Contemporary Canon

This page contains a list of novels (and some novel-ish books) written since 1984 that I’ve either read or hope to read and which I feel constitute a kind of personal canon.

Why 1984? Year of my birth. Is it a canon? I don’t know. I find lists useful albeit never satisfactory; enjoyable to construct and even more enjoyable to tinker with. Please let me know if you think I’m missing something important!

Those I Have Read

  • The Children’s Bach, by Helen Garner (1984)

  • Nights at the Circus, by Angela Carter (1984)

  • The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood (1985)

  • White Noise, by Don DeLillo (1985)

  • Annie John, by Jamaica Kincaid (1985)

  • Blood Meridian, by Cormac McCarthy (1985)

  • Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, by Jeannette Winterson (1985)

  • An Artist of the Floating World, by Kazuo Ishiguro (1986)

  • The Door, by Magda Szabó (1987)

  • The Passion, by Jeannette Winterson (1987)

  • The Remains of the Day, by Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)

  • Sweet Days of Discipline, by Fleur Jaeggy (1989)

  • All Souls, Javier Marías (1989)

  • Ghosts, César Aira (1990)

  • Possession, A. S. Byatt (1990)

  • Amongst Women, John McGahern (1990)

  • Devil in a Blue Dress, by Walter Mosley (1990)

  • Regeneration, by Pat Barker (1991)

  • Wise Children, by Angela Carter (1991)

  • Mating, by Norman Rush (1991)

  • Jesus’ Son, by Denis Johnson (1992)

  • A Heart So White, by Javier Marías (1992)

  • The Emigrants, W. G. Sebald (1992)

  • Bad News, by Edward St. Aubyn (1992)

  • Never Mind, by Edward St. Aubyn (1992)

  • Written on the Body, by Jeannette Winterson (1992)

  • The Eye in the Door, by Pat Barker (1993)

  • Some Hope, by Edward St. Aubyn (1994)

  • Pereira Maintains, by Antonio Tabucchi (1994)

  • The Ghost Road, by Pat Barker (1995)

  • The Rings of Saturn, by W. G. Sebald (1995)

  • Distant Star, by Roberto Bolaño (1996)

  • Underworld, by Don DeLillo (1997)

  • The God of Small Things, by Arundhati Roy (1997)

  • The Savage Detectives, by Roberto Bolaño (1998)

  • The Hours, by Michael Cunningham (1998)

  • Disgrace, by J. M. Coetzee (1999)

  • The Intuitionist, by Colson Whitehead (1999)

  • An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter, by César Aira (2000)

  • The Last Samurai, by Helen DeWitt (2000)

  • By Night in Chile, by Roberto Bolaño (2000)

  • True History of the Kelly Gang, by Peter Carey (2000)

  • The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, by Michael Chabon (2000)

  • White Teeth, by Zadie Smith (2000)

  • The Corrections, by Jonathan Franzen (2001)

  • Atonement, by Ian McEwan (2001)

  • Austerlitz, by W. G. Sebald (2001)

  • Nowhere Man, by Aleksandar Hemon (2002)

  • Unless, by Carol Shields (2002)

  • The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon (2003)

  • The Line of Beauty, by Alan Hollinghurst (2004)

  • Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell (2004)

  • The Sea, by John Banville (2005)

  • Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro (2005)

  • Saturday, by Ian McEwan (2005)

  • On Beauty, by Zadie Smith (2005)

  • Mother’s Milk, by Edward St. Aubyn (2005)

  • The Kindly Ones, by Jonathan Littell (2006)

  • The Road, by Cormac McCarthy (2006)

  • The Emperor’s Children, by Claire Messud (2006)

  • Black Swan Green, by David Mitchell (2006)

  • Call Me By Your Name, by André Aciman (2007)

  • The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, by Michael Chabon (2007)

  • The Reluctant Fundamentalist, by Mohsin Hamid (2007)

  • On Chesil Beach, by Ian McEwan (2007)

  • Visitation, by Jenny Erpenbeck (2008)

  • The Lazarus Project, by Aleksandar Hemon (2008)

  • Netherland, by Joseph O’Neill (2008)

  • Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel (2009)

  • The Likeness, by Tana French (2010)

  • Train Dreams, by Denis Johnson (2011)

  • My Brilliant Friend, by Elena Ferrante (2011)

  • The Buddha in the Attic, by Julie Otsuka (2011)

  • There but for the, by Ali Smith (2011)

  • Lightning Rods, by Helen DeWitt (2011)

  • The Story of a New Name (2012)

  • Artful, by Ali Smith (2012)

  • NW, by Zadie Smith (2012)

  • Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, by Elena Ferrante (2013)

  • The Story of My Teeth, by Valeria Luiselli (2013)

