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?
Edit: just remember invisible monsters by Chuck Palanhiuk! Another unique 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.

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! Gonna check it out!

Thank you!

House of Leaves would make a terrible audiobook if that's the kind of thing you're looking for.

Pale Fire by Nabokov.

I came here to recommend this one, and you put it so succinctly.

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.

Lockpick Pornography by Joey Comeau. I'd never read a book from the POV of a genderqueer character before.

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.

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

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.

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

Edit: I'm not surprised to see that this is a popular response.

Another, different, one is The Fisherman by John Langan.

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!

Cemetery of Forgotten Books by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. A luscious rich story in a difficult period of Spanish history.

originally in Spanish, but the translation to english is pretty good

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.

If you know a little French, there's Mots d'Heures. English translation and commentary is provided, so you don't need to understand much French, just how to pronounce the words.

"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

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)

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).

Hoppscotch comes to mind. There are 2 ways to read, first is read chapters 1-56 and discard the rest. Second is follow the author's order, which is 73, 1, 2, 116, 3, 84... At the end of each chapter it says where you should jump next. Plus there's a lot of experimental stuff in it, steam of consciousness, news fragments, a chapter where the author made up his own language, fragments of a fictional writer, etc

Only thing is I don't know how well the original Spanish translates to other languages (tho according to Wikipedia the English translator won some award so should be good).

Broken Earth also has some truly badass twists/reveals, can reccommend!

Came to say this.

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

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.

If you can find it, Gooberz by Linda Goodman is a pretty wild read. It's a poetic semi-autobiography with an overarching theme of love and grief.

It's also printed in a fairly bold style in the original hardback.

I can't think of anything I've read that stands out as much in terms of never having run across anything quite like it. People just don't write 1000+ page stories in rhymed meter for one thing. Doing so with a blend of autobiography and fiction, weaving in bits of mysticism and philosophy (rather woowoo in that regard, the author was a professional astrologer, but don't let that sour you on the book itself) and managing to tell a heart wrenching story.

Is it something everyone will like? Absolutely not. I did. I recently acquired a first edition of it and plan a re-read soon (the book is fucking thick though, so it isn't a casual read with my arthritis nowadays). It weren't cheap, though also not beyond my reach either, so I obviously think it worth the effort of wrestling my attention span for.

I do, however, suggest that one get a digital version and just look up pictures of the printed version lol.

XX by Rian Hughes uses different fonts for different characters. The story isn't told in a linear fashion and there are plenty of twists and doubling back.

'The Iron Dream' by Norman Spinrad. In 1921, a young German war veteran named Adolph Hitler left his homeland and moved to America. He settled in New York's Greenwich Village and started illustrating pulp novels. After a few years he was confident enough to start writing. This book is considered his masterpiece ...

I really recommend the Raw Shark Texts. It's really interesting in that it only works as a book, and it really plays with the meta. I'm told it's like House of Leaves in that respect, and I loaned it to someone in exchange for their copy of House of Leaves but that's a way tougher read so I've stalled out pretty early.

I remember doing a book report on this in school! Really stuck with me.

"The people in the trees" lives in my head rent free, but not 100% in a good way. Huge SA trigger warning (not pervasive in terms of time spent on the topic, but yeah, if you are AT ALL squeamish about that sort of thing, give this one a pass). But it is quite unlike anything else I've read and stuck with me in a way other books I randomly grabbed at the library with no context generally do not. Left me very much questioning how I view people and the world and how easy it is to allow monsters to hide in plain sight.

Clemens P. Suter’s “Heavenland” a plainly weird crime story. Entertaining though.

Be here now

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.

All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld is told backwards. Each chapter takes place before the previous one.

Twenty-One Truths about Love by Matthew Dicks is told entirely in lists.

A Touch of Jen by Beth Morgan switches genres about 60% through. It's best if you know that and nothing else.

Damn i love those suggestions! Thank you!

This one is a banger.

Thank you!

Thanks!

Remids me of The city and The city.

Thanks.

Thank you! Gonna check it out.

Which ones you reccomend by Taylor Jenkins Reid?

Lmao thank you by your effort. If you have another one feel free to share!

Omg i received that book as a gift but really didnt care. Now im going to definetely read it! Thank you!

Loved it! Thank you!

Thank you!

Thanks!

Thank you!

Looks like very interesting! Thanks.