The 50 best literary fiction books
The best literary fiction books ranked: character-driven novels, prize winners and modern classics. A top 50 with short reviews and where to read each one.
Literary fiction cares as much about how a story is told as what happens in it. The 50 books here include prize-winners, modern classics and widely read novels that are easy to start, including a few you may have been meaning to read for years.
These are editorial picks, ranked for readability and lasting appeal, and nobody pays to be on the list. Not sure where to start? Try the book finder and get three picks for your mood.
Top 50 literary fiction books, ranked
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To Kill a Mockingbird
A lawyer defends a Black man in a racially divided Alabama town, seen through his daughter's eyes.
- Thoughtful
- Moving
Where to read
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The Great Gatsby
A mysterious millionaire throws lavish parties in the hope of winning back a lost love.
- Thoughtful
- Moving
Where to read
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A Man Called Ove
A grumpy widower is drawn into his neighbours' lives.
- Funny
- Moving
Where to read
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The Kite Runner
A man tries to atone for a childhood betrayal in Afghanistan.
- Moving
Where to read
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Where the Crawdads Sing
A girl raised alone in the North Carolina marshes becomes the suspect in a murder.
- Moving
- Gripping
Where to read
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Life of Pi
A boy survives a shipwreck on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger.
- Thoughtful
- Inspiring
Where to read
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The Alchemist
A shepherd's journey to follow his dreams.
- Inspiring
- Thoughtful
Where to read
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Beloved
A formerly enslaved woman is haunted by the past in post-Civil War Ohio.
- Moving
- Thoughtful
Where to read
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Normal People
Two Irish teenagers drift together and apart over the years.
- Thoughtful
- Moving
Where to read
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Little Fires Everywhere
A landlord and her tenants collide in a planned suburb in Ohio.
- Thoughtful
- Gripping
Where to read
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Americanah
A Nigerian woman and her first love build separate lives in the United States and Britain.
- Thoughtful
- Moving
Where to read
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The Remains of the Day
An English butler looks back on his years of service and the choices he made.
- Thoughtful
Where to read
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Atonement
A young girl's false accusation changes the lives of two lovers.
- Moving
Where to read
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The Midnight Library
Between life and death, a woman gets to try the lives she might have lived.
- Inspiring
- Thoughtful
Where to read
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Remarkably Bright Creatures
A widow working nights at an aquarium befriends a clever giant Pacific octopus.
- Cozy
- Moving
Where to read
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Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
A socially awkward woman's life changes after a small kindness.
- Funny
- Moving
Where to read
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Anxious People
A failed bank robber takes a group of apartment-viewers hostage.
- Funny
- Moving
Where to read
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The Secret Life of Bees
A teenager runs away with her caregiver to a house of beekeeping sisters in 1960s South Carolina.
- Cozy
- Moving
Where to read
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Where'd You Go, Bernadette
A teenager searches for her eccentric mother.
- Funny
- Thoughtful
Where to read
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Klara and the Sun
An artificial friend watches closely and learns what love might mean.
- Moving
- Thoughtful
Where to read
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Station Eleven
A travelling theatre company performs Shakespeare in the world after a pandemic.
- Moving
- Thoughtful
Where to read
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One Hundred Years of Solitude
Seven generations of the Buendia family in the town of Macondo.
- Thoughtful
- Moving
Where to read
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The Road
A father and son walk through a burned America.
- Moving
- Gripping
Where to read
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A Little Life
Four friends in New York over decades. Contains graphic trauma.
- Moving
Where to read
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The Goldfinch
A boy keeps a painting after a terrorist attack in a museum.
- Thoughtful
- Gripping
Where to read
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The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
A Dominican-American nerd dreams of love and writes fantasy.
- Funny
- Moving
Where to read
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Middlesex
A family saga told by an intersex narrator.
- Thoughtful
- Funny
Where to read
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Gilead
An elderly preacher writes a letter to his young son.
- Thoughtful
- Moving
Where to read
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The God of Small Things
Twins in Kerala, a family tragedy and forbidden love.
- Moving
- Thoughtful
Where to read
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The Reluctant Fundamentalist
A Pakistani man tells an American stranger his story over dinner in Lahore.
- Thoughtful
- Gripping
Where to read
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Exit West
A couple flee their country through magic doors.
- Thoughtful
- Moving
Where to read
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Home Fire
Two British Muslim families are drawn into politics and tragedy.
- Gripping
- Moving
Where to read
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Things Fall Apart
A proud leader in an Igbo village faces the arrival of colonial rule.
- Thoughtful
- Moving
Where to read
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Their Eyes Were Watching God
A woman in Florida searches for her own voice and love.
- Moving
- Inspiring
Where to read
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The Bluest Eye
A young Black girl longs for blue eyes in 1940s Ohio.
- Moving
Where to read
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The Color Purple
A woman in rural Georgia finds strength through letters.
- Moving
- Inspiring
Where to read
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Olive Kitteridge
Linked stories about a blunt retired teacher in a Maine town.
- Thoughtful
- Moving
Where to read
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Lincoln in the Bardo
Ghosts in a graveyard surround President Lincoln's dead son.
- Thoughtful
- Moving
Where to read
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The Overstory
Nine people are drawn together by their connection to trees.
- Thoughtful
- Inspiring
Where to read
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Cloud Atlas
Six linked stories across centuries.
- Thoughtful
- Gripping
Where to read
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Cutting for Stone
Twin brothers are raised in an Addis Ababa hospital.
- Moving
- Thoughtful
Where to read
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The Sympathizer
A communist double agent flees Vietnam for America.
- Thoughtful
- Gripping
Where to read
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Conversations with Friends
A student and her ex-girlfriend meet a married couple.
- Thoughtful
Where to read
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Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
Two friends build video games across three decades.
- Moving
- Inspiring
Where to read
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Demon Copperhead
A boy born in a trailer in Appalachia grows up in foster care.
- Moving
- Funny
Where to read
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The Vanishing Half
Twin sisters choose to live in very different worlds.
- Moving
- Thoughtful
Where to read
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Stoner
The quiet life of a university professor in Missouri.
- Thoughtful
- Moving
Where to read
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Disgrace
A disgraced professor retreats to his daughter's farm in South Africa.
- Thoughtful
Where to read
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Blindness
An epidemic of blindness breaks down a city.
- Thoughtful
- Gripping
Where to read
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The Stranger
A detached man commits a murder in Algiers.
- Thoughtful
Where to read
Each link opens that store’s search for the book. Availability and prices vary by store and country. We may earn a commission from some stores, which never changes the ranking.
Types of literary fiction books
Looking for something more specific? These are the main kinds of literary fiction, with the sort of story or subject each one covers.
Contemporary literary fiction
Modern lives written with close attention.
Family sagas
Generations, secrets and inheritance.
Book club picks
Novels that start a conversation.
Magical realism
Everyday life with a touch of the impossible.
Prize winners
Booker, Pulitzer and National Book Award titles.
Short, quiet novels
Under 250 pages and worth rereading.
Want to write and publish your own literary fiction book?
Many readers of this page are also writers. The stores in the lists above are where readers find books, while Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, IngramSpark, Lulu and Draft2Digital are the tools authors use to publish and distribute a book to those stores. You can also publish to Barnes & Noble Press and Google Play Books directly.
Our free KDP calculators help with print cost, royalties and cover size, and our publishing services can take care of setup for you.
Frequently asked questions
What makes a book literary fiction?
Literary fiction is usually character-driven, with more attention to language, theme and interior life than to plot twists. The line with commercial fiction is blurry.
Which literary novels are easiest to read?
A Man Called Ove, The Kite Runner, Where the Crawdads Sing and Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine are accessible and widely loved.
Where can I read or buy the best literary fiction books?
Each of the 50 books has links to Amazon, Kindle, Barnes & Noble and Google Play Books. Authors who want to publish their own literary fiction book can start with our free guides to Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, Lulu and Draft2Digital.
Not sure what to read next?
Pick a genre and a mood and the book finder will suggest three books to try.