18 Contemporary Titles to Upgrade your Classroom Library

I’m writing this at the end of July, which means summer is drawing rapidly to an end. It also means it’s time to start planning for the upcoming school year. The 23-24 school year has me teaching AP English Literature for the 17^th year (!!!) in a row. While I don’t change up my whole class texts that often, I’m constantly adding to my independent reading library.

Here is a list of 18 titles of recent publication to consider adding to your classroom library. I enlisted the help from some other AP Lit teachers, whose reviews I’ve included when applicable.

A special thanks to the teachers who offered suggestions, reviews, and additional titles to add to my reading list. I myself bought several books after reading this blog post and I hope you feel inspired as well!

This post contains affiliate links, which can earn me a small commission. I only include affiliate links to products I myself have used or strongly endorse.

My Picks:

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett (2019)

This is one of my most recent reads (well, actually I listened to it on Audible). I found the narrative voice compelling and the conflict intriguing. The story is complex in its setting, as so much of it revolves around the Dutch House, despite the narrator and his sister leaving that house 1/3 of the way through the novel. However, the Dutch House represents so much of their childhood, thus permeating the whole novel and its themes.

Laurie Stave agrees with this review, saying, “I love Ann Patchett’s writing. The Dutch House has the quality of the house becoming a beloved character itself!”

The Novel’s Premise (from Goodreads):

At the end of the Second World War, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to begin an enormous real estate empire, propelling his family from poverty to enormous wealth. His first order of business is to buy the Dutch House, a lavish estate in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia. Meant as a surprise for his wife, the house sets in motion the undoing of everyone he loves.

The story is told by Cyril’s son Danny, as he and his older sister, the brilliantly acerbic and self-assured Maeve, are exiled from the house where they grew up by their stepmother. The two wealthy siblings are thrown back into the poverty their parents had escaped from and find that all they have to count on is one another. It is this unshakable bond between them that both saves their lives and thwarts their futures.

Set over the course of five decades, The Dutch House is a dark fairy tale about two smart people who cannot overcome their past. Despite every outward sign of success, Danny and Maeve are only truly comfortable when they’re together. Throughout their lives, they return to the well-worn story of what they’ve lost with humor and rage. But when at last they’re forced to confront the people who left them behind, the relationship between an indulged brother and his ever-protective sister is finally tested.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (2003)

Although this book is controversial, every student of mine that has read it has loved it. Furthermore, they’ve written some strong, even 5-level essays on the novel. While Christopher sets out to solve the mystery of a random dog’s death, the reader is more intrigued in uncovering truth about Christopher and his difficult family dynamics.

The Novel’s Premise (from Goodreads):

Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow.

This improbable story of Christopher’s quest to investigate the suspicious death of a neighborhood dog makes for one of the most captivating, unusual, and widely heralded novels in recent years.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy (2006)

This year, one of my seniors read The Road for independent reading. One day, he approached me with the book in hand. “I want more of this,” is all he said, then returned the book. I gave him All the Pretty Horses and another McCarthy fan was born.

Students love The Road because of its bleak, post-apocalyptic setting. However, the book’s complexity lies in the father-son dynamic and the permeation of hope in a place that has none.

The Novel’s Premise (from Goodreads):

The searing, postapocalyptic novel destined to become Cormac McCarthy’s masterpiece.

A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don’t know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other.

The Road is the profoundly moving story of a journey. It boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which the father and his son, “each the other’s world entire,” are sustained by love. Awesome in the totality of its vision, it is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (2014)

This is another post-apocolyptic novel, set in the aftermath of a global pandemic. I read this book during the Covid pandemic, which was admittedly a bad idea. But I loved so much about this novel, including the characters, the permeation of Shakespearean themes, and the themes of the novel overall.

PJ Elliott agrees with my choice, saying, “The ‘joyful dystopian novel.’ Rich characterization, novel construction of narrative flow. Again, powerful symbolism and a theme about the nature of art in community. One of those novels that could respond to any Q3.”

The Novel’s Premise (from Goodreads):

Set in the days of civilization’s collapse, Station Eleven tells the story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.

One snowy night a famous Hollywood actor slumps over and dies onstage during a production of King Lear. Hours later, the world as we know it begins to dissolve. Moving back and forth in time—from the actor’s early days as a film star to fifteen years in the future, when a theater troupe known as the Traveling Symphony roams the wasteland of what remains—this suspenseful, elegiac, spellbinding novel charts the strange twists of fate that connect five people: the actor, the man who tried to save him, the actor’s first wife, his oldest friend, and a young actress with the Traveling Symphony, caught in the crosshairs of a dangerous self-proclaimed prophet.

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (2016)

This novel’s chapter structure and mix of narrators keeps the reading fresh and interesting. I will admit, this would be a tough book to write about for question 3. But it’s a great exercise in studying narrator, theme, conflict, and figurative language. I have used this book in World Lit and would like to use excerpts from it in preparation for a Q2 question.

This sentiment is echoed by Amy Amanda Marie, who says, “Complex, moving, heartbreaking novel told in multi POV/ multi generation that ultimately showcases the far-reaching effects of generational trauma. Beautifully written.” Courtney Marie also agrees, saying, “My kids loved it both years I’ve taught it thus far.”

The Novel’s Premise (from Goodreads):

A novel of breathtaking sweep and emotional power that traces three hundred years in Ghana and along the way also becomes a truly great American novel. Extraordinary for its exquisite language, its implacable sorrow, its soaring beauty, and for its monumental portrait of the forces that shape families and nations, Homegoing heralds the arrival of a major new voice in contemporary fiction.

