← Contemporary Fiction

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