visual arts writer

• 

  'The Road' by Cormac McCarthy: A book for those who have decided it is time to grow up, move out of mum and dad’s and start living an adult life. Starting a family might not be on the horizon just yet, but if you want to understand more about the bond between father and son in times of difficulty, this is a good place to start. Set in a post-apocalyptic America, it charts a man’s journey with his son towards the sea as they try to stay alive. Every page is horrific, every word is tender and touching. – Ian Oxborrow, homepage editor

• 

  'Nineteen Eighty-Four' by George Orwell: Increasingly and terrifyingly insightful, Orwell’s 1949 novel predicted the rise of government surveillance and propaganda, as well as how class struggle will come to define our society. Thankfully, it is all wrapped up in what is actually quite a beguiling love story. This may not be a book that will change your life, but it will allow you to confidently state that something is “Orwellian”, which is worth plenty of dinner party conversation capital. – Charles Capel, breaking news reporter

• 

  The Cartel trilogy by Don Winslow: Written over 14 years, with a narrative spanning more than 40, Winslow’s books – 'The Power of the Dog', 'The Cartel', and 'The Border' – are a singular achievement. Our protagonist is Art Keller who embodies the US War on Drugs in all its violent, politicised and often futile ends. Much of the first two books are set in Mexico and tell the stories of rival narcos battling for power and dominance over a multi- billion dollar empire. The books are often bloody but many of the fictionalised events and issues have at least some basis in fact. The plotting is dense – with dozens of characters – but Winslow tells a truly compelling story about what is one of the most pressing issues of our time. – Nic Ridley, night editor

• 

  Harry Potter series by J K Rowling: J K Rowling created a magical world that spanned not just one, but seven books – and you should read all of them. I first came across the story of boy wizard Harry Potter and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger when I was 12. I kept up with every book in the brilliant series concluding with the final one ('Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows') when I was 19. If you haven’t read the series by the time you’re 30, what else will you talk about at a party? – Evelyn Lau, assistant features editor

• 

  'Tram 83' by Fiston Mwanza Mujila: Fiston Mwanza Mujila wrote 'Tram 83' like a piece of jazz music, making it the most original novel I’ve ever read. Set in a riotous bar in a war-scarred African city state, the poet Lucien fumbles around for meaning in the darkness. A tranche of unsavoury characters – from wheeler-dealers to underage miners – bounce in and out of the narrative as Lucien attempts to focus on a single task: writing a play. As a writer, I quickly empathised with Lucien. And I felt the jazz in my stomach. – Charlie Mitchell, leader writer

• 

  'In Cold Blood' by Truman Capote: The story of the brutal killing of the Clutter family in a prairie town in 1959 is one I always seem to return to. The first time I read it I was 10 years old and away at summer camp. It was certainly stirring stuff. I returned to it seven years later as a high school senior and again when considering a career change to journalism. Capote taught me that a serious novel can also be seriously, compulsively readable. – Kelsey Warner, assistant business editor

• 

  'The Sea Wolf' by Jack London: Jack London grew up in poverty and wrote to maintain his lifestyle. So his genius is at times tempered by uneven prose. In this somewhat pro forma plot, a soft city gentleman called Humphrey van Weyden is rescued at sea by the brutal and amoral captain Wolf Larsen. Ignoring the late entrance of an unnecessary romantic sub-plot, this is one of literature’s most memorable morality plays, in which the values of refined western civilisation represented by van Weyden are pitted against the law of the jungle in the form of Nietzschean ubermensch Larsen. You’re supposed to root for van Weyden, but Wolf is just so much cooler. – Campbell MacDiarmid, assistant foreign editor

• 

  'The Power of Now' by Eckhart Tolle: As a yoga practitioner, I use this book as my guide to tuning in and focusing on being present. But this is no new-age mumbo-jumbo. Drawing from a variety of spiritual traditions, Eckhart Tolle explains in the simplest manner how a more mindful life can benefit us all. Try and pick up this brief read – you may very well end up incorporating elements of it into your own life. In summary, though, stop worrying about the past or the future and get on with living right now. – Mary Gayen, sub-editor

• 

  'The Handmaid's Tale' by Margaret Atwood: Atwood’s novel feels as relevant today as it did when it was written in 1985. Set in a dystopian future, it is an eye-opening and terrifying novel that should awaken readers to the not-so-distant reality of state control over the female body and reproductive rights. Interestingly, sales for 'The Handmaid’s Tale' shot up by by more than 200 per cent following the election of Donald Trump. If you’re yet to make the acquaintance of Offred et al, get your hands on a copy of Atwood’s extraordinary work. – Farah Andrews, assistant features editor

• 

  'Middlemarch' by George Eliot: Victorian Britain’s most polished novelist and world builder, George Eliot is my home town of Nuneaton’s best-known daughter, so perhaps I’m a little biased. Nevertheless, her greatest work is a beautiful inspection on women’s status, politics and religion in provincial life. Middlemarch is often thrust upon reluctant young English literature students but if you hated it first time around, try it again – it is a bold, realist masterpiece and for many people, it marks the transition from casual to serious reader. – Stephen Nelmes, chief homepage editor

• 

  'Mornings in Jenin' by Susan Abulhawa: Susan Abulhawa’s stunning debut became the first mainstream novel in English that portrayed life in Palestine post-1948. It’s a multi-­generational story that follows the Abulhejos, a Palestinian family forced to leave the olive-farming village of Ein Hod during the Nakba. Interwoven tales – primarily told through the eyes of young Amal – explore history, identity, love and courage against a backdrop of era-­defining political turmoil that everybody should understand more about. This moving book will help you do just that. – Katy Gillett, Weekend editor

• 

  'The Rachel Papers' by Martin Amis: I discovered this sharply written and witty novel, Amis’s first, when I was roughly the same age as the lead character, 19-year-old Charles Highway, who thinks he is rather clever. Naturally, I saw a lot of myself in him as he chases after older girl, Rachel. I re-read this so many times that I even wrote my first novel Creating Rachel as a kind of homage. The original is superior in every way. – Mustafa Alrawi, assistant editor-in-chief

• 

  'The Course of Love' by Alain de Botton: I read this book when I was 33, but I wish I’d read it at 23. It’s a novel about a married couple, which unusually begins after the marriage, surveying the irritating, absorbing and difficult realities of a shared life. There are highly relatable philosophical musings by de Botton throughout. If we all managed to live by these ruminations, divorce rates would plummet. Ultimately, it’s about not taking yourself too seriously – and so, while I’m not a fan of re-reading books, this is one I will revisit ­whenever I find myself getting irrationally tetchy. In fact, judging by my reaction to a messy drawer the other day, I’m ripe for a re-read. – Nyree McFarlane, head of features

• 

  'Normal People' by Sally Rooney: The title says it all. On the face of it, this is just an ordinary story about two normal teenagers whose lives intertwine as they go from school friends to young adults finding their way at university. But the beauty of this book is what is left ­unsaid. Rooney perfectly demonstrates how words left unspoken and assumptions can alter the course of our lives. It will leave you begging for the characters to just say how they really feel. A ­lesson, I’m sure, we could all have done with at some point in our twenties. – Sophie Prideaux, lifestyle writer

• 

  'The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy' by Douglas Adams: If you haven’t mastered the art of cultivating a creative imagination and a sense of humour by the time you’re 30, then there’s probably no hope for you. But this sci-fi classic, which parodies every sci-fi trope you can think of, is a solid lesson in not taking anything too seriously. When the anxiety of trying to be successful and live your best life all gets too much, there is refuge in the idea that a hapless, irritable man wearing a dressing gown could be the last living man on Earth. – Liz Cookman, assistant national editor

• 

  'Home of the Gentry' by Ivan Turgenev: The novels of the 19th-century Russian masters were the first that transported me to lands that felt entirely strange. Published in the January 1859 issue of Russia’s literary, social and political magazine, 'Sovremennik', this is the sad, tangled love story of country nobleman Fyodor Ivanych Lavretsky, who, betrayed by his beautiful, coquettish wife Varvara ­Pavlovna in Paris, returns to his Russian estate. The novel plunges you into the world of the endless Steppe, with its “troikas” and “dachas” – a place dripping with exotic melancholy. – Stuart James, production editor

• 

  'Educated' by Tara Westover: Raised in a Mormon survivalist home by a doomsday-­believing father who put her to work in his treacherous junkyard, Tara Westover never went to school. Her memoir – one of the best I have ever read – is wincingly honest and articulate about the trauma she suffered as a child. But her story is also an intricate account of a brilliant mind breaking free of the bonds of ideological ­brainwashing with little outside help. – Louise Burke, homepage editor

• 

  'David and Goliath' by Malcolm Gladwell: Drawing upon history and psychology, Gladwell challenges us to reconsider how we deal with adversity, offering a fresh and invigorating interpretation of what it means to be discriminated against, to cope with a disability, to lose a parent or to attend a poor school. Conventional wisdom holds that a disadvantage is something we want to avoid. Gladwell brilliantly illustrates why this is not always the case. – Liza Ayach, translator

Reading the right book at the right time can alter a person. This is particularly true if you're under the age of 30 and are still evolving and trying to find your place – and voice – in the world.

Scroll through our gallery above to see our book picks

We all have that book that helped us to see the world with fresh eyes. This list, which features the choices of editors and writers from across The National's newsroom, is by no means definitive – how could it ever be? – but it is certainly diverse, featuring everything from works by Leo Tolstoy and George Orwell to Nick Hornby and Malcolm Gladwell.

There are some surprising omissions – no Jane Austen, for example – but one thing we all agree on is that each of these books has something important to say to young people.

_______________________
Read more:

_______________________