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Modern Stories I Can’t Stop Thinking About
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items Character-driven, heartfelt, and binge-worthy. A curated shelf of my favorite contemporary novels — the ones with unforgettable characters, emotional depth, and plots that tug you in and don’t let go. Be sure to check out my other lists: benable.com/jillmariepaulson
With a long commute and a never-ending TBR, audiobooks have become my daily magic trick. While I still cherish my physical books and always have one of those in progress, too, I’d never get to enjoy even half the stories I love without them. Seriousl...
Audible
Set in present-day Mexico, American Dirt follows Lydia, a bookstore owner who flees Acapulco with her son after her journalist husband is murdered by a ruthless drug cartel, forcing them to embark on a harrowing journey as migrants toward the U.S. bo...
American Dirt
The Book of Fire by Christy Lefteri is a poignant and immersive novel set in a near-future world where climate change and political unrest have forced people to survive in ways we can’t quite imagine. It follows the story of a woman named Nuri as she...
The Book of Fire: A Novel
Every Breath by Nicholas Sparks is a contemporary romance set in present-day North Carolina and Zimbabwe, where a chance encounter between a traveling American man and a recently separated woman sparks a powerful love story. What makes this novel sta...
Every Breath
The Joy Luck Club is a contemporary literary fiction novel set in San Francisco and China, following four Chinese American daughters and their immigrant mothers as they navigate identity, generational conflict, and cultural legacy. What makes this no...
The Joy Luck Club
This contemporary mystery-drama, set in modern-day London, follows Emma, a renowned obituary writer, whose carefully constructed life unravels when her husband discovers she has been lying about nearly everything—including her name. With lyrical pros...
The Love of My Life: A Novel
Set in a small Pacific Northwest town, this contemporary novel weaves together the stories of a grieving widow who works the night shift at an aquarium and a surprisingly insightful giant Pacific octopus named Marcellus. 🐙💙 Remarkably Bright Creatu...
Remarkably Bright Creatures
The Sentence is a contemporary literary novel set in Minneapolis, blending the supernatural with real-world events as a haunted bookstore employee navigates the aftermath of a crime and the turmoil of 2020. Erdrich’s signature lyrical prose and dark ...
The Sentence
We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker is a crime fiction novel set in a small California coastal town during the present day, following the lives of a troubled sheriff, a convicted criminal, and a young girl seeking justice. With its lyrical prose, d...
We Begin at the End
The Wind Knows My Name is a contemporary novel with historical fiction elements, exploring the lives of two displaced children—one escaping Nazi-occupied Austria in 1938 and another fleeing violence in El Salvador in 2019—whose fates connect through ...
The Wind Knows My Name: A Novel
Yellowface is a contemporary literary satire set in present-day Washington, D.C., following the story of June Hayward, a struggling white author who steals the manuscript of her recently deceased, more successful Asian American friend—and publishes i...
Yellowface: A Reese's Book Club Pick
This beautifully written contemporary fiction novel unfolds in rural northern Canada, where a tragedy reshapes the lives of four siblings and the quiet town they call home. What really sets this book apart is its understated emotional punch—Lawson’s ...
Crow Lake
This contemporary psychological suspense novel takes you to Vancouver Island, where a woman wrongfully convicted as a teen returns home years later to uncover what really happened the night her sister was murdered. What makes it stand out is how Stev...
That Night: A Novel
This contemporary family drama moves between a woman’s present-day struggle to adopt a child and her haunting memories of growing up in the mountains of North Carolina, where secrets reshaped her entire understanding of love and trust. Chamberlain sh...
Pretending to Dance
This contemporary emotional drama centers on a husband in coastal Maine who faces an impossible choice when his pregnant wife falls into a coma, sparking a deeply personal and very public battle over love, loss, and what it means to honor someone’s w...
The Promise of Stardust: A Novel
This contemporary heartwarming fiction story unfolds in a small, struggling Swedish town where Britt-Marie—rigid, lonely, and armed with an intense devotion to baking soda and order—stumbles into new friendships, new purpose, and (gasp!) a little cha...
Britt Marie Was Here
This contemporary mystery–thriller follows a Minnesota college student whose simple class assignment—write a biography of a stranger—spirals into a dangerous quest for the truth about a dying convict and the decades-old crime he may not have committe...
The Life We Bury
This contemporary literary drama follows a world-class pianist whose ALS diagnosis forces him to confront the life he built—and the people he hurt—especially his estranged ex-wife who becomes his unexpected caregiver. Genova brings her neuroscience b...
Every Note Played
This contemporary literary fiction novel centers on a Palestinian American woman in the Chicago suburbs as she reflects on her life, faith, and identity in the aftermath of a violent hate crime at the Muslim girls’ school she leads. Mustafah’s storyt...
The Beauty of Your Face
This contemporary character-driven novel takes place in modern-day Scotland, where socially awkward, fiercely routine-loving Eleanor discovers that life gets a whole lot messier—and sweeter—when she starts letting people in. Honeyman’s standout magic...
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine