Best way to find contemporary literature

[EvoWarrior5]

Hello Literature Network,

It's been a while! I have a question for you guys. Normally I dislike seeing people use this forum purely as some sort of homework help, but I am entering unexplored terrain and I could use some advice from people who are experienced with reading a lot. Plus this could help beyond my current project.

To cut to the chase: I am about to write my thesis and I want to analyse contemporary English fiction of a certain theme. (In this particular case I really mean literature from England but normally I would be interested in English language fiction more generally.) I already read about one novel that would be suitable, but I need at least one or two more. The question is: what is the best way or place for someone to find recent fiction which contains subject matter relevant to one's interests? The one way I have been able to think of is look at Booker Prize nominees or short/longlists and browsing through the synopses to see if there is anything there. However, that would only provide a very selective picture; Booker novels don't comprise all of the rich literature that is out there.

I chose not to reveal the topic of my thesis (yet) as I want to challenge myself and endeavour to find works myself; I felt like if I said what I was looking for, people might hand me some novel suggestions on a silver plate. That would be nice, but I need to learn to do my own research!

Regards,

Evo

[qimissung]

Maybe check out the New York Times book reviews. They are pretty good at covering a good chunk of contemporary literature.

[sandy14]

Contemporary is a bit of a vague term. Do you mean published within the last 5, 10, 15 or even 25 years?

Granta Magazine would probably be as good a place as any to look. They have their Best British novelist issue every ten years, and their short stories are quite good.

Short/long lists for Booker, Costa and Richard & Judy's selection could also lead you into some interesting places. Alternatively the Times/A N Other Bestsellers list.