Modern Fiction reading

Here is my current reading list for fiction (excluding science fiction, covered elsewhere). This broadly covers “modern” fiction, by which I essentially mean anything that’s contemporary or near-contemporary or not what many of us would consider the “classics”. It’s vague and subject to my ignorance. The “classics” are covered here.

Completed

Normal People Sally Rooney Normal People ★★★★
The Alchemist Paulo Coelho The Alchemist ★★★★
The Sense of an Ending Julian Barnes The Sense of an Ending ★★★★
Conversations with Friends Sally Rooney Conversations with Friends ★★★
Strange Weather in Tokyo Hiromi Kawakami Strange Weather in Tokyo ★★★
Burnt Sugar Avni Doshi Burnt Sugar ★★★
A Burning Megha Majumdar A Burning ★

Higher priority

The Bridge Iain Banks The Bridge
The Only Story Julian Barnes The Only Story
Outline Rachel Cusk Outline
Some Trick Helen DeWitt Some Trick
Small Country Gael Faye Small Country
The Neapolitan Novels Elena Ferrante The Neapolitan Novels
Asymmetry Lisa Halliday Asymmetry
Moustache S. Hareesh Moustache
The Flight of the Arconaut Sophia Khan The Flight of the Arconaut
My Struggle Karl Ove Knausgaard My Struggle
Pachinko Min Jin Lee Pachinko
Bring Up the Bodies Hilary Mantel Bring Up the Bodies
Wolf Hall Hilary Mantel Wolf Hall
1,000 Books to Read Before You Die James Mustich 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die
Mirror, Shoulder, Signal Dorthe Nors Mirror, Shoulder, Signal
The Complete Review Guide to Contemporary World Fiction M. A. Orthofer The Complete Review Guide to Contemporary World Fiction
Moon of the Crusted Snow Waubgeshig Rice Moon of the Crusted Snow
Tenth of December George Saunders Tenth of December
Ghachar Ghochar Vivek Shanbhag Ghachar Ghochar
The English Girl Daniel Silva The English Girl
The Rosie Project Graeme Simsion The Rosie Project
White Teeth Zadie Smith White Teeth
The Ice Palace Tarjei Vesaas The Ice Palace
The Broom of the System David Foster Wallace The Broom of the System

Lower priority

Americanah Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Americanah
2666 Roberto Bolano 2666
The Savage Detectives Roberto Bolano The Savage Detectives
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler Italo Calvino If on a Winter's Night a Traveler
Our Ancestors Trilogy Italo Calvino Our Ancestors Trilogy
Underworld Don DeLillo Underworld
White Noise Don DeLillo White Noise
Zero K Don DeLillo Zero K
Fire on the Mountain Anita Desai Fire on the Mountain
In Custody Anita Desai In Custody
Ratno Dholi Dhumketu Ratno Dholi
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Junot Diaz The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
This is How You Lose Her Junot Diaz This is How You Lose Her
Empire of Wild Cherie Dimaline Empire of Wild
Foucault's Pendulum Umberto Eco Foucault's Pendulum
The Name of the Rose Umberto Eco The Name of the Rose
Actress Anne Enright Actress
Freedom Jonathan Franzen Freedom
The Corrections Jonathan Franzen The Corrections
JR William Gaddis JR
The Recognitions William Gaddis The Recognitions
Ibis Trilogy Amitav Ghosh Ibis Trilogy
The Calcutta Chromosome Amitav Ghosh The Calcutta Chromosome
The Glass Palace Amitav Ghosh The Glass Palace
A Burnt-Out Case Graham Greene A Burnt-Out Case
The End of the Affair Graham Greene The End of the Affair
Travels with My Aunt Graham Greene Travels with My Aunt
Serotonin Michel Houellebecq Serotonin
The Map and the Territory Michel Houellebecq The Map and the Territory
Interpreter of Maladies Jhumpa Lahiri Interpreter of Maladies
A Most Wanted Man John Le Carre A Most Wanted Man
Smiley's People John Le Carre Smiley's People
The Constant Gardener John Le Carre The Constant Gardener
The Night Manager John Le Carre The Night Manager
The Spy Who Came In from the Cold John Le Carre The Spy Who Came In from the Cold
The Tailor of Panama John Le Carre The Tailor of Panama
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy John Le Carre Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Gun, With Occasional Music Jonathan Lethem Gun, With Occasional Music
The Fortress of Solitude Jonathan Lethem The Fortress of Solitude
All the Pretty Horses Cormac McCarthy All the Pretty Horses
Blood Meridian Cormac McCarthy Blood Meridian
No Country for Old Men Cormac McCarthy No Country for Old Men
The Road Cormac McCarthy The Road
Amsterdam Ian McEwan Amsterdam
Atonement Ian McEwan Atonement
CIRCE Madeline Miller CIRCE
A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry A Fine Balance
Cloud Atlas David Mitchell Cloud Atlas
Villa Triste Patrick Modiano Villa Triste
Runaway Alice Munro Runaway
1Q84 Haruki Murakami 1Q84
A Wild Sheep Chase Haruki Murakami A Wild Sheep Chase
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World Haruki Murakami Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
Kafka on the Shore Haruki Murakami Kafka on the Shore
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle Haruki Murakami The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
The Sympathizer Viet Thanh Nguyen The Sympathizer
Gilead Marilynne Robinson Gilead
Son of a Trickster Eden Robinson Son of a Trickster
The Folded Earth Anuradha Roy The Folded Earth
The God of Small Things Arundhati Roy The God of Small Things
Super Sad True Love Story Gary Shteyngart Super Sad True Love Story
The Sunday Philosophy Club Alexander McCall Smith The Sunday Philosophy Club
The Legends of Khasak O. V. Vijayan The Legends of Khasak
Infinite Jest David Foster Wallace Infinite Jest
Life and Death are Wearing Me Out Mo Yan Life and Death are Wearing Me Out
Red Sorghum Mo Yan Red Sorghum


The White Tiger Aravind Adiga The White Tiger
The Story of a Brief Marriage Anuk Arudpragasam The Story of a Brief Marriage
The Theory of Clouds Stephane Audeguy The Theory of Clouds
The Storyteller's Secret Sejal Badani The Storyteller's Secret
Pond Claire-Louise Bennett Pond
Possession A. S. Byatt Possession
Texaco Patrick Chamoiseau Texaco
Sacred Games Vikram Chandra Sacred Games
The Inheritance of Loss Kiran Desai The Inheritance of Loss
A Visit from the Goon Squad Jennifer Egan A Visit from the Goon Squad
The Book of Strange New Things Michel Faber The Book of Strange New Things
Atmospheric Disturbances Rivka Galchen Atmospheric Disturbances
Our Man in Havana Graham Greene Our Man in Havana
The Quiet American Graham Greene The Quiet American
Less Andrew Sean Greer Less
Fates and Furies Lauren Groff Fates and Furies
The Nix Nathan Hill The Nix
Smilla's Sense of Snow Peter Hoeg Smilla's Sense of Snow
Birthday Letters Ted Hughes Birthday Letters
The Buried Giant Kazuo Ishiguro The Buried Giant
An American Marriage Tayari Jones An American Marriage
The Illicit Happiness of Other People Manu Joseph The Illicit Happiness of Other People
The Red Notebook Antoine Laurain The Red Notebook
On Such a Full Sea Chang-Rae Lee On Such a Full Sea
Kinder Than Solitude Yiyun Li Kinder Than Solitude
Where Reasons End Yiyun Li Where Reasons End
C Tom McCarthy C
Arturo's Island Elsa Morante Arturo's Island
A State of Freedom Neel Mukherjee A State of Freedom
Skippy Dies Paul Murray Skippy Dies
Seven Sixes Are Forty Three Kiran Nagarkar Seven Sixes Are Forty Three
The Changeling Kenzaburo Oe The Changeling
Hamnet Maggie O'Farrell Hamnet
The Memory Police Yoko Ogawa The Memory Police
The Moon and the Bonfire Cesar Pavese The Moon and the Bonfire
Shantaram Gregory David Roberts Shantaram
American Pastoral Philip Roth American Pastoral
Portnoy's Complaint Philip Roth Portnoy's Complaint
Sabbath's Theater Philip Roth Sabbath's Theater
The Human Stain Philip Roth The Human Stain
Fury Salman Rushdie Fury
Midnight's Children Salman Rushdie Midnight's Children
Shame Salman Rushdie Shame
The Satanic Verses Salman Rushdie The Satanic Verses
A Suitable Boy Vikram Seth A Suitable Boy
An Equal Music Vikram Seth An Equal Music
Ties Domenico Starnone Ties
Friday Michel Tournier Friday
The Four Wise Men Michel Tournier The Four Wise Men
Unquiet Linn Ullmann Unquiet
Collected Poems C. K. Williams Collected Poems
Nothing to See Here Kevin Wilson Nothing to See Here
Love in the New Millennium Can Xue Love in the New Millennium
Zuleikha Guzel Yakhina Zuleikha
A Little Life Hanya Yanagihara A Little Life
A Happy Marriage Rafael Yglesias A Happy Marriage

All book cover images are from Goodreads unless specified otherwise.