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Book reviews & excerpts from exceptional books set mainly in the present day (2000-current).

Contemporary

Recommended books found: 1,922

Bring the House Down

A Novel

by Charlotte Runcie

Hardcover: Jul 2025 | Paperback: Jul 2026

Critics' Consensus:

A theater critic at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe writes a vicious one-star review of a struggling actress he has a one-night stand with in this sharply funny, feminist tinderbox.

Hot Girls with Balls

A Novel

by Benedict Nguyen

Hardcover: Jul 2025 | Paperback: Jul 2026

Critics' Consensus:

In this outrageous and deeply serious satire, two star indoor volleyball players juggle unspoken jealousies in their off-court romance ahead of their rival teams' first rematch in a year.

The Emperor of Gladness

A Novel

by Ocean Vuong

Hardcover: May 2025 | Paperback: Jul 2026

Critics' Consensus:

Ocean Vuong returns with a bighearted novel about chosen family, unexpected friendship, and the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive.

Room on the Sea

Three Novellas

by Andre Aciman

Hardcover: Apr 2025 | Paperback: Jun 2026

Critics' Consensus:

Three hypnotic novellas about obsessional love, missed connections, and enduring regret by the bestselling author of Call Me by Your Name.

The House on Buzzards Bay

A Novel

by Dwyer Murphy

Hardcover: Jun 2025 | Paperback: Jun 2026

Critics' Consensus:

When a group of old college friends reunites for a summer vacation at a beach house in coastal Massachusetts, a sudden disappearance and the arrival of a seductive stranger threaten to unearth the darkest secrets of their relationships.

The Slip

A Novel

by Lucas Schaefer

Hardcover: Jun 2025 | Paperback: Jun 2026

Critics' Consensus:

For readers of Jonathan Franzen and Nathan Hill comes a haymaker of an American novel about a missing teenage boy, cases of fluid and mistaken identity, and the transformative power of boxing.

As If

A Novel

by Isabel Waidner

Paperback: Jun 2026

Critics' Consensus:

Two men meet in an apartment in London. They are strangers to one another, and yet they look remarkably alike.

Baby in a Box

Stories

by Sarah Braunstein

Paperback: Jun 2026

Critics' Consensus:

Prescient and idiosyncratic stories about the cost and joys of caretaking from a "sharp-witted, ravishing" (New York Times) writer.

So Far Gone

A Novel

by Jess Walter

Hardcover: Jun 2025 | Paperback: Jun 2026

Critics' Consensus:

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Ruins—and in the propulsive spirit of Charles Portis' True Grit—comes a hilarious, empathetic, and brilliantly provocative adventure through life in modern America, about a ...

Puck

A Novel

by Samantha Allen

Paperback: Jun 2026

Critics' Consensus:

In this A Midsummer Night's Dream-inspired romcom, Puck is a reality show producer and agent of chaos with a talent for bringing people together ... and tearing them apart.

Whistler

A Novel

by Ann Patchett

Hardcover: Jun 2026

Critics' Consensus:

The acclaimed, prize-winning #1 New York Times bestselling writer returns with a moving, luminous novel that reminds us of the sweetness and impermanence of life and the power of connection to defy time.

The Dry Season

A Memoir of Pleasure in a Year Without Sex

by Melissa Febos

Hardcover: Jun 2025 | Paperback: Jun 2026

Critics' Consensus:

From the national bestselling author of Girlhood, an examination of the solitude, freedoms, and feminist heroes Melissa Febos discovered during a year of celibacy. A wise and transformative look at relationships and self-knowledge.

The reviewer of each book decides which categories it belongs in - but we're only human, mistakes happen. If you see a book that you think is in the wrong place, tell us!

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A Pair of Aces
by Marie Benedict, Victoria Christopher Murray
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BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.