Contemporary fiction that sticks to your ribs
Discover the most memorable contemporary fiction books that stick to your ribs. Explore gripping stories and unforgettable characters in this curated list of must-read novels.
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Theft
by Peter Carey
Michael "Butcher" Boone is an ex-“really famous" painter, now reduced to living in a remote country house and acting as caretaker for his younger brother, …
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In the Country of Last Things
by Paul Auster
From New York Times bestselling author Paul Auster, a dystopian, post-apocalyptic novel “reminiscent in many ways of Orwell’s 1984” (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution). “Powerful, original, imaginative, …
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Motherless Brooklyn
by Jonathan Lethem
When Lionel's friend is killed, he is forced to delve into the complex, shadowy web of relationships, threats, and favors that make up the Brooklyn …
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Sacred Games
by Vikram Chandra
Receiving an anonymous tip that promises to lead to the capture of a powerful criminal overlord, Bombay police officer Sartaj Singh finds himself nearing his …
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The God of Small Things
by Arundhati Roy
Set against a background of political turbulence in Kerala, this is the story of twins Esthappen and Rahel who try to craft a childhood for …
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The Namesake
by Jhumpa Lahiri
A young man born of Indian parents in America struggles with issues of identity from his teens to his thirties.
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The Autograph Man
by Zadie Smith
From the New York Times bestselling author of Swing Time and one of the most revered writers of her generation comes an "intelligent ... exquisitely …
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Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
by Haruki Murakami
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of 1Q84 and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle comes a relentlessly inventive novel that dives deep into the …
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My Life as a Fake
by Peter Carey
Fiendishly devious and addictively readable, Peter Carey’s My Life as a Fake is a moral labyrinth constructed around the uneasy relationship between literature and lying. …
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The Tax Inspector
by Peter Carey
"On the day that she awoke remembering nothing but her name, Kahlan Amnell became the most dangerous woman alive. For everyone else, that was the …
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The Information
by Martin Amis
Fame, envy, lust, violence, intrigues literary and criminal—they're all here in The Information, as one of the most gifted and innovative novelists of our time …
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Leviathan
by Paul Auster
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A “compelling” (Los Angeles Times) novel of friendship, betrayal, estrangement, and the unpredictable intrusions of violence in the everyday—from “a literary original …
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The Calcutta Chromosome
by Amitav Ghosh
From Victorian lndia to near-future New York, The Calcutta Chromosome takes readers on a wondrous journey through time as a computer programmer trapped in a …
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Half a Life
by V. S. Naipaul
In a narrative that moves with dreamlike swiftness from India to England to Africa, Nobel Laureate V. S. Naipaul has produced his finest novel to …
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Never Let Me Go
by Kazuo Ishiguro
NOBEL PRIZE WINNER • From the acclaimed, bestselling author of The Remains of the Day comes “a Gothic tour de force" (The New York Times) …
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A Number
by Caryl Churchill
A remarkable follow up play to Far Away by one of England's most astonishing playwrights.
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A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters
by Julian Barnes
A “playful, witty, and entertaining” book (The New York Times Book Review) that offers an exhilarating vision of the world, starting with the voyage of …
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My Name Is Red
by Orhan Pamuk
The Nobel Prize winner and one of today's most prominent contemporary Turkish writers delivers a novel that is a fiendishly devious mystery, a beguiling love …