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I can't read American fiction much anymore. It's all so airheaded and contrived I lose it after the first or second page.
A biography, however, by Jonathan Spence of a Ming aristocrat, RETURN TO DRAGON MOUNTAIN fulfilled the criteria. Zhang Dai lost everything at the age of 49 when the Mongols tookover, but still his life remained devoted to books and a way of life that retained its purpose. Though Mr. Spence's prose is a little wooden, he left me wanting to know more about one of the oldest and greatest civilizations on earth.
Another is "Rousseau's Dog" by David Edmonds and John Eidinow. The story of the relationship between Hume and Rousseau that does a very good job on the philosophy, the times, and the personalities.
I wish you'd cite the "best" poetry of the year but have an editor do it who brings in the new voices. There is an audience, they just have to be pointed in the right direction.
