Get Started with the 10 Best Literary Fiction Books

Literary Fiction can be known as an umbrella genre, its books ranging in theme from romantic to comedic to dramatic. We’re breaking down the top ten best Literary Fiction titles that are sure to entertain, no matter your reader preferences. Even better? These books are wide, meaning that you can find them on all your favorite retailers. Keep scrolling for our best Literary Fiction list!


Best Literary Fiction - Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty

1. Apples Never Fall

by Liane Moriarty

Beloved amongst their community and the envy of their friends, Stan and Joy Delaney seem to have it all. Along with their four children, the entire family is known for being tennis stars. With everything going for Stan and Joy, why are they so unhappy? This book takes a look at how the people closest to us can hurt us the most.

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The Best Literary Fiction - The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

2. The Last Thing He Told Me

by Laura Dave

After receiving a mysterious note, Hannah Hall’s world begins to crumble as she realizes that her husband was not the person he said he was. Hannah, joined by her stepdaughter Bailey, must set out to learn the truth about the man they both love as they build a new future with each other.

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The Best Literary Fiction - The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

3. The Midnight Library

by Matt Haig

There’s a library with an infinite number of books somewhere beyond the universe. Each book contains the tale of a different reality. One book describes your life as it currently is; others describe your life as it could have been… if you’d made a variety of different decisions. Would you read the books? Would you dare find out what other lives you could have known?

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The Best Literary Fiction - The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

4. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

by Taylor Jenkins Reid

When Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is ready to tell her life story, she chooses an unknown magazine reporter named Monique for the job. No one is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? And why now? This “wildly addictive journey of a reclusive Hollywood starlet” (PopSugar) will keep you on your toes with the turn of each page.

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The Best Literary Fiction - Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen

5. Crossroads

by Jonathan Franzen

It’s December 23, 1971, and heavy weather is forecast for Chicago. Russ Hildebrandt, the associate pastor of a liberal suburban church, is on the brink of breaking free of a marriage he finds joyless—unless his wife, Marion, who has her own secret life, beats him to it.

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The Best Literary Fiction - Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead

6. Harlem Shuffle

by Colson Whitehead

Ray Carney is an upstanding salesman of reasonably priced furniture, making a decent life for himself and his family. He and his wife Elizabeth are expecting their second child, and even if her parents on Striver’s Row disapprove of him or their cramped apartment across from the subway tracks, it’s still home. Few people know that he descends from a line of uptown hoods and crooks. The cracks in Ray’s normalcy are getting bigger… Day by day.

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The Best Literary Fiction - The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller

7. The Paper Palace

by Miranda Cowley Heller

Elle is fifty years old, considers herself happily married, and is a mother of three. One July morning, she awakens at “The Paper Place” – her family’s home that she’s spent every summer of her life visiting. Everything should be perfect. But she and Jonas, Elle’s oldest friend, had sex with each other for the first time just the night before. What comes next is a love story filled with secrets and lies.

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The Best Literary Fiction - Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout

8. Oh William!

by Elizabeth Strout

Strout looks at marriage and secrecy in this New York Times bestseller, exploring what happens when a formerly married couple must take a look at where they’ve been – and what they’ve left behind. “The depth, complexity, and love contained in these pages is a miraculous achievement.”—Ann Patchett, author of The Dutch House.

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The Best Literary Fiction - The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

9. The Personal Librarian

by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

In a remarkable story, a Black American woman passes as white. J.P. Morgan’s personal librarian, Belle da Costa Greene, was forced to hide her true identity and in order to leave a lasting legacy that enriched our nation. This story, from New York Times bestselling authors Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray, will capture your full attention.

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The Best Literary Fiction - In Five Years by Rebecca Serle

10. In Five Years

by Rebecca Serle

Dannie Kohan is the opposite of her wild, spontaneous best friend named Bella. Dannie is a planner, choosing to live her life by numbers and play it safe. But when she wakes up one morning, everything has changed. She’s in a new apartment. She’s engaged to a different man. For one hour, Dannie sees a very different life she could be living.

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