5 Must-Read Contemporary Literary Fiction Novels
Looking for some seriously good reads? Check out these five contemporary literary fiction novels that’ll hook you from page one. With stories that feel as real as your favorite coffee shop, these books bring modern life to the forefront. Get ready for characters you’ll love and narratives that’ll make you think.
Clear-Cuts
by Joshua S. Narins
Release Date: October 6, 2023
In seventy-two hours, a father’s legend, a family’s ancestral lore, and two brothers will all collide. A raw, visceral, unflinching tale about the ties that bind coming unbound. Set in the rough-hewn woods of northern Maine, Clear-Cuts is a dynamic, immersive reading experience for plot-centric devotees and character-driven fiction fans alike.
Buy on AmazonZenegades
by Joe Wirth
Release Date: October 7, 2023
The counterculture novel you’ve been waiting for is finally here! This full-throttle, pannier-filled tour de force has readers raving about new facets of the Millennial experience that have never been put into words, and this Zen-themed story has people questioning their own societal compliance!
Buy on AmazonThe Vulnerables
by Sigrid Nunez
Release Date: November 7, 2023
The Vulnerables offers a meditation on our contemporary era, as a solitary female narrator asks what it means to be alive at this complex moment in history and considers how our present reality affects the way a person looks back on her past.
Buy on AmazonSame Bed Different Dreams
by Ed Park
Release Date: November 7, 2023
A wild, sweeping novel that imagines an alternate secret history of Korea and the traces it leaves on the present—loaded with assassins and mad poets, RPGs and slasher films, pop bands and the perils of social media
Buy on AmazonThe Conversion
by Amanda Lohrey
Release Date: October 31, 2023
A startling novel about the homes we live in: how we shape them, and how they shape us. Like Amanda Lohrey’s bestselling The Labyrinth, it is distinguished by its deep intelligence, eye for human drama and effortless readability.
Buy on Amazon