← Contemporary Fiction
Reading List

The Contemporary Fiction Top 100 — Best Contemporary Fiction Books

The best contemporary fiction — the novels that are defining literature right now.

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The Road
1
The Road
Cormac McCarthy
2006
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My Brilliant Friend
2
My Brilliant Friend
Elena Ferrante
2011
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The Corrections
3
The Corrections
Jonathan Franzen
2001
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Wolf Hall
4
Wolf Hall
Hilary Mantel
2009
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The Known World
5
The Known World
Edward P. Jones
2003
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Never Let Me Go
6
Never Let Me Go
Kazuo Ishiguro
2005
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A Visit from the Goon Squad
7
A Visit from the Goon Squad
Jennifer Egan
2010
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The Underground Railroad
8
The Underground Railroad
Colson Whitehead
2016
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Lincoln in the Bardo
9
Lincoln in the Bardo
George Saunders
2017
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2666
10
2666
Roberto Bolano
2004
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Gilead
11
Gilead
Marilynne Robinson
2004
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The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
12
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Junot Diaz
2007
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Normal People
13
Normal People
Sally Rooney
2018
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Beautiful World Where Are You
14
Beautiful World Where Are You
Sally Rooney
2021
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A Little Life
15
A Little Life
Hanya Yanagihara
2015
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Pachinko
16
Pachinko
Min Jin Lee
2017
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Americanah
17
Americanah
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
2013
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The Kite Runner
18
The Kite Runner
Khaled Hosseini
2003
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A Thousand Splendid Suns
19
A Thousand Splendid Suns
Khaled Hosseini
2007
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The Shadow of the Wind
20
The Shadow of the Wind
Carlos Ruiz Zafon
2001
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The Night Circus
21
The Night Circus
Erin Morgenstern
2011
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The Goldfinch
22
The Goldfinch
Donna Tartt
2013
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Station Eleven
23
Station Eleven
Emily St. John Mandel
2014
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The Sea of Tranquility
24
The Sea of Tranquility
Emily St. John Mandel
2022
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The Sympathizer
25
The Sympathizer
Viet Thanh Nguyen
2015
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Homegoing
26
Homegoing
Yaa Gyasi
2016
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Trust
27
Trust
Hernan Diaz
2022
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Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
28
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
Gabrielle Zevin
2022
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Lessons in Chemistry
29
Lessons in Chemistry
Bonnie Garmus
2022
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The Covenant of Water
30
The Covenant of Water
Abraham Verghese
2023
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Demon Copperhead
31
Demon Copperhead
Barbara Kingsolver
2022
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On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
32
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
Ocean Vuong
2019
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The Midnight Library
33
The Midnight Library
Matt Haig
2020
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The Overstory
34
The Overstory
Richard Powers
2018
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Cloud Atlas
35
Cloud Atlas
David Mitchell
2004
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The Remains of the Day
36
The Remains of the Day
Kazuo Ishiguro
1989
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Klara and the Sun
37
Klara and the Sun
Kazuo Ishiguro
2021
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A Gentleman in Moscow
38
A Gentleman in Moscow
Amor Towles
2016
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Rules of Civility
39
Rules of Civility
Amor Towles
2011
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The Sense of an Ending
40
The Sense of an Ending
Julian Barnes
2011
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Piranesi
41
Piranesi
Susanna Clarke
2020
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Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
42
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
Gail Honeyman
2017
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Where the Crawdads Sing
43
Where the Crawdads Sing
Delia Owens
2018
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The Dutch House
44
The Dutch House
Ann Patchett
2019
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Bel Canto
45
Bel Canto
Ann Patchett
2001
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The Lovely Bones
46
The Lovely Bones
Alice Sebold
2002
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The Time Traveler's Wife
47
The Time Traveler's Wife
Audrey Niffenegger
2003
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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
48
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Mark Haddon
2003
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Life of Pi
49
Life of Pi
Yann Martel
2001
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Atonement
50
Atonement
Ian McEwan
2001
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