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TwentySomeone: Finding Yourself in a Decade of Transition
Live Strategically
The decade of your twenties is full of important, stressful, maddening What will I do? Who will I love? Where will I live?
But maybe there’s a bigger Who am I? The fact is, the period of time between your teens and thirties will shape a lot of your character, your calling, and your view of the world.
Authors Craig Dunham and Doug Serven (recent graduates of their twenties) explain that the difference between a twentysomething and TwentySomeone has to do with the questions we ask. Instead of asking, “What will I do?” twentysomeones need to ask “Who am I?”–the real question of the twenties.
Full of personal experience and practical wisdom, TwentySomeone helps you make the most of your twenties while giving you the skills to handle common life experiences like singlehood, first jobs, getting married, having kids, and buying stuff. This is a guidebook that will help you discover who God is calling you to be.
The decade of your twenties is full of important, stressful, maddening What will I do? Who will I love? Where will I live?
But maybe there’s a bigger Who am I? The fact is, the period of time between your teens and thirties will shape a lot of your character, your calling, and your view of the world.
Authors Craig Dunham and Doug Serven (recent graduates of their twenties) explain that the difference between a twentysomething and TwentySomeone has to do with the questions we ask. Instead of asking, “What will I do?” twentysomeones need to ask “Who am I?”–the real question of the twenties.
Full of personal experience and practical wisdom, TwentySomeone helps you make the most of your twenties while giving you the skills to handle common life experiences like singlehood, first jobs, getting married, having kids, and buying stuff. This is a guidebook that will help you discover who God is calling you to be.
240 pages, Paperback
First published December 16, 2003
2 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 25, 2020
A must read book for the purpose of starting the conversation or reinforcing some themes about living through the 20's. Although there is nothing novel in the book that hasn't already been addressed in other better 20s books, it does offer a unique approach to looking at the 20's in the aspects of character and worldviews regarding money, relationships, and love from a Christian perspective. While the majority of the authors' points are "eh" and reflect a White Country Middle-Class American perspective, it does provide some occasional interesting points. Again, the value of the book is just to get the conversation started or revisiting some topics from a different perspective.
November 19, 2014
Sitting down with a copy of TwentySomeone is like getting stuck between your two big brothers on the couch when they’re feeling wise and in advice-giving mode. You might occasionally give them the “and your point is…?” hand gesture, or feel a need to remind them that they’re not that far out of their twenties themselves,* but by the end of the conversation you realize (if you are wise) that you’re actually coming away with some really good advice you’d do well to heed.
(*Of course, when you start dispensing advice when you’re “too young” you run into credibility problems, but if a fifty-year-old writes a book for youngsters in their twenties, he gets, “What do you know about my life? You didn’t even have the internet in your twenties!” So a sage can’t win.)
Although a person is technically a “TwentySomeone” for ten years, this book will be best received by individuals in the early part of that decade, probably in college, and still wrestling with identity questions that will set the course for their adult lives.
The first part of the book addresses the twenties as a crucial time for building character, specifically the attributes of humility, integrity, teachability, and faithfulness. The second part deals with issues of worldview: developing a Biblical perspective on money, time, love/marriage, community, and success. In each chapter, solid and thought-provoking content is presented in a lighthearted and conversational manner. (For instance, the Westminster Shorter Catechism and the Steve Miller Band are both quoted within pages of each other.) My favorite feature of each chapter was a bulleted list at the end entitled “Ideas of Things to Do,” giving specific suggestions for putting the principles of the chapter into action.
The authors suggest that the fundamental question for a TwentySomeone to grapple with is “Who am I?”. But they don’t answer the question with a bunch of personality inventories and psychological profiling, as if the answer to this question is fixed and out of one’s control; rather, each chapter takes a proactive tone. It might be better phrased to say that the crucial question to ask on the way into adulthood is, “In light of my particular talents, interests, and opportunities, who do I intend to become?” And then the reader is presented with practical and specific ways to get there.
