Six of My Favorite Literary Fiction Reads of the Year

Six Great Bossy Literary Fiction Reads

I read so many read literary fiction books last year, I'll need another best-of-the-year list. But for now, here are six of my favorites.

In my mind, literary fiction focuses on realistic characters and themes, the author's writing style is showcased, plot takes a backseat, and you're never assured of a resolution or happy ending. A couple of these titles might stretch the definition because they don't adhere to real-world elements, but I am bossily including them.

If you've read any of these books, I'd love to hear what you think! What are some of your favorite literary fiction reads?

01 Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

Intermezzo is one of my favorite Rooney novels yet, exploring complicated families, grief, unconventional relationships, forgiveness, and possibilities that once seemed impossible.

In the wake of their father's death, two brothers reel from the loss in his own way. They clash, hurt each other deeply, and wonder if they can ever reconcile.

The men's methods of coping with their grief often test the line between hopelessness and possibility. Each of their romantic relationships is unconventional, and various players involved struggle to let go of societal expectations in favor or what feels real and meaningful and what makes them happy. Through it all, both Ivan and Peter are repeatedly forced to consider their place in the world and what the future might hold.

But wars are being waged, and Rae quickly figures out that she's not the heroine of the story. She's the villain. And only she can organize the rest of the plotting, dark, moody, sometimes exasperating bad guys (and girls) in an attempt to change all of their futures.

I'm such a greedy reader, it's been a while since I've slowed down to savor a book the way I felt compelled to do while reading Intermezzo. I was invested in the characters and their messy methods of coming to terms with death and with seizing control of their own lives.

The prose in Intermezzo is gorgeous and often feels poetic--in fact, many of the notes in the back matter credit poems as the source of some of the references on these pages.

Rooney is also the author of Normal People, Conversations with Friends, and Beautiful World, Where Are You.

Please click here to see my full review of Intermezzo.

This book was one of My Very Favorite Bossy 2024 Reads.

02 Wellness by Nathan Hill

Flawed main characters Jack and Elizabeth try to find their way back to an emotional connection in this literary fiction work. Wellness is wry and poignant, and the absurdities of modern life that Hill explores sometimes feel disconcertingly on point.

Jack and Elizabeth are strangers living across an alley in a gritty artists' area of 1990s Chicago, and they're immediately and powerfully drawn to each other.

As they grow older, their mutual rejection of societal expectations begins to soften. They marry, have a baby, and aim to own a house.

But somewhere along the way, they lose sight of each other--and of themselves.

Nathan Hill pokes fun at the absurd extremes of the search for modern wellness and the manipulative power of social media and the order of internet searches.

We learn about Elizabeth and Jack's histories and motivations, their stunted emotional statuses and the deep hurts inflicted upon them. They must dive into their own secrets, trauma, career weaknesses, faulted parents, and fractured families if they have any hope of salvaging their own marriage.

Wellness is darkly funny, intriguing, and, at times, poignant. I was frequently uncomfortable reading the grim truths about our world that Hill lays bare, but I smiled at the wry humor here as well.

I listened to Wellness as an audiobook.

For my full review, please see Wellness.

03 In Memoriam by Alice Winn

Alice Winn's account of the unrelenting slog of World War I and the beautiful young men set against each other in the trenches serves as a backdrop for a tentatively begun, deep love story born in a British boarding school and blossoming amid the cruelties and horrors of battle.

Alice Winn's gorgeous, brutal, captivating historical fiction In Memoriam is set during World War I.

Henry Gaunt, Sydney Ellwood, and their classmates came as young boys to their sometimes claustrophobic, cruel, and lonely English boarding school; now that they're close to the end of their schooling, they are playful, treasuring each other's friendships.

But by 1914, World War I is drawing most of these young boys into a swirl of wartime horrors. They trade their hesitant confidences and youthful search for comfort and affection within an unforgiving school environment for the cruelties of battle.

Characters struggle with vulnerability and to allow feelings to grow, and all is shaped by the constancy of life-and-death danger and the deep-seated fear of destroying a friendship that both young men cling to more deeply than living itself.

