Our reader asked: 

“Can you recommend any books (realistic fiction—about romance, friendships, family, etc.) with female protagonists who are in their early to mid-20s? I used to be into YA books, but I feel like I've outgrown them and I'm having trouble finding fiction I can relate to, about women who are within my own age range.”

We can definitely help you with that and thanks for asking.

Reno, the protagonist of Rachel Kushner's The Flamethrowers, breaks land speed records. She cuts conceptual art experiments into dry, desert floors. She takes on love and politics in the New York art world. And eventually, she finds herself on the other side of the world, more-or-less floating, through heartbreak and a revolution. Unique in its style, yet immensely readable, The Flamethrowers describes a world of phonies, lovers, players, capitalists, revolutionaries, and geniuses. Which is to say: It describes a world a lot like ours. —Chad Felix, Social Media

Rebecca, an artist, goes to Athens to find inspiration and meets a man with a talent for language and another who is an archaeologist. Their atypical love triangle is heat drunk, lost, and full of mystery in Everything Beautiful Began After by Simon Van Booy who writes in a style that will have you dreaming of love. —Jessica Cline, Mid-Manhattan

How to Build a Girl by Caitlin Moran is a rollicking story of an English everygirl who remakes herself through rock and roll and self-deprecation. For extra fun, treat yourself to Moran's accent via audiobook. Friendship by Emily Gould has characters who are a little beyond their 20s but I still think it will appeal. Two best friends navigate NYC and their evolving relationship. Sex and the City this is not—and that's a good thing. —Leslie Tabor, East Manhattan Libraries

The Marriage Plot by Jeffery Eugenides is set in 1982 and follows three college friends from Brown University through their senior year and into their first year of life after college. —Stevie Feliciano, Hudson Park

I'd recommend The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer.  It's about a group of friends who first meet at summer camp, but stay friends, for the most part, into adulthood.  The characters are all vividly drawn, and you will relate to them as they struggle with relationships, jobs, friendships, jealousies, and fight to keep life "interesting." —Ronni Krasnow, Morningside Heights

In Mira Jacob's lovely book The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing we meet Amin as she turns 30. She is dealing with the lingering grief of her brother's death and her father's sudden descent into dementia, while cultivating—and occasionally sabotaging—her own career as a photographer.  The novel moves between New Mexico present and India past. Amina's observant, humorous voice shines throughout as she narrates beautiful, tiny moments of family, friendship and relationships. —Caitlyn Colman-McGraw, YA Programming

"I’d lived in New York long enough to know that the city was just like a guy I was dating there: shiny and mesmeric as mercury and just as elusive. Slipping away right as I reached for it. I longed to be somewhere I could touch and be touched by." Val Wang's funny, freshly told memoir, Beijing Bastard: Into the Wilds of a Changing China, is about art, history, rebellion and the misadventures of youth. —Miriam Tuliao, Selection Team

In Jojo Moyes' Me Before You,  26-year-old Louisa Clark lives a small, cautious life when she suddenly finds herself unemployed. With no skills or interests to speak of, she reluctantly takes a job caring for Will, a quadriplegic, formerly of great adventure and success. Befriending Will, Louisa learns what it really means to live life to the fullest. —Megan Margino, Milstein Division

I suggest Demon Hunting in A Dive Bar by Lexi George. "It's Last Call On Earth" ... Yes, okay, the entire premise is a bit (completely) outrageous, but at no point is the absurdity not unconditionally embraced and well leveraged. If you're looking for a good laugh, you can tolerate the humidity outside New Orleans, and you're open to the idea of love between a demon dive bar owner (okay, half demon dive bar owner) and a demon hunter who are also friends with a piano-playing ghost, then Lexi George has you covered. The situations, the characters, and the plot all go from go from weird to ridiculous as you turn the pages. A fantastic read for summer and a Romance Writers of America award finalist for 2014! Warning: Read at home or be laughing in public. —Jaqueline Woolcott, AskNYPL

Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan - Three generations of the same family collide (including a young 20-something) when they all spend the summer together at the family's beach house in Maine. Attachments by Rainbow Rowell - Best friends Beth and Jennifer spend their days at their desk jobs at a newspaper trading long emails about their lives and gossiping about their co-workers. Lincoln, the IT guy who monitors the company emails finds himself a peeping tom on their stories and slowly realizes he's falling in love with Beth. This is a love story of emails and missed connections. Well known YA author Rowell finds the sweet, honest humor in this light romance. Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner -The plans of four women--including a college student egg donor, a working-class surrogate mother, a wealthy woman, and her stepdaughter--are thrown into turmoil when the wealthy woman's husband suddenly dies and names the stepdaughter the unborn baby's guardian. Perfect Timing by Jill Mansell - The normally predictable Poppy meets Tom, a perfect stranger, the night before her wedding to her staid fiance, Roy. Unable to forget him she cancels the wedding and moves to London to try and find him. Turns out her new life and fun new friends make Poppy's life anything but predictable. A British author, Mansell's books are always laugh- out-loud funny, sexy, romantic and touching. Luckily, there are a lot to choose from. This one just happens to be my favorite. The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan - Before she died tragically in a car crash at the age of 22, recent Yale grad Marina Keegan was about to set the New York theater and literary worlds on fire. Luckily, she left behind a treasure trove of essays and short stories that perfectly articulate the struggle to become the person we want to be and impact the world in a (hopefully) meaningful way.  —Anne Rouyer, Mulberry Street