Top off your to-read list with titles from the Goodreads Reading Challenge Collection. This broad Collection highlights both popular contemporary titles as well as classic picks with enduring appeal, empowering book lovers of all ages and tastes to find new recommendations and meet their reading goals.
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Fate, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Relationships: Friendship
Tags Romance, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Magical Realism
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Society: Class
Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Allegory / Fable / Parable, Class, Parenting, Science / Nature, Relationships, Futurism, Modern Classic Fiction, Fantasy
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Race, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos
Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Information Age, Race / Racism, Class, Black Lives Matter, American Literature, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction
Rumaan Alam’s Leave the World Behind (2020) is a work of apocalyptic fiction that examines the relationship between race and class during an unspecified disaster that cuts off all communication, forcing two families together. The book uses omniscient narration and interpersonal conflict to heighten the fear of disconnection in the Information Age, treating the apocalypse as an event that happens on a human scale. Published to great acclaim, it has been longlisted for the National... Read Leave the World Behind Summary
Publication year 2017
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Mothers, Relationships: Family
Tags Chinese Literature, Asian Literature, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction
Little Fires Everywhere is a New York Times bestselling novel by Celeste Ng published in 2017. In the town of Shaker Heights, Ohio, Elena Richardson rents her family’s property on Winslow Road to Mia and Pearl Warren, a mother and daughter duo who inspire her sense of charity. Mia is an artist, and her lack of rootedness and intense focus on her art unnerve Mrs. Richardson, who lives an orderly life. Their lives become further... Read Little Fires Everywhere Summary
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Gender, Society: Colonialism
Tags Gothic Literature, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, History: World
Book Details & Major ThemesMexican Gothic is a horror novel by Mexican Canadian writer Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Set in 1950s Mexico City and the burned-out mining town of El Triunfo, the novel is a horror-tinged thriller that explores the themes of The Feminist Gothic, Colonialism and Imperialism in Mexico, and Death, Corruption and Objectification in the House of Doyle.The novel centers on Noemí Taboada, a socialite with aspirations to become an anthropologist who goes to El... Read Mexican Gothic Summary
Publication year 2022
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Identity: Gender
Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction
Publication year 2018
Genre Novel, Fiction
Tags Modern Classic Fiction, Irish Literature
Normal People is a novel by Sally Rooney, published by Faber & Faber in 2018. Rooney is also the author of the novel Conversations With Friends, and the winner of the 2017 Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award. Normal People is set in the author’s native Ireland. The two main characters are Connell Waldron, a boy from a lower-middle-class background, and Marianne Sheridan, who comes from a wealthy family. As disparate as their socioeconomic... Read Normal People Summary
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Society: Community, Identity: Gender, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice
Tags Western, Action / Adventure, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Historical Fiction, LGBTQ, Gender / Feminism, Love / Sexuality, American Literature, History: World
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Values/Ideas: Art
Tags Fantasy, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Magical Realism
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Life/Time: The Future, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology
Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Fantasy, Action / Adventure, Technology, Arts / Culture, American Literature
Publication year 2012
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed
Tags Fantasy, Magical Realism, Action / Adventure, Middle Eastern Literature, Romance, Religion / Spirituality
Shadow and Bone (2012) by Leigh Bardugo is a young adult fantasy adventure and romance novel. It is Bardugo’s debut novel and the first book in her Shadow and Bone trilogy, also called the Grisha trilogy. Inspired by 19th-century Tsarist Russia, Bardugo creates a darkly magical world characterized by strange armies, extreme wealth and poverty, and personifications of light and shadow. The novel was a New York Times best seller, a Los Angeles Times best... Read Shadow and Bone Summary
Publication year 2019
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Mothers
Tags Race / Racism, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction
Such a Fun Age (2019) is a debut novel from Kiley Reid, published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons (an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC). The novel quickly garnered critical acclaim, including a NY Times Bestseller spot, and was a finalist for an NAACP Image Award in 2020. Another novel by Reid is Come and Get It. Plot Summary Though it starts with Emira’s perspective, Such a Fun Age alternates almost evenly between Emira Tucker and Alix Chamberlain... Read Such a Fun Age Summary
Publication year 2019
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Family
Tags Historical Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World
The Dutch House is the eighth novel of Ann Patchett, an award-winning author of contemporary fiction. Published in 2019, the novel tells the story of what happens to Danny Conroy and his older sister Maeve Conroy when their stepmother, Andrea Smith, expels them from their sumptuous childhood home after the death of their father, Cyril Conroy. Set in the Dutch House—located in the outskirts of Philadelphia—and New York, the novel is literary fiction with fairy-tale... Read The Dutch House Summary
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Natural World: Nurture v. Nature, Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Equality, Society: Community, Identity: Sexuality
Tags Fantasy, Magical Realism, Romance, LGBTQ
The House in the Cerulean Sea (2020) is a queer fantasy novel by TJ Klune, Lambda Award-winning author of The Extraordinaires and the Green Creek series. Klune is a queer author whose works often explore supernatural elements. Many mythological species feature in this novel, while other books focus on werewolves, ghosts, and the like. The book explores themes of Nature Versus Nurture, The Perpetuation of Prejudice, and Found Family.Klune’s work, particularly The House in the... Read The House in the Cerulean Sea Summary
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Identity: Gender, Life/Time: Mortality & Death
Tags Fantasy, Gender / Feminism, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Religion / Spirituality, LGBTQ, Age of Enlightenment, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World, Historical Fiction, Magical Realism, Romance
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is a historical fantasy novel by the American author V.E. Schwab published in 2020. It chronicles the story of Addie LaRue, an 18th-century Frenchwoman who gains eternal life through a bargain with a demonic entity. However, the deal comes at a great cost: Everybody who meets Addie immediately forgets her. A New York Times bestseller, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue received a 2020 Goodreads Choice Award nomination for... Read The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue Summary
Publication year 2022
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal
Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2022
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Revenge, Values/Ideas: Win & Lose, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed
Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Gender, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice
Tags Historical Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Gender / Feminism, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World, Fantasy
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Mental Health, Life/Time: The Past, Emotions/Behavior: Fear
Tags Fantasy, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Magical Realism, Mental Illness
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Mothers, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Relationships: Marriage
Tags Psychological Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction