Contemporary women's fiction

Since I started this blog, I've been writing periodic posts focusing on some of my favorite books/authors in some of my favorite genres.  A lot of what I read doesn't necessarily fall into a genre, however - or if it does, it's a pretty broad genre which I would refer to as contemporary women's fiction.  Basically, books written by women, generally aimed at women though they can certainly be read by men as well, and set in the present day without other genre elements like thriller, fantasy, etc.

I've already written about my favorite authors in chick lit, which definitely is a subset of contemporary women's fiction.  It's kind of hard to say what the different is between the two, but I'd say chick lit (which for me is certainly not a pejorative) tends to be just a little lighter, fluffier, more focused on romance, and often about younger protagonists.  Some of my favorite writers, who I mentioned in the chick lit post I just linked to, definitely have written more serious books as they have gotten older themselves.  So definitely check out that post as well if you're interested in contemporary women's fiction.  But in addition to the authors mentioned there, here are some of my other favorites:

Allison Winn Scotch  - I've been a huge fan of Allison Winn Scotch ever since her first book came out in paperback in 2008, and have read everything she has written since then.  She has such a knack for bringing her characters to life and making them seem real and utterly relatable.  My favorite remains that first book, "The Department of Lost & Found," which made my 2008 Top 10 List.  "The Song Remains the Same" made my top 10 list for 2013, and her most recent book, "Between Me and You," is definitely a possible contender for this year's list.

Julie Buxbaum  - Julie Buxbaum has only written two adult books, "The Opposite of Love" and "After You," but both made my top lists (for 2009 and 2010, respectively), so I'm going to go ahead and include her on this list.  (She's also written two young adult books - one I haven't read yet, but the one I did read, "Tell Me Three Things," made my 2017 Top 10 List, so she's 3 for 3 as far as I'm concerned.)  Her books are so good, they always make me both laugh and cry.

Rainbow Rowell - Rainbow Rowell  also writes both young adult and adult fiction, and just as she's one of my favorite young adult realistic fiction writers, I love her adult fiction too!  She's written two adult novels, "Attachments" and "Landline," and I loved them both.  She seems to be writing comic books/graphic novels these days, so I'm looking forward to whenever she finally returns to narrative fiction.

Jojo Moyes - British novelist Jojo Moyes writes in multiple genres, as she has also written some historical fiction in addition to contemporary women's fiction.  "Me Before You," "After You," and "Still Me" (which I  recently wrote about here) are a wonderful trilogy about a charming character, and "One Plus One" is adorable too.  Her books have never quite made it on to any of my top 10 lists, but I'm always excited when she has a new book come out (and still working my way through her back catalog.)

Curtis Sittenfeld - All of Curtis Sittenfeld's books are actually quite different from one another, but she's another author with an amazing knack for creating realistic characters.  I read her new short story collection, "You Think It, I'll Say It," earlier this year, and was amazed at how vividly she could bring characters to life in just a short story - leaving you feeling like you could get to know one of her characters better in 30 pages than you might in a whole novel in the hands of a lesser author.  I just read her book "Eligible," a modern day take on "Pride and Prejudice," and that was actually my favorite of her books so far.

Gabrielle Zevin - I haven't read any of her young adult novels, but her two adult novels - "The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry" and "Young Jane Young" made my top lists for 2014 and 2017, respectively.  The two books are actually pretty different from each other, but both are terrific.

Abbi Waxman - Abbi Waxman has only written two books so far, but I LOVED them both.  Her first book, "The Garden of Small Beginnings," was not just on my Top 10 list for 2017 but was one of my most favorite of even those top 10, and her second book, "Other People's Houses" (which I also wrote about here) is highly likely to make my top 10 list for this year.

Laura Dave - Laura Dave is another one I've been avidly following since her first book came out more than a decade ago, and, another one who creates real, flawed but sympathetic characters. Her first book, "London is the Best City in America," which made my 2008 Top 10 list, remains my favorite.

And, some honorable mentions:  Meg Wolitzer, Jennifer Close, Camille Pagan, Emma Straub, Sarah Dunn,  Leah Stewart, Carolyn Parkhurst, to name just a few.  There are certainly plenty more, as well as many authors who have either only written one book or I've only read one book of theirs so far, or their books are a little more inconsistent.  But I think this list should give you a good start!