United States of America flag Contemporary fiction books from United States of America

Recommended contemporary fiction books (110)
Travel the world without leaving your chair. If you are into contemporary fiction here are some contemporary fiction books from United States of America for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge.

71.

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger EN

Rating: 4 (4 votes)
Description:
The "brilliant, funny, meaningful novel" (The New Yorker) that established J. D. Salinger as a leading voice in American literature--and that has instilled in millions of readers around the world a lifelong love of books. "If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth." The hero-narrator of The Catcher in the Rye is an ancient chi... continue

72.

The Cook by Harry Kressing EN

0 Ratings
Description:
The Cook opens with Conrad, nearly seven feet tall, gaunt, and dressed all in black, arriving on his bicycle in the town of Cobb. He quickly secures a job as cook for the wealthy Hill family, winning their hearts and stomachs with his delectable dishes, and before long he has everyone around him eating out of his hand. But Conrad has a sinister, inscrutable plan in view, and after becoming master of their palates, next may be their souls . . . A mouth-watering blend of delicious black humor and Kafkaesque horror story, The Cook (1965) is a dark fable "beginning in a vein of innocent fairy tale... continue

73.
The Correspondent

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans EN

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
Description:
“Subtly told and finely made, The Correspondent is a portrait of a small life expanding. Virginia Evans shows how one woman changes at a point when change had seemed impossible. That change, like this novel, turns out to be a cause for celebration.”—Ann Patchett LIBRARYREADS APRIL PICK • NAMED A GOOD HOUSEKEEPING (UK) MOST ANTICIPATED DEBUT “Imagine, the letters one has sent out into the world, the letters received back in turn, are like the pieces of a magnificent puzzle, or, a better metaphor, if dated, the links of a long chain, and even if those links are never put back together, which the... continue

74.

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett EN

Rating: 5 (4 votes)
Description:
Ann Patchett, the New York Times bestselling author of Commonwealth and State of Wonder, returns with her most powerful novel to date: a richly moving story that explores the indelible bond between two siblings, the house of their childhood, and a past that will not let them go. "'Do you think it's possible to ever see the past as it actually was?' I asked my sister. We were sitting in her car, parked in front of the Dutch House in the broad daylight of early summer." At the end of the Second World War, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to begin an enormous real estate e... continue

75.

The Fantasies of Future Things by Doug Jones EN

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
Description:
In this powerful debut reminiscent of Barry Jenkins’s Moonlight, two men in Atlanta reconcile their human dignity against the price of their professional ambitions working for a real estate development company displacing Black residents in preparation for the 1996 Olympics. Daily interactions between Jacob and Daniel are a powder keg of sexual tension and uncertainty. A recent Morehouse graduate and Brooklyn transplant, Jacob fears that accepting the truth of his sexuality will disappoint the hopes his parents have for him to lead a respectable life. Grieving the death of his mother while sear... continue

76.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom EN

Rating: 4 (4 votes)
Description:
When Eddie dies, trying to save a child from a terrible accident, he wakes up in heaven. Heaven, he discovers, is a place where your life on earth is finally explained to you. It is explained by five people, friends or strangers, who somehow affected your life - and who changed its path forever.

77.

The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane EN

0 Ratings
Description:
Malcolm Gephardt, gregarious bartender at the Half Moon in Upstate New York, has always dreamed of owning a bar. When his boss retires, Malcolm seizes his chance. His wife, Jess, has devoted herself to her law career, but after years of unsuccessfully trying for a baby finds herself slipping away from her work and her marriage. When a blizzard hits their town, on the same day that Malcolm learns some shocking news about Jess and a key patron of the bar disappears, everyone is trapped. Malcolm and Jess must suddenly look at what it means to be a family, and whether their futures lie elsewhere..... continue

78.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas EN

Rating: 4 (40 votes)
Description:
8 starred reviews ∙ William C. Morris Award Winner ∙ National Book Award Longlist ∙ Printz Honor Book ∙ Coretta Scott King Honor Book ∙ #1 New York Times Bestseller! "Absolutely riveting!" —Jason Reynolds "Stunning." —John Green "This story is necessary. This story is important." —Kirkus (starred review) "Heartbreakingly topical." —Publishers Weekly (starred review) "A marvel of verisimilitude." —Booklist (starred review) "A powerful, in-your-face novel." —Horn Book (starred review) Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy subu... continue

79.

The History of Love by Nicole Krauss EN

Rating: 5 (3 votes)
Description:
Sixty years after a book's publication, its author remembers his lost love and missing son, while a teenage girl named for one of the book's characters seeks her namesake, as well as a cure for her widowed mother's loneliness.

80.

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune EN

Rating: 4 (5 votes)
Description:
Lambda Literary Award-winning author TJ Klune’s bestselling, breakout contemporary fantasy that's "1984 meets The Umbrella Academy with a pinch of Douglas Adams thrown in." (Gail Carriger) A USA Today Bestseller! An Indie Next Pick! One of Publishers Weekly's "Most Anticipated Books of Spring 2020" One of Book Riot’s “20 Must-Read Feel-Good Fantasies” A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret. Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends hi... continue