Contemporary fiction genre books (513)


161.

If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English : A Novel by Noor Naga EN

Rating: 5 (2 votes)
Description:
An Egyptian American woman visiting her parents' homeland begins a dark romance with an unemployed photographer who is addicted to cocaine and living in a rooftop shack in Cairo, in a novel about identity politics.

162.

If I Had Your Face in: A Novel by Frances Cha EN

0 Ratings
Description:
"Kyuri is a heartbreakingly beautiful woman with a hard-won job at a "room salon," an exclusive bar where she entertains businessmen while they drink. Though she prides herself on her cold, clear-eyed approach to life, an impulsive mistake with a client may come to threaten her livelihood. Her roomate, Miho, is a talented artist who grew up in an orphanage but won a scholarship to study art in New York. Returning to Korea after college, she finds herself in a precarious relationship with the super-wealthy heir to one of Korea's biggest companies. Down the hall in their apartment building lives... continue

163.

If You Want to Make God Laugh by Bianca Marais EN

0 Ratings
Description:
A rich, unforgettable story of three unique women in post-Apartheid South Africa who are brought together in their darkest time and discover the ways that love can transcend the strictest of boundaries. In a squatter camp on the outskirts of Johannesburg, seventeen-year-old Zodwa lives in desperate poverty, under the shadowy threat of a civil war and a growing AIDS epidemic. Eight months pregnant, Zodwa carefully guards secrets that jeopardize her life. Across the country, wealthy socialite Ruth appears to have everything her heart desires, but it's what she can't have that leads to her breakd... continue

164.

Inheritance from Mother by Minae Mizumura EN

0 Ratings
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
Award-winning novelist Minae Mizumura demystifies the notion of the selfless Japanese mother and the adult daughter honor-bound to care for her. Mitsuki Katsura, a Japanese woman in her mid-fifties, is a French-language instructor at a private university in Tokyo. Her husband, whom she met in Paris, is a professor at another private university. He is having an affair with a much younger woman. In addition to her husband’s infidelity, Mitsuki must deal with her ailing eighty-something mother, a demanding, self-absorbed woman who is far from the image of the patient, self-sacrificing Japanese ma... continue

165.

Innards : Stories by Magogodi oaMphela Makhene EN

0 Ratings
Description:
This incendiary debut of linked stories narrates the everyday lives of Soweto residents, from the early years of apartheid to its dissolution and beyond.

166.

Insomnia by Alberts Bels EN

0 Ratings
Country: Europe / Latvia flag Latvia
Description:
Originally written in 1967 and not released in its uncensored form until 2003, Bels's infamous novel, Insomnia (translated from the Latvian, Bezmiegs) concerns the taboo subject of the Latvian Legion, and the atmosphere of inertia and paralysis in Soviet-era Latvia. The story is told through the thoughts and emotions of the main character, portrayed as an outwardly apathetic man and typical of Bels's characters in the 1960s and 1970s--a period marked by powerlessness and stagnation amongst ordinary people. The protagonist lives by a principle of non-involvement, content with the small material... continue

167.

Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon EN

Rating: 4 (1 vote)
Description:
AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "A charming, wholehearted love story that's sure to make readers swoon."—Entertainment Weekly "Nicola Yoon writes from the heart in this beautiful love story."—Good Morning America “It’s like an emotional gut punch—so beautiful and also heart-wrenching."—US Weekly In this romantic page-turner from the author of Everything, Everything and The Sun is Also a Star, Evie has the power to see other people’s romantic fates—what will happen when she finally sees her own? Evie Thomas doesn't believe in love anymore. Especially after the strangest thing occurs one... continue

168.

Intermezzo by Sally Rooney EN

Rating: 5 (3 votes)
Country: Europe / Ireland flag Ireland
Description:
Aside from the fact that they are brothers, Peter and Ivan Koubek seem to have little in common. Peter is a Dublin lawyer in his thirties - successful, competent and apparently unassailable. But in the wake of their father's death, he's medicating himself to sleep and struggling to manage his relationships with two very different women - his enduring first love Sylvia, and Naomi, a college student for whom life is one long joke. Ivan is a twenty-two-year-old competitive chess player. He has always seen himself as socially awkward, a loner, the antithesis of his glib elder brother. Now, in the ... continue

169.

Island by Siri Ranva Hjelm Jacobsen EN

Rating: 4 (1 vote)
Country: Europe / Denmark flag Denmark
Description:
A young Danish woman explores her family's past and Faroe Islands ancestry across three generations. In the process she uncovers details of the passions and challenges her grandparents and their siblings confronted when they were her age, and considers universal themes of home and identity. Lush, lyrical prose transports the reader. Family brings the young woman back to the Faroe Islands - the windswept, rocky northern archipelago where she has never lived but which she has always called home. There she finds her stories entwining with those of her ancestors as she searches for a way to connec... continue

170.

It Would Be Night in Caracas by Karina Sainz Borgo EN

Rating: 4 (9 votes)
Description:
Told with gripping intensity, It Would be Night in Caracas chronicles one woman’s desperate battle to survive amid the dangerous, sometimes deadly, turbulence of modern Venezuela and the lengths she must go to secure her future. In Caracas, Venezuela, Adelaida Falcon stands over an open grave. Alone, except for harried undertakers, she buries her mother–the only family Adelaida has ever known. Numb with grief, Adelaida returns to the apartment they shared. Outside the window that she tapes shut every night—to prevent the tear gas raining down on protesters in the streets from seeping inWhen lo... continue