6 Books That Actually Got Me Through College (An Unconventional Reading List for Your 20s)
- Apr 29
- 4 min read
Not the books everyone tells you to read before you graduate. The ones that found me first.
Two weeks until graduation. I just finished a book, put it down, and thought I need to write about all of them. So here I am.
Living in Boston for four years means you accumulate two things: a very good coat and a very long reading list. Rainy days, long winters, a breakup or two, it all adds up to a lot of quality time with a book. I am not a casual reader either, never have been. If I am going to sit down with something, it needs to wake up a part of me that needed waking.
Note: none of these were planned. Some were found in a Brookline bookstore in a mood I could not name, some on TikTok at midnight, some recommended by a friend at exactly the right moment. Every single one found me before I found it, which I think is the only way a really good book works.
This is not your typical books to read before you graduate list or your conventional 22-year-old reading guide. It is all over the place and a little unexpected, and I would not have it any other way.
But if you are graduating soon, spending a summer at home, going through a breakup, or just someone who reads to feel something real, I think you will find something here that is yours.
By Milan Kundera
I picked this up at the Brookline Booksmith on a whim, in a mood, in the middle of processing the end of a two-year situationship. I did not know what I was looking for. It turns out I was looking for this. It is far more philosophical than I anticipated, but that is exactly what made it hit so hard.
The book wrestles with what it means to make decisions in life, the weight those decisions carry, and how we are constantly adding weight to every experience we accumulate. I finished it in three days and canceled plans to do it. If you are philosophical, a little heartbroken, and want something that will make you think rather than just feel, this is your book
By Mary Oliver
I stumbled onto a TikTok of one of her poems being read aloud over a picturesque nature scene, and moments later, it was in my Amazon cart. Reading it felt like slowly reconnecting with something I had let go quiet inside me. Mary Oliver has this way of making you feel like you are part of something much bigger than yourself, like nature is not just around you but speaking directly to you. A thoughtful, gentle read for anyone who needs to feel grounded again. I read this one slowly, and I am glad I did.
By John Steinbeck
Timshel. If you know, you know. I picked this up during a classics kick over winter break, drawn to its almost biblical weight.
From then on, it has made me sit with a question I have not stopped thinking about since: if you are born into something dark, does that mean you are always meant to stay there? Or can you choose better? Steinbeck's answer is in that one word, and it changed something in me. If you love long lush paragraphs of pure imagery and stories that span generations, this will be your everything. Watching each generation shape the next made me feel like my own choices actually matter. That is a rare thing for a book to do and I still think about it.
By Eckhart Tolle
If you are a spiritual girly, this book is genuinely life-changing. It reframed the way I see myself, my thoughts, my relationships, and my place in the world entirely. Before you step into the world at 22 with a big-girl job and a city you do not know yet, I cannot recommend this one enough. It will ground you in a way that nothing else quite does.
Read it slowly. Let it settle. Come back to it when things feel loud.
By Eckhart Tolle
A natural follow-up to A New Earth and somehow just as good. A lighter read, but do not let that fool you; it is quietly powerful. It made me more aware of the present moment and what I was actually feeling in it, and the realization it brought me was not small. This book is part of why I transferred to Boston University. I wrote my Common App essay about it, got into a lot of schools, and I think about that a lot.
A book that causes you to change the entire trajectory of your life is not a light read at all, actually.
By Tinx (Christina Najjar)
A family friend gave me this during a breakup and I am so glad she did. It is a lighter, cozier read than the others on this list, but the message is just as meaningful. It touches on relationships and spirituality in a way that feels genuinely accessible, like your most grounded friend is just talking to you over coffee. It helped me reframe a really difficult moment and pick myself back up. Sometimes that is exactly what a book needs to do, and this one does it beautifully.
Want More?
None of these were on any list someone handed me. I did not plan a single one. They just showed up when something in me was ready, which I think is the only way a book can really work.
To explore more, check out my Goodreads account to stay up to date on my next life-altering book I stumble upon.
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