The only time I've read 'contemporary novels' was when we had a book club at work and had to read things like The Life of Pi and Small Island. To be fair, those two were probably worth reading, but then neither of them were about real, present day hellish boredom. I am totally with you in being bemused that anyone wants to read about that when we are all living it.

Nope, I'll stick to fantasy and sci fi and fanfics. ♥