Two half-sisters, Effia and Esi, are born into different villages in eighteenth-century Ghana. Effia is married off to an Englishman and lives in comfort in the palatial rooms of Cape Coast Castle. Unbeknownst to Effia, her sister, Esi, is imprisoned beneath her in the castle’s dungeons, sold with thousands of others into the Gold Coast’s booming slave trade, and shipped off to America, where her children and grandchildren will be raised in slavery. One thread of Homegoing follows Effia’s descendants through centuries of warfare in Ghana, as the Fante and Asante nations wrestle with the slave trade and British colonization. The other thread follows Esi and her children into America. From the plantations of the South to the Civil War and the Great Migration, from the coal mines of Pratt City, Alabama, to the jazz clubs and dope houses of twentieth-century Harlem, right up through the present day.

Generation after generation, Yaa Gyasi’s magisterial first novel sets the fate of the individual against the obliterating movements of time, delivering unforgettable characters whose lives were shaped by historical forces beyond their control. Homegoing is a tremendous reading experience, not to be missed, by an astonishingly gifted young writer.

Anxious People (2019) or A Man Called Ove (2012) by Fredrik Backman

Fredrik Backman’s narratives are a delightful mix of dark conflicts, strong humor, and lovably broken characters. Althoug both of these novels are comedies, they each depict struggles with suicide and depression. Furthermore, each is a “happy” read among a field of sad AP titles. They teach readers that people are innately good, that community strengthens the individual, and that love wins.

Anxious People’s Premise (from Goodreads):

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove and “writer of astonishing depth” (The Washington Times) comes a poignant comedy about a crime that never took place, a would-be bank robber who disappears into thin air, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find they have more in common than they ever imagined.

Viewing an apartment normally doesn’t turn into a life-or-death situation, but this particular open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes everyone in the apartment hostage. As the pressure mounts, the eight strangers begin slowly opening up to one another and reveal long-hidden truths.

As police surround the premises and television channels broadcast the hostage situation live, the tension mounts and even deeper secrets are slowly revealed. Before long, the robber must decide which is the more terrifying prospect: going out to face the police, or staying in the apartment with this group of impossible people.

Rich with Fredrik Backman’s “pitch-perfect dialogue and an unparalleled understanding of human nature” (Shelf Awareness), Anxious People’s whimsical plot serves up unforgettable insights into the human condition and a gentle reminder to be compassionate to all the anxious people we encounter every day.

A Man Called Ove’s Premise (from Goodreads):

A grumpy yet lovable man finds his solitary world turned on its head when a boisterous young family moves in next door.

Meet Ove. He’s a curmudgeon, the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him the bitter neighbor from hell, but must Ove be bitter just because he doesn’t walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time?

Behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove’s mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents’ association to their very foundations.

From Others: Recommendations from Other AP English Lit Teachers

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (2018)

“I love Where the Crawdads Sing. It is set in my state and the kids love the drama of it. I can also use it to make cross curriculum connections.” – Meredith Stewart Wooten

“I’ve never taught Crawdads, but I think it would have sooo much potential. There’s so much you could pull out and discuss.” – Erin Curry Sullens

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (2019)

“I have done The Nickel Boys the past two years with English IV. Kids really buy in after learning about the historical background and reason it was written.” – Jennifer Nash

Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera (2015)

“Signs Preceding the End of the World is one of the most arresting novels to be published in Spanish in the last ten years. Yuri Herrera does not simply write about the border between Mexico and the United States and those who cross it. He explores the crossings and translations people make in their minds and language as they move from one country to another, especially when there’s no going back.” – Māra J. Corey

“I just devoured this yesterday (super short and accessible). Such a beautifully written story structured to mimic the Aztec myth of Mictlan (the nine underworlds after death).” – Dessiree Kennedy Jacque Kindell

Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley (2021)

“Relevant, centers Indigenous ways of learning and knowing. First section is slow, but has a twist and usually the kids are hooked.” – Ann Marie Appel

Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng (2022)

“I enjoy how it is simultaneously a critique of recent/current events and attitudes, a love story to the act of storytelling and the importance of words, and a hopeful reminder that seemingly small, individual acts can lead to change.” – Lissa Gregorio

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (2020)

“Moreno-Garcia artfully reconstructs the gothic novel while weaving a post-colonial, feminist narrative. You can do deep dives on symbolism, setting, character, and allusion (Yellow-Wallpaper, Fall of the House of Usher and others).” – PJ Elliott

There There by Tommy Orange (2018)

“I second There There by Tommy Orange. I taught it for the first time this year and really enjoyed it.” – Brenda Morris

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward (2017)

“I’m going to add Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward. I love the shifting p.o.v.” – Chris Alexander

Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu (2020)

“The unique structure of a novel written as a screenplay with stories within stories provided fascinating discussions on the issues facing Asian-Americans.” – Laurie Stave

“My students loved Interior Chinatown as well and it was by far their most popular choice for Question 3.” – Owen F. Lipsett

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro (2022)

“Klara and the Sun provides a contrast to Frankenstein with the very current concerns of AI…I love the book for its depth of structure, symbolism, and the growth of her understanding of the world around her. More philosophical musing, then a normal plot driven narrative. Very different from what our students normally read.” – Laurie Stave

Beartown by Fredrik Backman (2018)

“Backman is an expert at building complexity in his characters and this story of how sports/sport culture/toxic masculinity can both heal and hurt community is told in a way that there is not one character I didn’t root for…even if I didn’t like them. That’s skill.” – Amy Amanda Marie

Honorable Mentions:

• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (2020)
• Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid (2019)
• Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds (2017)
• Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell (2020)
• The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (2019)
• Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward (2011)
• Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman (2017)
• The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah (2015)
• The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (2003)

Your Thoughts

What do you think? Am I missing some important books? Leave me a comment and let me know what titles should be added!