Hey guys! I’m looking for new books and i just love books with a unique format. Can be plot, writing style or even cover. My most unique reads were battle royale and horrostor. What are yours?
I’ve found “children’s” books are frequently very unique whilst still being good. A Series of Unfortunate Events, is a great example of this. Here are two to check out.
The Stars Beneath Our Feet, by David Barclay Moore
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente
Thank you!
In literary fiction, it’s probably As I Lay Dying. Flowers for Algernon is also a really neat concept (and a much easier, more enjoyable read).
Thank you!
Station eleven had a really unique format. You could say there were multiple main characters from different timelines but I would almost argue there was not a “main” character. All of them were super fascinating in their own right and the transitions between them, and their timelines, was incredibly smooth. I didn’t find it confusing at all and I normally do with books formatted like this.
It’s a post pandemic dystopia that focuses on the role of art in helping people find purpose if you want the shortest possible synopsis.
Omg i received that book as a gift but really didnt care. Now im going to definetely read it! Thank you!
I read Station Eleven as a blind date book from the library. I really liked it a lot more than I expected to.
Edit: literally just found the book date description 30 minutes later. This is all I knew going into the book:
Genre: Post apocalyptic sci-fi
Description: A Hollywood Star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors
Okay but thats pretty spot on. Wouldn’t exactly call it sci-fi though
Yeah, I agree it’s not really scifi, that was just the libraries description.
Spoiler on plot (minor)
Maybe it was the whole thing about everyone dying of a mysterious illness that made them put scifi.
But it was a really good book
Maybe Stalking the Wild Pendulum? It’s pretty unlike what I usually read, so it was fun/unique. I can’t say I subscribe to it, whatever that would even entail. It’s like 90% woo-ey BS probably, but…still kinda enjoyed it mostly.
Thank you! Gonna check it out!
Probably A Key, an Egg, an Unfortunate Remark by Harry Connolly. It’s got some fantasy/urban fantasy elements mixed with like a mystery/detective vibe. It super surprised me in the best way when I was reading it.
Remids me of The city and The city.
Hey, I read that relatively recently! It was last year, maybe 2 years ago? Oddly, it doesn’t show up in my library history.
Different vibe though. Grittier maybe? The Connolly book has a somewhat more lighthearted feel to it.
Lockpick Pornography by Joey Comeau. I’d never read a book from the POV of a genderqueer character before.
Thank you! Gonna check it out.
Wow what a throwback. Haven’t thought about Joey (or QC) in a long time. But scenes from that book stick in my brain decades later. One of my first real exposures to really different genderqueer experiences
I never finished it, but definitely House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. I’ll call it a “labyrinthian” horror story where both the narrative and physical formatting mirror the themes presented in the story. It’s hard to describe, but you have to at least find one in a bookstore and look through it. I don’t know if audio or digital versions exist, but I’d avoid them, you won’t get the whole experience.
Edit: Damn, took to long to write and somebody already mentioned it, lol.
Lmao thank you by your effort. If you have another one feel free to share!
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
The broken earth trilogy by NK Jemisin is written in second person, interesting style and a good read. (Fantasy, sci-fi)
Gardens of the moon by Steven Erikson, not really ‘unique’ but he does a lot of show and tell, so if you’re willing to pay attention and think a long it’s a great read. (fantasy)
Thank you!
I was checking to see if Broken Earth had been mentioned! It’s the only story I’m aware of that does second person (not all chapters).
Broken Earth also has some truly badass twists/reveals, can reccommend!
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
Thanks!
Pale Fire by Nabokov.
This one is a banger.
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine was a book that threw me just because the main protagonist had such odd perspectives.
Listen For the Lie by Amy Tintera is written with segments of it like a true crime podcast. Highly recommend it as a listen.
Ive been reading a lot of books that aren’t written traditionally. Taylor Jenkins Reid books, Evelyn Hugo was written as an interview, Daisy Jones and the Six like documentary, etc. Dungeon Crawler Carl is LitRPG and best as audiobook (written primarily as such). Of Monsters and Mainframes was written with computers as main characters. Super fun.
So many good books out there. Please report back on what you’ve enjoyed the most!
Sorry I got carried away and its late here. Ive read a lot of different and very unique books but my favorite “unique books” recently are Of Monsters and Mainframes and Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle
Pure fun.
Other books like Piranesi, Katabasis, and 100 Years of Solitude are super unique but were a bit of a chore to read.
Which ones you reccomend by Taylor Jenkins Reid?
My absolute favorite that shes made is Atmosphere but its not that “unique”. Its a love story to 1980s space exploration first then second to another love story.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is more unique in story telling and its based on the 1920s Golden Age of Hollywood. I’m quite a nerd so after listening to the book (people enjoyed the written book too) I got lost in learning more about Elizabeth Taylor, Rita Hayworth, etc. I didn’t think off title alone it would be my type of book but I’ve fallen in love with everything TJR has written about so far lol.
“The curious incident of the dog in the nighttime” is written in the narrative of a boy with aspergers, read it many years ago and enjoyed it a lot. Like, it really paints an interesting picture of how the world can also be experienced
I remember doing a book report on this in school! Really stuck with me.
Yeah same! I ended up reading all the book very ahead of what my teacher had planned (a couple chapters each week), I was so captivated by it.
Came to say this.
Gnomon by Nick Harkaway is one of my favorite weird books. On its surface, it’s about a detective digging into a wrongful death at the hands of a state interrogator… but as it progresses, you realize things are not quite what they seem.