  • The Woman Upstairs, by Claire Messud (2013)

  • Outline, by Rachel Cusk (2014)

  • The Story of the Lost Child, by Elena Ferrante (2014)

  • Euphoria, by Lily King (2014)

  • Dept. of Speculation, by Jenny Offill (2014)

  • On Immunity: An Inoculation, by Eula Biss (2014)

  • The Sellout, by Paul Beatty (2015)

  • Human Acts, by Han Kang (2015)

  • The Sympathizer, by Viet Thanh Nguyen (2015)

  • A Little Life, by Hanya Yanagihara (2015)

  • Days without End, by Sebastian Barry (2016)

  • Transit, by Rachel Cusk (2016)

  • The Vegetarian, by Han Kang (2016)

  • Tell Me How It Ends, by Valeria Luiselli (2016)

  • Convenience Store Woman, by Sayaka Murata (2016)

  • Autumn, by Ali Smith (2016)

  • My Name Is Lucy Barton, by Elizabeth Strout (2016)

  • The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead (2016)

  • In the Distance, by Hernán Díaz (2017)

  • Exit West, by Mohsin Hamid (2017)

  • Her Body and Other Parties, by Carmen María Machado (2017)

  • The Long Drop, by Denise Mina (2017)

  • Conversations with Friends, by Sally Rooney (2017)

  • Home Fire, by Kamila Shamsie (2017)

  • Winter, by Ali Smith (2017)

  • Milkman, by Anna Burns (2018)

  • Kudos, by Rachel Cusk (2018)

  • Asymmetry, by Lisa Halliday (2018)

  • Ghost Wall, by Sarah Moss (2018)

  • There There, by Tommy Orange (2018)

  • Normal People, by Sally Rooney (2018)

  • Axiomatic, by Maria Tumarkin (2018)

  • Trust Exercise (2019)

  • In the Dream House, by Carmen María Machado (2019)

  • Spring, by Ali Smith (2019)

  • Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes on a Tribe Called Quest, by Hanif Abdurraqib (2019)

  • On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, by Ocean Vuong (2019)

  • Lost Children Archive, by Valeria Luiselli (2019)

  • Luster, by Raven Leilani (2020)

  • Summerwater, by Sarah Moss (2020)

  • Weather, by Jenny Offill (2020)

  • Summer, by Ali Smith (2020)

  • Having and Being Had, by Eula Biss (2020)

  • little scratch, by Rebecca Watson (2020)