In Memoriam is beautiful, frequently painful, and offers a layered, complicated version of happy ever after. I loved this.

I listened to In Memoriam as an audiobook.

For my full review, please see In Memoriam. This book was one of My Very Favorite Bossy 2024 Reads. You might also be interested in these Bossy reviews of books set during World War I.

04 You Are Here by David Nicholls

David Nicholls's characters, some of whom are strangers to each other, meander through the English countryside on a days-long jaunt--and along the way allow long-held vulnerabilities to fall away in this beautiful, heartbreaking, heartwarming story.

In David Nicholls's You Are Here, a small group of Sophie's friends, along with her teenage son, assemble to "walk" (hike) through the hills and moors of northern England for several days.

After meeting for the first time, Michael, a recently divorced teacher, studious and thoughtful, and Marnie, a playful copy editor who prefers solitude after her own divorce, fall into a companionable rhythm and, to their surprise, begin to seek out each other's company in an extended hike toward the coast.

We see the disconnect between Marnie and Michael's inner selves and their unsure, sometimes awkward acts and words, and it's deliciously heartbreaking to be privy to their insecurities and fears as well as their soaring hopes--and their crushing attempts to reign them in, in case their feelings aren't reciprocated and their fragile hearts can't take another round of loss.

I loved this literary fiction--the increasing vulnerability and search for connection after heartache, the vivid descriptions of English countryside, and the small moments that mean everything.

Click here for my full review of You Are Here.

This book was one of My Very Favorite Bossy 2024 Reads.

05 Land of Milk and Honey by C. Pam Zhang

In the dystopian food desert of the future, a desperate chef is enlisted to create elaborate dishes for the wealthiest elite on a lush mountaintop compound, and she loses more and more of herself and her morals with each passing day.

In C. Pam Zhang's slim dystopian novel Land of Milk and Honey, an unnamed chef in a polluted, dying city flees to a mountaintop retreat--and finds that fresh food, clear air, and lush opportunities for pleasure abound for the most wealthy elite.

The faulted, privileged few are terrifying in their elaborate, exclusive plans, which exclude all but a fraction of humanity. Money talks--and money is the only thing that buys food in a smog-ruined world. The chef finds herself forced to ignore her training and knowledge of how to treat ingredients in order to preserve her own safety and adhere to the base wishes of her benefactor and controlling group.

But when the boss's daughter begins tinkering with precious resources, our main protagonist is swept up into a relationship she never anticipated--the cooking and romance and gross negligence all tied up in one giant, guilty wonder of a mess.

This was an interesting dystopia and premise, and the writing about food is rich and captivating, but it took me foreeeeever to read this one.

Zhang is also the author of How Much of These Hills Is Gold?

For more dystopian stories, check out Six Fascinating Dystopian and Postapocalyptic Novels and Six More Fantastic Dystopian and Postapocalyptic Novels.

Click here for my full review of Land of Milk and Honey.

06 Good Material by Dolly Alderton

Alderton's literary fiction rom-com is a funny, poignant, and sometimes frustrating deep dive into the emotionally stunted main protagonist's extended heartache and the rehashing of key moments of his recent relationship.

Andy and Jen were in love and living together.

But now Andy, a struggling stand-up comedian, is left reeling, trying to figure out what went wrong.

He's obsessed with trying to figure out why Jen broke up with him, and no amount of rehashing, deception regarding the manipulation of mental-health professionals, or mining for information is too much, in Andy's mind.

The breakup came out of the blue. He and Jen had just gone to Paris--they were blissfully happy! Weren't they?

Much of the story is told from Andy's point of view, and his capability for emotional growth is...limited. Baby steps are hard-won progress for the often-clueless main protagonist. He begins a Reasons Why I Loved Being with Jen list as well as a list of reasons why he's glad their relationship is over--tracing the funny, silly, nitpicky, ridiculous, and poignant moments they shared.

The reader sees what a mismatch Jen and Andy are, despite their real affection for each other, but the clarity about their incompatibility is longer in coming to Andy, who remains wistful, hopeful, and heartbroken for much of the book.

I listened to Good Material as an audiobook.

Please click here for my full review of Good Material.