Contemporary Fiction

Stories of modern life — family, identity, work and belonging.

10 books

Tragicomedy

Anxious People

Fredrik Backman · 2019

A failed bank robbery becomes an accidental hostage situation at an apartment viewing.

swedenhostagetv-adaptation

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Literary Contemporary

Convenience Store Woman

Sayaka Murata · 2016

A woman who has worked in a convenience store for 18 years finds her place in its rhythms.

japantranslation

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Contemporary Drama

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine

Gail Honeyman · 2017

A socially isolated woman's careful routines crack open through an unexpected friendship.

award-winnerloneliness

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Historical Contemporary

Lessons in Chemistry

Bonnie Garmus · 2022

A chemist in the 1960s becomes an unlikely television cooking star.

1960stv-adaptationbestseller

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Domestic Fiction

Little Fires Everywhere

Celeste Ng · 2017

A picture-perfect suburb is upended by an enigmatic artist and an adoption battle.

tv-adaptationsuburbia

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Social Satire

Such a Fun Age

Kiley Reid · 2019

A young Black babysitter is accused of kidnapping the white child she cares for.

debutrace

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Speculative Contemporary

The Midnight Library

Matt Haig · 2020

Between life and death, Nora Seed gets to try every life she could have lived.

parallel-livesbestseller

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Family Saga

The Vanishing Half

Brit Bennett · 2020

Twin sisters from a Black Southern town choose different racial identities and lives.

identitytwins

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Literary Contemporary

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

Gabrielle Zevin · 2022

Two friends build video games and a complicated creative partnership across decades.

video-gamesfriendshipaward-winner

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Coming-of-Age

Where the Crawdads Sing

Delia Owens · 2018

The marsh-raised 'Marsh Girl' becomes a suspect in a North Carolina murder.

bestsellerfilm-adaptation

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Other genres