Those I Have Yet to Read

  • Hotel du Lac    Brookner, Anita          1984

  • The Rain God  Islas, Arturo    1984

  • Foreign Affairs Lurie, Alison    1984

  • Still Life           Byatt, A. S.      1985

  • Satantango      Krasznahorkai, Laszlo 1985

  • Lonesome Dove          McMurtry, Larry         1985

  • Self-Help         Moore, Lorrie  1985

  • The Mixquiahuala Letters       Castillo, Ana    1986

  • Foe      Coetzee, J. M. 1986

  • See Under: Love          Grossman, David         1986

  • Anagrams        Moore, Lorrie  1986

  • Death in Spring           Rodoreda, Mercè        1986

  • Fools Crow      Welch, James  1986

  • Moon Tiger     Lively, Penelope          1987

  • Winter in Lisbon         Muñoz Molina, Antonio          1987

  • In the Skin of a Lion    Ondaatje, Michael      1987

  • Cat's Eye          Atwood, Margaret      1988

  • The Mezzanine           Baker, Nicholson         1988

  • Nervous Conditions    Dangarembga, Tsitsi   1988

  • Libra    DeLillo, Don    1988

  • The Shadow Lines       Ghosh, Amitav 1988

  • The Swimming-Pool Library    Hollinghurst, Alan       1988

  • The Book of Evidence Banville, John  1989

  • A Visitation of Spirits  Kenan, Randall            1989

  • Tripmaster Monkey    Kingston, Maxine Hong          1989

  • The Melancholy of Resistance            Krasznahorkai, Laszlo 1989

  • Room Temperature    Baker, Nicholson         1990

  • Dogeaters       Hagedorn, Jessica       1990

  • Lucy     Kincaid, Jamaica          1990

  • Like Life           Moore, Lorrie  1990

  • Philadelphia Fire         Wideman, John Edgar 1990

  • Typical American        Jen, Gish          1991

  • The Famished Road    Okri, Ben         1991

  • Almanac of the Dead  Silko, Leslie Marmon  1991

  • Downriver       Sinclair, Iain    1991

  • A Thousand Acres       Smiley, Jane    1991

  • Bastard out of Carolina           Allison, Dorothy          1992

  • The Crow Road           Banks, Iain       1992

  • Texaco Chamoiseau, Patrick   1992

  • Sleepwalking Land      Couto, Mia      1992

  • Troubling Love Ferrante, Elena           1992

  • Let the Dead Bury Their Dead Kenan, Randall            1992

  • A Place of Greater Safety        Mantel, Hilary 1992

  • The English Patient     Ondaatje, Michael      1992

  • High Cotton     Pinckney, Darryl          1992

  • Sacred Country           Tremain, Rose 1992

  • How I Became a Nun  Aira, César       1993

  • So Far From God         Castillo, Ana    1993

  • Stone Butch Blues       Feinberg, Leslie           1993

  • The Shipping News     Proulx, Annie  1993

  • The Stone Diaries        Shields, Carol  1993

  • What a Carve Up!       Coe, Jonathan 1994

  • Breath, Eyes, Memory Danticat, Edwidge       1994

  • How Late It Was, How Late    Kelman, James            1994

  • Native Speaker            Lee, Chang-Rae           1994

  • The Land of Green Plums       Müller, Herta  1994

  • The Unconsoled          Ishiguro, Kazuo           1995

  • Rat Bohemia   Schulman, Sarah         1995

  • Under the Feet of Jesus          Viramontes, Helena Maria     1995

  • Morvern Callar            Warner, Alan  1995

  • Alias Grace      Atwood, Margaret      1996

  • The White Boy Shuffle            Beatty, Paul     1996

  • Babel Tower    Byatt, A. S.      1996

  • Mona in the Promised Land   Jen, Gish          1996

  • Memory Mambo        Obejas, Achy   1996

  • The Museum of Unconditional Surrender     Ugresic, Dubravka       1997

  • Tropic of Orange         Yamashita, Karen Tei  1997

  • Brown Girl in the Ring Hopkinson, Nalo         1998

  • Birds of America         Moore, Lorrie  1998

  • My Name Is Red          Pamuk, Orhan 1998

  • Caucasia          Senna, Danzy  1998

  • Motherless Brooklyn  Lethem, Jonathan       1999

  • The Blind Assassin      Atwood, Margaret      2000

  • The Glass Palace         Ghosh, Amitav 2000

  • Midnight Robber        Hopkinson, Nalo         2000

  • English Passengers      Kneale, Matthew        2000

  • The Feast of the Goat Llosa, Mario Vargas    2000

  • Anil's Ghost     Ondaatje, Michael      2000

  • Bartleby & Co. Vila-Matas, Enrique    2000

  • The Siege        Dunmore, Helen         2001

  • Erasure            Everett, Percival          2001

  • Life of Pi          Martell, Yann  2001

  • Days of Awe    Obejas, Achy   2001

  • Hotel World    Smith, Ali         2001

  • Any Human Heart       Boyd, William  2002

  • A Whistling Woman    Byatt, A. S.      2002

  • Your Face Tomorrow: Fever and Spear          Marías, Javier  2002

  • Snow   Pamuk, Orhan 2002

  • Montano's Malady     Vila-Matas, Enrique    2002

  • Fingersmith     Waters, Sarah 2002

  • Oryx and Crake           Atwood, Margaret      2003

  • Elizabeth Costello       Coetzee, J. M. 2003

  • The Good Doctor        Galgut, Damon            2003

  • The Great Fire Hazzard, Shirley          2003

  • The Known World       Jones, Edward P.         2003

  • The Fortress of Solitude         Lethem, Jonathan       2003

  • The Time of Our Singing         Powers, Richard          2003

  • Mortals           Rush, Norman 2003

  • We Need to Talk about Kevin Shriver, Lionel 2003

  • 2666: A Novel Bolaño, Roberto          2004

  • Tree of Smoke Johnson, Denis            2004

  • An Unfinished Season Just, Ward       2004

  • Paradise          Kennedy, A. L. 2004

  • Your Face Tomorrow: Dance and Dream       Marías, Javier  2004

  • Drinking Coffee Elsewhre       Packer, ZZ       2004

  • GB84   Peace, David   2004

  • The Master     Toibin, Colm    2004

  • The Ministry of Pain   Ugresic, Dubravka       2004

  • A Long, Long Way       Barry, Sebastian          2005

  • The Sluts         Cooper, Dennis           2005

  • In the Fold       Cusk, Rachel    2005

  • The Inheritance of Loss          Desai, Kiran     2005

  • Beyond Black  Mantel, Hilary 2005

  • The Accidental Smith, Ali         2005

  • Restless           Boyd, William  2006

  • Man Gone Down        Thomas, Michael        2006

  • The Night Watch         Waters, Sarah 2006

  • Darkmans        Barker, Nicola 2007

  • The Gathering Enright, Anne  2007

  • Day      Kennedy, A. L. 2007

  • Your Face Tomorrow: Poison, Shadow, and Farewell            Marías, Javier  2007

