As promised, this month I’m sharing book recommendations from pretty much my whole adult life of reading, and I’m starting with arguably the broadest umbrella category: contemporary fiction. Technically, that refers to fiction published since 1990. I’m playing this a little loose and including a couple published in the 80s, because regardless of publication date, they feel contemporary.
This was a tough list to narrow down. Ultimately, the ones that made the list were stories that were so idiosyncratic or captivating that they were unputdownable, books that used the English language with delightful precision, perspectives that expanded my worldview more than the average book, or all three.
Before I get to the list, can I share one of my best tips for enjoying fiction?
Don’t read a summary. Guard yourself against plot points. Allow the book to happen, page by page, at its own pace. When I started reading fiction in this way, I found that I was able to really sink into the words without any sense of rushing the plot along, and with many of the books on this list, not knowing where they were going became such a treat. So I’ve done my best to reveal very little in my commentary below; in the rare occasions when I’ve alluded to plot points, they’re broad and mostly information you find out in the first few pages.
In chronological order of publication…
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