13 Childhood Books By 30

Honestly, these are books you should've read by 18. But if you are like a lot of people who missed the (angsty) teen-reading-phase of your life, NEVER FEAR, because you still have time!

Here are 30 books you need to take a peak at before you hit that big three-oh.

1 To Kill a Mocking Bird

Were you really a kid in any middle school or high school if this book wasn't required reading for your English Lit. class? You're a liar if you say you don't have a favorite character.

2 The Art of War

Just a great book about how to live your life. How to be prepared in life without having to fight for it all.

3 Diary of Anne Frank

As you have already figured out by the title; Anne Frank is given a journal when she's a little girl. Initially she's all about that gossip but then shit hits the fan and the world gets a birds eye view from her perspective of the Holocaust (Shoah) where about 6 million jews were killed.

4 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

The book has a lot more depth that absurdly captivates you to realizing that no matter how rich or poor you are... what goes around comes around. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has simply molded characters centralized around the complexities of being powerless when you are powerful.

With such a place in both cinematic and literary history as a catacomb for staple childhood fantasy, you should at least read one Roald Dahl novel.

5 Of Mice and Men

This book is usually read when you're a teenager, but I think it should be reconsidered in your late 20's when the indirect themes about sexuality, the struggles faced in the era of the Great Depression, and what it means to have a dream that doesn't come true for an adult versus a child.

6 Angels and Demons

This one was difficult. It's controversial in theme. Many people are not a fan of Dan Brown's writing style, especially with the rise of The Da Vinci Code. But at the end of it all, I read this book just the right time in my life where questions about religion and faith frustrated me, and this book weirdly gave me an answer I needed.

“Science tells me God must exist. My mind tells me I will never understand God. And my heart tells me I am not meant to.”

7 Pride and Prejudice

An amazing novel with social commentary on women of the 18th Century that didn't get the recognition it deserved until many years later. Not including the powerful messages and criticism that has so many people praising this one of the best novels, this is a fun and romantic book that has spunk and sass. Ladies under 30 take a look, take some notes, and read the romantic comedy of all romantic comedies.

Also purchase Pride and Prejudice and Zombies for some extra gore, wit, and fun!!

8 The Great Gatsby

This book symbolizes a specific era and you should definitely romantize this book in your 20’s and not in your 30’s or else you become a weirdo.

9 The Princess Bride

The first time I ever laughed out loud from reading a book. This is my favorite book of all time (maybe tied with The Count of Monte Cristo) and there's a reason. Outside of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - there aren't a lot of children's books that is written like this.

*odly enough, this gif applies to both of these books..

10 Giovanni's Room

Powerful. Poetic. Beautiful.

"Until I die there will be those moments, moments seeming to rise up out of the ground like Macbeth’s witches, when his face will come before me, that face in all its changes, when the exact timbre of his voice and tricks of his speech will nearly burst my ears, when his smell will overpower my nostrils. Sometimes, in the days which are coming—God grant me the grace to live them—in the glare of the grey morning, sour-mouthed, eyelids raw and red, hair tangled and damp from my stormy sleep, facing, over coffee and cigarette smoke, last night’s impenetrable, meaningless boy who will shortly rise and vanish like the smoke, I will see Giovanni again, as he was that night, so vivid, so winning, all of the light of that gloomy tunnel trapped around his head." - Giovanni's Room

11 The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien

A band of merry brothers fighting giants, dragons, and trolls? YES PLEASE. This is a classic book about heroism, courage in little packages, identity, and sexy elves.

12 The Color Purple - Alice Walker

We watch / read so many stories about the injustice of black Americans throughout the years but The Color Purple is one of the best, most engaging books that still retains the title as one of the best cultural examples of black female empowerment.

This book was written by Alice Walker (i'll type her name again) the first black woman to win the Pulitzer and National Book awards.

I also just realized that I definitely need more black author / black character novels for this list. Email me some suggestions!

13 The Outsiders

You can't help but love a book about an adolescent gang war between social classes. Round of applause for the iconic line "Stay Gold, Ponyboy" - which I can admit to having in my msn handle for about a year and the now over-used poem by Robert Frost, Nothing Gold Can Stay. This book was written by a teen, for teens... and if you didn't read it as a teenager, read it now through the lens of an adult realizing that no matter your age, some people are fighting the same fight.

That's the end the list!

If you have already read these books, please email me more suggestions.