So if you have a TwentySomething in your life who is fond of introspection (or who maybe needs a nudge in that direction), you should consider tucking this into their stocking. Buy it early so you can skim through it before you wrap it–even if you’re out of the target age range, you might pick up some helpful ideas for yourself!
(*Of course, when you start dispensing advice when you’re “too young” you run into credibility problems, but if a fifty-year-old writes a book for youngsters in their twenties, he gets, “What do you know about my life? You didn’t even have the internet in your twenties!” So a sage can’t win.)
Although a person is technically a “TwentySomeone” for ten years, this book will be best received by individuals in the early part of that decade, probably in college, and still wrestling with identity questions that will set the course for their adult lives.
The first part of the book addresses the twenties as a crucial time for building character, specifically the attributes of humility, integrity, teachability, and faithfulness. The second part deals with issues of worldview: developing a Biblical perspective on money, time, love/marriage, community, and success. In each chapter, solid and thought-provoking content is presented in a lighthearted and conversational manner. (For instance, the Westminster Shorter Catechism and the Steve Miller Band are both quoted within pages of each other.) My favorite feature of each chapter was a bulleted list at the end entitled “Ideas of Things to Do,” giving specific suggestions for putting the principles of the chapter into action.
The authors suggest that the fundamental question for a TwentySomeone to grapple with is “Who am I?”. But they don’t answer the question with a bunch of personality inventories and psychological profiling, as if the answer to this question is fixed and out of one’s control; rather, each chapter takes a proactive tone. It might be better phrased to say that the crucial question to ask on the way into adulthood is, “In light of my particular talents, interests, and opportunities, who do I intend to become?” And then the reader is presented with practical and specific ways to get there.
So if you have a TwentySomething in your life who is fond of introspection (or who maybe needs a nudge in that direction), you should consider tucking this into their stocking. Buy it early so you can skim through it before you wrap it–even if you’re out of the target age range, you might pick up some helpful ideas for yourself!
August 12, 2010
I had this book recommended to me by a Bible study leader and I'm glad I picked it up. This book was a rare blend of spiritual advice as well as practical advice on topics like dating, finances (the chapter that benefited me most), and family life. The authors were real and unafraid to share their personal stories and mistakes so others can learn from them. The end of each chapter includes a list of practical applications to try for the topic covered. I actually typed up a couple of them to hang in my room. A very good (and relatively quick) read for anyone seeking to find out who God intended them to be during their 20's.
August 31, 2011
i think this book was a great book for me because i'm a twentysomeone who has a rough time in my age/life i have very few friends who i can trust and be there for me when i need them and i can talk to them about anything when i need that someone to talk to about things. also i have very low low self-esteem and i have had a lot of people come into my life who've just got something from me or used me for something and left not knowing how hurt i was and don't care about my feelings but this book made me feel a little less and better and give me hope that things will get better and will look up for me and knowing that god loves me for me!
April 25, 2009
One of the books out there for your quarter-life crisis. It's from a Christian perspective and focuses on discovering who God has made you to be. Asks, "Who are you becoming?" not, "What are you going to do?"
March 17, 2008
Whitebread Christian advice with a heavy dose of American cheese.
That being said, it has it's moments. They're just few and far between. I'm not sure I would recommend this book to anyone who wasn't from the Midwest.
That being said, it has it's moments. They're just few and far between. I'm not sure I would recommend this book to anyone who wasn't from the Midwest.
May 10, 2011
Good insight to the transitioning periods you go through in your twenties. Also, the chapter on dating is probably the best content I have read. And I hate any kind of reading material on dating, so that saying something. :)
April 21, 2008
An interesting take on being a yound-adult
April 4, 2015
3.5 stars really…although it could get very cliche at times, it occasionally offered a fresh, encouraging perspective of life in your 20s.
March 15, 2015
I got this book when I was 19. I read this book in my early 20's. I look back now almost 30 on this book and see my notes and the goals and Im like my how things have changed and so have I.
did-not-finish
September 26, 2016This book is 1) incredibly dated and 2) just the same thing I've been hearing over and over from other people. It might be helpful to some. To me it wasn't.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews