The 100 best moderately difficult contemporary books

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel and The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman lead the 100 best moderately difficult contemporary books, ranked by literary regard. To start, Runaway by Alice Munro is the most approachable of the highly regarded books here, about 5.5 hours to read.

Each point of light is one of the 100, placed by how hard it is to read. The brighter, the higher it ranks. The dotted line is one way up.

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No. 1 of 100

The Handmaid's Tale

Margaret Atwood · 2017

Difficulty 59/1007.7 hours

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Showing 100 books

About 847 hours for 99 of 100 books with measured lengths. Estimates use 250 words a minute, adjusted for each book's difficulty. At 2 hours a day, about 424 days for those books.

1–10 · 92 hours

  1. No. 1 on this list. The Handmaid's Tale

    Margaret Atwood · 2017

    Challenging7.7 hours

    Taught in schools: AQA GCSE and A-level English Literature (UK), OCR GCSE and A-level English Literature (UK), Pearson Edexcel GCSE and A-level English Literature (UK)

    The novel is a staple of high school and university courses on dystopia and feminist literature. It was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, appears on the 1001 Books list, and is published as a Penguin Modern Classic.

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  2. The historical novel that changed the genre's literary status. Thomas Cromwell's rise, rendered in present tense and close third person, made Tudor politics feel immediate. Core text in contemporary fiction and historical fiction courses.

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  3. Widely taught in universities and high schools as the defining Holocaust graphic memoir, Maus appears on hundreds of literature and history syllabi worldwide. It is listed on virtually every major 'essential reading' and 'greatest books' compilation that includes graphic literature, from the Modern Library to Time's All-TIME 100 Novels. While not on syllabi at the scale of Fitzgerald or Austen, it holds unique canonical status as the book that forced academia to take comics seriously.

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  4. Published in 2024, James immediately entered literary conversation by directly engaging Twain's canonical Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Educators across the country now integrate it into curricula alongside Twain's original, positioning it as essential counter-narrative to American literary canon. Its Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award signal rapid canonization, though its ultimate standing requires more temporal distance to fully assess.

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  5. The final book in the Thomas Cromwell trilogy, following Cromwell from Jane Seymours death to his own execution.

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  6. No. 6 on this list. Never Let Me Go

    Kazuo Ishiguro · 2005

    Challenging7.2 hours

    Taught in schools: AQA GCSE and A-level English Literature (UK), OCR GCSE and A-level English Literature (UK), Pearson Edexcel GCSE and A-level English Literature (UK)

    Ishiguro's devastating meditation on mortality and purpose. Kathy H.'s narration of Hailsham and the donations revealed a dystopia through English understatement. Core text in contemporary fiction and bioethics courses. The 2010 film extended its reach.

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  7. Lorde is taught across literature, gender studies and Black studies.

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  8. The Dispossessed (1974) is one of the most taught science-fiction novels, read in courses on utopian literature, political philosophy and science fiction alike. It appears on most lists of essential science fiction and in the Library of America's edition of Le Guin's Hainish novels.

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  9. Exhalation appears on 129 syllabi across university courses in science fiction, ethics, and philosophy of mind. With a Wikipedia presence across 24 languages and inclusion on Barack Obama's 2019 summer reading list, the collection has achieved broad recognition outside genre boundaries. It sits at the high end of contemporary short fiction without yet reaching the settled canonical status of Chiang's own Story of Your Life.

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  10. One of Munro's most celebrated collections, frequently cited as the peak of her mature work. Winner of the Giller Prize and numerous international honors.

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11–20 · 103 hours

  1. No. 11 on this list. Gilead · Marilynne Robinson · 2005

    Gilead won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and sits firmly within the American literary canon. It appears on university syllabi and in lists of essential contemporary American literature, securing Robinson's place among 21st-century literary institutions. However, it lacks the canonical inevitability of works like Gatsby or Beloved.

    Moderate6 hours

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  2. No. 12 on this list. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao · Junot Diaz · 2008

    Things have never been easy for Oscar. A ghetto nerd living with his Dominican family in New Jersey, he's sweet but disastrously overweight. He dreams of becoming the next J. R. R. Tolkien and he keeps falling hopelessly in love. Poor Oscar may never get what he wants, thanks to the Fuku - the curse that has haunted his family for generations. With dazzling energy and insight Díaz immerses us in the tumultuous lives of Oscar, his runaway sister Lola, their beautiful mother Belicia, and in the family's uproarious journey from the Dominican Republic to the US and back. Rendered with uncommon warmth and humour, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is a literary triumph, that confirms Junot Díaz as one of the most exciting writers of our time.

    Moderate6.4 hours

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  3. No. 13 on this list. The Corrections · Jonathan Franzen · 2001

    As a National Book Award winner immediately recognized as a major achievement in contemporary American fiction, The Corrections has secured a prominent position in the late 20th-century literary canon. It appears regularly on university syllabi and 'best of' lists, including being named one of the best novels of the 21st century by multiple critics and publications.

    Challenging15 hours

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  4. No. 14 on this list. My Name Is Red · Orhan Pamuk · 2003

    In sixteenth-century Istanbul, the Sultan commissions a secret book to celebrate his magnificence, but the assignment to create illuminations in the European style triggers a theological crisis and a murder. Master Elegant Effendi speaks from a well where his killer has abandoned his corpse, demanding that his death be avenged and properly buried. Black returns to the city after twelve years abroad, drawn by nostalgia and loss, only to become entangled in the mystery and in his childhood devotion to Shekure, Enishte Effendi's ravishing daughter. The dead man, the bereaved family, the competing miniaturists Osman and Butterfly, and the household itself—each voice emerges from the narrative to confess secrets and suspicions. What begins as a hunt for a murderer expands into an interrogation of art itself, specifically whether the depiction of human figures violates Islamic law and destroys the soul. The conflict between Ottoman miniature tradition, with its rejection of perspective and realism, and the infiltrating European techniques of representation gives the mystery its metaphysical weight. Pamuk employs an architectural narrative that shifts perspective constantly, allowing a dog, the color red, and a gold coin to testify alongside human characters, creating a polyphonic structure where each voice exposes a different layer of religious anxiety, artistic ambition, and personal desire. The novel moves toward its resolution with gathering momentum despite this apparent fragmentation, tightening around questions of identity, authenticity, and the costs of aesthetic choice.

    Challenging16 hours

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  5. No. 15 on this list. Middlesex · Jeffrey Eugenides · 2003

    Winner of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize, Middlesex appears on college syllabi addressing American immigration, gender studies, and contemporary fiction. While not yet achieving the ubiquity of modernist classics, it has rapidly entered the contemporary canon as a defining work of 21st-century American literature, regularly taught alongside Roth, Morrison, and DeLillo.

    Challenging15 hours

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  6. No. 16 on this list. The Overstory · Richard Powers · 2018

    The Overstory won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and was shortlisted for the 2018 Booker Prize, establishing it as one of the most decorated American novels of the decade. It appears on 72 university syllabuses across literature, environmental studies, and American fiction courses, and has entered the standard contemporary literary canon. The Pulitzer win gives it institutional standing equivalent to Beloved or To Kill a Mockingbird in their respective periods, though its long-term canonical durability remains uncertain given its recency.

    Challenging13 hours

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  7. No. 17 on this list. No Country for Old Men · Cormac McCarthy · 2005

    Regularly included in syllabi for contemporary American literature and crime fiction courses. The 2007 Coen Brothers adaptation—Best Picture winner—dramatically expanded cultural reach and cemented the novel in the popular imagination. McCarthy's status as a major American literary figure ensures it appears on most critical inventories of important post-2000 American fiction.

    Challenging6.8 hours

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  8. No. 18 on this list. Salvage the Bones · Jesmyn Ward · 2011

    Salvage the Bones is widely taught in contemporary American literature, African American literature, and Southern literature courses. Its National Book Award win brought it immediate and sustained academic attention, and Ward's subsequent acclaim has only reinforced the book's position on university reading lists. With 400 syllabus appearances it sits in the mid-canonical tier — solidly established but not yet at the frequency of works like Beloved or Their Eyes Were Watching God.

    Moderate6 hours

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  9. No. 19 on this list. The Sympathizer · Viet Thanh Nguyen · 2015

    Published in 2015 and already appearing on 132 university syllabi, The Sympathizer has established itself rapidly as a required text in American literature, postcolonial studies, and Asian-American studies courses. Its Pulitzer Prize and HBO adaptation have cemented its cultural presence, though at a decade old it has not yet accumulated the multi-generational teaching record of older canonical fixtures.

    Moderate9.1 hours

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  10. No. 20 on this list. The Garden of Evening Mists · Tan Twan Eng · 2013

    Won the Man Asian Literary Prize (2012) and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, establishing it within contemporary Asian literature. The novel appears on university reading lists for postcolonial literature and is recognized as a significant contribution to Malaysian anglophone fiction. While critically esteemed, it has not yet achieved the multi-generational canonical status of works like Beloved or One Hundred Years of Solitude.

    Challenging9.5 hours

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21–30 · 71 hours

  1. No. 21 on this list. Snow · Orhan Pamuk · 2002

    Snow represents Pamuk's major work and has secured prominent recognition in the global literary canon, winning major prizes and securing translation into dozens of languages. Its status as a significant contemporary political allegory rivals Beloved or Infinite Jest, though it lacks the historical depth of canonical nineteenth-century masterworks.

    Challenging14 hours

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  2. No. 22 on this list. Life of Pi · Yann Martel · 2002

    The novel that made Booker winners into blockbusters. Pi Patel's 227 days with a Bengal tiger became a meditation on faith, survival, and storytelling itself. The 2012 Ang Lee film won four Academy Awards and brought the story to global audiences.

    Challenging8 hours

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  3. No. 23 on this list. Interpreter of Maladies · Jhumpa Lahiri · 2000

    Since winning the Pulitzer Prize in 2000, the collection has become a staple of American literature and creative writing curricula, particularly in courses on immigration, diaspora, and the contemporary short story. It occupies a secure position in late-20th-century American literature anthologies and is widely taught in high schools and universities.

    Moderate4.1 hours

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  4. No. 24 on this list. Trust Exercise · Susan Choi · 2019

    Won the 2019 National Book Award, establishing Choi as a significant contemporary voice. The novel represents a major contribution to metafictional literature and MeToo-era examinations of institutional abuse. While too recent for full canonical assessment, it has quickly entered graduate syllabi and is widely taught in creative writing programs as exemplary contemporary metafiction.

    Challenging7.9 hours

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  5. No. 25 on this list. Parable of the Sower · Octavia E. Butler · 1993

    Routinely assigned in university courses on Afrofuturism, dystopian fiction, and American speculative literature, with placement accelerating sharply after 2010 as Afrofuturism became an academic discipline. Named one of NPR's top 100 science fiction and fantasy novels. Not yet as universally taught as Beloved or 1984, but firmly canonical within speculative fiction and gaining ground in mainstream American literature curricula.

    Moderate6.7 hours

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  6. No. 26 on this list. The Road · Cormac McCarthy · 2007

    The Road appears on TIME's All-TIME 100 Novels list, the Open Syllabus Top 500 in Literature, and has Wikipedia articles in 34 languages — solid global recognition for a novel published in 2006. It is frequently assigned in contemporary American literature courses but has not yet reached the ubiquity of older canonical novels like Gatsby or Beloved.

    Challenging5.2 hours

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  7. No. 27 on this list. War Dances · Sherman Alexie · 2010

    As winner of the 2010 PEN/Faulkner Award, 'War Dances' secured immediate literary recognition and appears on numerous syllabi exploring contemporary Native American literature. While Alexie's earlier work had already established him as a major voice, this collection reinforced his canonical position in 21st-century American letters, particularly within the Native renaissance.

    Moderate3.1 hours

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  8. No. 28 on this list. The Years · Annie Ernaux · 2019

    The Years is the central work of a Nobel laureate, widely discussed in Francophone literary circles and increasingly taught in contemporary world literature courses. With 0 syllabus appearances in the Open Syllabus database and Wikipedia data appearing to conflate it with Virginia Woolf's novel of the same name, its institutional footprint is still growing — expected for a book whose English translation appeared only in 2017.

    Challenging5.3 hours

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  9. No. 29 on this list. The Known World · Edward P. Jones · 2004

    Pulitzer Prize winner (2004), widely taught in African American literature and American history courses. Growing presence in contemporary fiction syllabi but not yet at universal canonical status like 'Beloved.' Recognized as essential within specific academic contexts.

    Challenging11 hours

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  10. No. 30 on this list. A Visit from the Goon Squad · Jennifer Egan · 2011

    The novel won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2011 and was shortlisted for the Women's Prize. With 910 syllabus appearances and a 74th-percentile ranking in academic course adoption, it is firmly established on contemporary American literature syllabi. It is widely treated as a defining novel of the 2010s and a landmark of formally experimental popular fiction.

    Moderate5.1 hours

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31–40 · 55 hours

  1. No. 31 on this list. The Vegetarian

    Han Kang · 2016

  2. No. 32 on this list. 4.48 Psychosis

    Sarah Kane · 2000

  3. No. 33 on this list. A Girl Is a Half-Formed Thing

    Eimear McBride · 2014

  4. No. 34 on this list. Sing, Unburied, Sing

    Jesmyn Ward · 2018

  5. No. 35 on this list. Half of a Yellow Sun

    Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie · 2007

  6. No. 36 on this list. The Accidental

    Ali Smith · 2005

  7. No. 37 on this list. Innocent Erendira and Other Stories

    Gabriel García Márquez · 2005

  8. No. 38 on this list. Trust

    Hernan Diaz · 2022

  9. No. 39 on this list. Topdog/Underdog

    Suzan-Lori Parks · 2001

  10. No. 40 on this list. Tenth of December

    George Saunders · 2013

41–50 · 103 hours

  1. No. 41 on this list. Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay

    Elena Ferrante · 2013

  2. No. 42 on this list. Atonement

    Ian McEwan · 2001

    Taught in schools: AQA GCSE and A-level English Literature (UK), Pearson Edexcel GCSE and A-level English Literature (UK)

  3. No. 43 on this list. The Door

    Magda Szabó · 1987

    Taught in schools: Hungarian literature curriculum (magyar nyelv és irodalom) (Hungary)

  4. No. 44 on this list. Building Stories

    Chris Ware · 2012

  5. No. 45 on this list. A Mercy

    Toni Morrison · 2008

  6. No. 46 on this list. Last Evenings on Earth

    Roberto Bolaño · 2006

  7. No. 47 on this list. Anil's Ghost

    Michael Ondaatje · 2000

  8. No. 48 on this list. Penelopiad

    Margaret Atwood · 2005

  9. No. 49 on this list. The Luminaries

    Eleanor Catton · 2013

  10. No. 50 on this list. 1Q84

    Haruki Murakami · 2009

51–60 · 82 hours

  1. No. 51 on this list. Purple Hibiscus

    Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie · 2004

    Taught in schools: Leaving Certificate English – NCCA / State Examinations Commission (Ireland)

  2. No. 52 on this list. Wizard of the Crow

    Ngugi wa Thiong'o · 2004

  3. No. 53 on this list. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

    Karen Joy Fowler · 2014

  4. No. 54 on this list. Circe

    Madeline Miller · 2019

  5. No. 55 on this list. Hamnet

    Maggie O'Farrell · 2020

    Taught in schools: Leaving Certificate English – NCCA / State Examinations Commission (Ireland)

  6. No. 56 on this list. The Round House

    Louise Erdrich · 2012

  7. No. 57 on this list. Pas pleurer

    Lydie Salvayre · 2014

  8. No. 58 on this list. Half a Life

    V.S. Naipaul · 2001

  9. No. 59 on this list. Bring Up the Bodies

    Hilary Mantel · 2012

  10. No. 60 on this list. Nox

    Anne Carson · 2010

61–70 · 57 hours

  1. No. 61 on this list. Three Strong Women

    Marie NDiaye · 2009

  2. No. 62 on this list. Lila

    Marilynne Robinson · 2015

  3. No. 63 on this list. Unaccustomed Earth

    Jhumpa Lahiri · 2008

  4. No. 64 on this list. The Buddha in the Attic

    Julie Otsuka · 2012

  5. No. 65 on this list. LaRose

    Louise Erdrich · 2016

  6. No. 66 on this list. Animal's People

    Indra Sinha · 2007

  7. No. 67 on this list. Elizabeth Costello

    J.M. Coetzee · 2003

  8. No. 68 on this list. Embassytown

    China Miéville · 2011

  9. No. 69 on this list. Brokeback Mountain

    Annie Proulx · 2005

  10. No. 70 on this list. In the Café of Lost Youth

    Patrick Modiano · 2007

71–80 · 122 hours

  1. No. 71 on this list. Celestial Harmonies

    Péter Esterházy · 2000

  2. No. 72 on this list. The Goldfinch

    Donna Tartt · 2014

  3. No. 73 on this list. True History of the Kelly Gang

    Peter Carey · 2001

  4. No. 74 on this list. The Paying Guests

    Sarah Waters · 2015

  5. No. 75 on this list. The Line of Beauty

    Alan Hollinghurst · 2004

  6. No. 76 on this list. Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out

    Mo Yan · 2006

  7. No. 77 on this list. When We Were Orphans

    Kazuo Ishiguro · 2000

  8. No. 78 on this list. Foster

    Claire Keegan · 2010

  9. No. 79 on this list. Caledonian Road

    Andrew O'Hagan · 2024

  10. No. 80 on this list. A Distant Shore

    Caryl Phillips · 2003

81–90 · 86 hours

  1. No. 81 on this list. Checkout 19

    Claire-Louise Bennett · 2022

  2. No. 82 on this list. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

    Michael Chabon · 2001

  3. No. 83 on this list. Your Face Tomorrow: Fever and Spear

    Javier Marías · 2002

  4. No. 84 on this list. Close Range: Wyoming Stories

    Annie Proulx · 2000

  5. No. 85 on this list. Atomised

    Michel Houellebecq · 2002

  6. No. 86 on this list. Home

    Marilynne Robinson · 2009

  7. No. 87 on this list. The Narrow Road to the Deep North

    Richard Flanagan · 2014

  8. No. 88 on this list. The Silence of the Girls

    Pat Barker · 2019

    Taught in schools: Leaving Certificate English – NCCA / State Examinations Commission (Ireland)

