Literary Fiction

Literary fiction is a term that has come into common usage in the early 1960s. The term is principally used to distinguish "serious fiction" which is a work that claims to hold literary merit, in comparison from genre fiction and popular fiction. The name literature is sometimes used for this genre, although it can also refer to a broader category of writing. ...more

The Burning Side
The Things We Never Say
John of John
Enormous Wings
Good Joy, Bad Joy
June Baby
Canon
Take Me with You
Night Objects
Solace House
Hunger and Thirst
The Lost Book of Lancelot
Waiting on a Friend
Mercy Hill
Hungered
  • Mia by Leslie Bazzett
    Mia

    Release date: Aug 11, 2026
    Enter for a chance to win Mia, perfect for fans of Emma Cline and Mona Awad!
    View Details »

    Format: Print book

    Giveaway ends in: a

    Availability: 10 copies available, 6001 people requesting

    Giveaway dates: Jun 01 - Jun 29, 2026

    Countries available: U.S.

  • Sunrise by Téa Obreht
    Sunrise
    by

    Release date: Aug 11, 2026
    We're giving away 20 ARCs of Téa Obreht's SUNRISE! Enter for a chance to win! ...more
    View Details »

    Format: Print book

    Giveaway ends in: a

    Availability: 20 copies available, 7439 people requesting

    Giveaway dates: May 30 - Jun 29, 2026

    Countries available: U.S.

  • Jacaranda by Gaël Faye
    Jacaranda: A Novel
    by

    Release date: Aug 25, 2026
    We're giving away 10 copies of JACARANDA by Gaël Faye! ...more
    View Details »

    Format: Print book

    Giveaway ends in: a

    Availability: 10 copies available, 3188 people requesting

    Giveaway dates: Jun 01 - Jun 29, 2026

    Countries available: U.S.

  • The Four Winds
    The Bright Years
    The Burning Side
    The Compound
    Tom Lake
    Culpability
    Go Gentle
    Sunburn
    A Family Matter
    So Old, So Young
    Comerás flores
    A Good Person
    Villa Coco
    Beautiful World, Where Are You
    Daughters of the Sun and Moon
    The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret AtwoodThe Bell Jar by Sylvia PlathJane Eyre by Charlotte BrontëA Room of One’s Own by Virginia WoolfThe Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir
    Best Feminist Books
    2,866 books — 4,183 voters
    My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth RussellAmerican Dirt by Jeanine CumminsThe Vanishing Half by Brit BennettThe Glass Hotel by Emily St. John MandelSuch a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
    Anticipated 2020 Literary Fiction
    605 books — 1,288 voters

    Never My Father's Daughter by Bamini SelladuraiThe Joy Luck Club by Amy TanNever My Father's Daughter by Bamini SelladuraiThe Kite Runner by Khaled HosseiniThe Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
    Immigrant Experience Literature
    1,079 books — 1,808 voters
    The Book Thief by Markus ZusakCatch-22 by Joseph HellerSlaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony DoerrAtonement by Ian McEwan
    World War II Fiction
    1,479 books — 2,208 voters

    Fingersmith by Sarah WatersTipping the Velvet by Sarah WatersAnnie on My Mind by Nancy GardenFried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie FlaggThe Price of Salt by Claire  Morgan
    Best Lesbian Fiction
    2,157 books — 2,694 voters
    1984 by George OrwellAnimal Farm by George OrwellGuns, Germs, and Steel by Jared DiamondBrave New World by Aldous HuxleyMan's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
    Best Books To Frame Thinking
    1,371 books — 1,589 voters

    Normal People
    The Secret History
    Yellowface
    The Goldfinch
    Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
    A Little Life
    Never Let Me Go
    The Great Gatsby
    My Year of Rest and Relaxation
    On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
    The Vanishing Half
    The Bell Jar
    To Kill a Mockingbird
    The Handmaid's Tale
    Little Fires Everywhere

    Related Genres

    Related News

    Land begins with a mapmaker, his son, and an enchanted well that changes their lives forever on the western peninsula of Ireland.   Maggie...
    Marcia Breece
    The music felt like a special gift from Ted, a view into his soul.
    Marcia Breece, The Last Bottle

    Yvonne Korshak
    On the Acropolis, he’d thought she’d seen too much sun for a woman but in the courtyard, under the moon, her face, neck, and arms were as pale as the moon goddess. Allowing himself to imagine it was the moon goddess leading him upward was a way of climbing to the second story.
    Yvonne Korshak, Pericles and Aspasia: A Story of Ancient Greece

    More quotes...
    Coffee Break Book Club ☕ NEWS & UPDATES CLOSED - 2026 June 23…more
    1,102 members, last active 6 days ago
    The Quiet Damage. This group is for readers and writers who want more from literature than distraction. We read b…more
    2 members, last active 9 days ago
    The History Book Club "Interested in history - then you have found the right group". The History Book Club i…more
    26,268 members, last active 11 hours ago
    Underground Knowledge — A discussion group This global discussion group has been designed to encourage debates about important and underrep…more
    25,732 members, last active 11 hours ago

    Tags

    Tags contributing to this page include: literary-fiction, fiction-literature, literary, and literature-fiction