  • Their Dogs Came with Them  Viramontes, Helena Maria     2007

  • The White Tiger          Adiga, Aravind 2008

  • Such Small Hands       Barba, Andrés 2008

  • The Secret Scripture   Barry, Sebastian          2008

  • A Person of Interest    Choi, Susan     2008

  • The Years        Ernaux, Annie 2008

  • Visitation         Erpenbeck, Jenny        2008

  • The Spare Room         Garner, Helen 2008

  • Sea of Poppies Ghosh, Amitav 2008

  • To the End of the Land           Grossman, David         2008

  • The Revolution According to Raymundo Mata          Apostol, Gina  2009

  • The Children's Book    Byatt, A. S.      2009

  • I Am Not Sidney Poitier          Everett, Percival          2009

  • Signs Preceding the End of the World            Herrera, Yuri   2009

  • Heaven            Kawakami, Mieko       2009

  • A Gate at the Stairs     Moore, Lorrie  2009

  • The Hunger Angel       Müller, Herta  2009

  • In the Night of Time    Muñoz Molina, Antonio          2009

  • Three Strong Women Ndiaye, Marie 2009

  • Sag Harbor      Whitehead, Colson     2009

  • HHhH  Binet, Laurent 2010

  • The Betrayal    Dunmore, Helen         2010

  • I Hotel Yamashita, Karen Tei  2010

  • On Canaan's Side        Barry, Sebastian          2011

  • Half Blood Blues         Edugyan, Esi    2011

  • River of Smoke            Ghosh, Amitav 2011

  • The Infatuations         Marías, Javier  2011

  • Down the Rabbit Hole Villalobos, Juan Pablo 2011

  • Salvage the Bones       Ward, Jesmyn 2011

  • Zone One        Whitehead, Colson     2011

  • A General Theory of Oblivion Agualusa, José Eduardo          2012

  • Confession of the Lioness       Couto, Mia      2012

  • Belladonna      Drndic, Dasa    2012

  • Bring Up the Bodies    Mantel, Hilary 2012

  • At Last St. Aubyn, Edward      2012

  • The Deadman's Pedal Warner, Alan  2012

  • Secondhand Time       Alexievich, Svetlana    2013

  • Harvest           Crace, Jim        2013

  • Sudden Death Enrigue, Álvaro           2013

  • A Girl Is a Half-Formed Thing  McBride, Eimear         2013

  • Boy, Snow, Bird           Oyeyemi, Helen          2013

  • A Tale for the Time Being       Ozeki, Ruth     2013

  • An Unnecessary Woman        Alameddine, Rabih     2014

  • This House of Grief     Garner, Helen 2014

  • A Brief History of Seven Killings         James, Marlon 2014

  • Preparation for the Next Life  Lish, Atticus     2014

  • Kintu   Makumbi, Jennifer Nansubuga          2014

  • In the Light of What We Know           Rahman, Zia Haider    2014

  • Some Luck       Smiley, Jane    2014

  • How to Be Both          Smith, Ali         2014

  • Go Went Gone            Erpenbeck, Jenny        2015

  • Resistence       Fúks, Julian      2015

  • Flood of Fire    Ghosh, Amitav 2015

  • Delicious Foods           Hannaham, James      2015

  • Counternarratives      Keene, John    2015

  • You Don't Have to Live Like This         Markovits, Benjamin  2015

  • Animalia          Del Amo, Jean-Baptiste          2016

  • Disoriental      Djavadi, Négar 2016

  • EEG      Drndic, Dasa    2016

  • Homegoing     Gyasi, Yaa        2016

  • The Cosmopolitans     Schulman, Sarah         2016

  • The Gustav Sonata      Tremain, Rose 2016

  • Less     Greer, Andrew Sean   2017

  • Reservoir 13    McGregor, Jon 2017

  • Hurricane Season        Melchor, Fernanda     2017

  • In Memory of Memory           Stepanova, Maria       2017

  • Sing, Unburied, Sing   Ward, Jesmyn 2017

  • Insurrecto       Apostol, Gina  2018

  • At Night All Blood Is Black      Diop, David     2018

  • Washington Black       Edugyan, Esi    2018

  • The Great Believers    Makkai, Rebecca         2018

  • The Friend       Nunez, Sigrid   2018

  • An Inventory of Losses           Schalansky, Judith       2018

  • Civilizations     Binet, Laurent 2019

  • Ducks, Newburyport   Ellmann, Lucy  2019

  • Breasts and Eggs         Kawakami, Mieko       2019

  • The Shadow King        Mengiste, Maaza        2019

  • The Mirror and the Light        Mantel, Hilary 2020

  • Shuggie Bain   Stuart, Douglas           2020

  • Real Life          Taylor, Brandon          (2020)