  9. No. 89 on this list. Flight Behaviour

    Barbara Kingsolver · 2013

  10. No. 90 on this list. Autumn

    Ali Smith · 2017

91–100 · 76 hours

  1. No. 91 on this list. Black Hole

    Charles Burns · 2005

  2. No. 92 on this list. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

    Dave Eggers · 2000

  3. No. 93 on this list. The Marriage Portrait

    Maggie O'Farrell · 2023

  4. No. 94 on this list. The Days of Abandonment

    Elena Ferrante · 2002

  5. No. 95 on this list. The Seven Ages

    Louise Glück · 2001

  6. No. 96 on this list. Nemesis

    Philip Roth · 2010

    Taught in schools: UNAM Escuela Nacional Preparatoria – programas de Literatura (Mexico)

  7. No. 97 on this list. Kafka on the Shore

    Haruki Murakami · 2001

  8. No. 98 on this list. Sea of Poppies

    Amitav Ghosh · 2008

  9. No. 99 on this list. Let the Great World Spin

    Colum McCann · 2009

  10. No. 100 on this list. Lincoln in the Bardo

    George Saunders · 2017

About this list

These 100 books are the highest-scoring eligible moderately difficult contemporary books currently in the catalogue. About 847 hours of reading in all, for the 99 with measured lengths. Difficulty runs from 52 to 60 out of 100 for the middle half of the list; the summit is Anil's Ghost at 64.

This list is ranked by literary regard, with a consistent order for equal scores. Membership follows authors and co-authors, not translators or editors. A book is here when ReadingRate files it under Contemporary Literature as one of its primary reading domains, and only when its author’s lifetime places it in the period. Catalogue coverage and the historical canon both limit what this list can represent.

When we matched the Canons dataset to our catalogue in October 2026, our canonical-status scores rose with the number of school curricula, publisher series and lists in it that cite a work: the median score was 72 for books one such source cites, 84 at two, 88 at three, 92 at four and 93 at five or more. Prizes are left out of that count. Outside the state curricula, the dataset’s sources choose mostly from what has been translated into English or French, so it is a weaker check on other literatures. Source: Canons (Andrew Piper), CC BY 4.0

Questions people actually ask

What are the best moderately difficult contemporary books?
By literary regard, which weighs canonical status, critical standing and influence: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman, James by Percival Everett and The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel. ReadingRate ranks 100 such books, each with a difficulty score and a reading-time estimate.
Which moderately difficult contemporary books should I read first?
Start from difficulty, not from rank. The most approachable books on this list that still carry top literary regard are Runaway by Alice Munro (about 5.5 hours), The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel and James by Percival Everett.
What are the shortest of the best moderately difficult contemporary books?
Among the top 25, the shortest are The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman (about 2.8 hours), Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri (about 4.1 hours) and James by Percival Everett (about 4.5 hours), at an average pace of 250 words a minute adjusted for each book's difficulty.
Which of the best moderately difficult contemporary books are the established classics?
By canonical status, how firmly a book sits in curricula, anthologies and the canon: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, The Overstory by Richard Powers, James by Percival Everett, The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman and The Selected Works of Audre Lorde by Audre Lorde.
How long would it take to read the top ten?
About 92 hours, at an average pace of 250 words a minute adjusted for each book's difficulty: 46 days at two hours a day. Set your own pace on the page and the list's reading times change to it.
How hard are moderately difficult contemporary books to read?
Most of this list sits between 52 and 60 on ReadingRate's 100-point difficulty scale, where 40 to 55 is moderate. The summit is Anil's Ghost at 64. Every entry carries its own score, so a reader can pick a great book at a difficulty they will finish.
How is this list ranked?
On literary-regard data: how canonically established a work is, its critical standing, and its influence on later writing. It is not a readers’ poll, which is why recent bestsellers rarely appear. Membership follows authors and co-authors, not translators or editors. Lists by country, author, period, theme or difficulty keep to literature (fiction, poetry, drama and philosophy), their novels, poems and plays first and their philosophy after them; a list of a kind of book, such as memoir or criticism, keeps every book of that kind. Every list holds at most three works by one author. A book is here when ReadingRate files it under Contemporary Literature as one of its primary reading domains, and only when its author’s lifetime places it in the period.