A week or two ago, the Top Ten Tuesday prompt by Broke and the Bookish was the “10 most unique books I’ve read.” Since I missed participating in the prompt at the time, I decided I’d do it today! Here are some of the most unique books I’ve read and the reasons why I think they’re so special.

1. Most Unique Reading Experience: by J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst

S jj abrams doug dorst

S. is the story of two people who are meeting each other and solving a mystery via notes in the book, Ship of Theseus. When you open up S., you are opening up Ship of Theseus. The story of the two characters is actually written in various colored pens in margins of the book. So it’s basically two books in one. You read Ship of Theseus and you read the characters’ notes to each other! I had to read the book twice to truly comprehend the entire puzzle, but it was definitely a unique read.

2. Most Unique Formatting: The Illuminae Files by Aimee Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

 

These books are a story told through documents. There’s not any real narrative, so you piece together the story based on the various chat room logs, video surveillance files, diary entries, etc that you read. See my review of Illuminae here and my review of Gemina here. The third book, Obsidio, is expected to come out March 2018.

3. Most Unique Language: A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

a clockwork orange anthony burgess

You cannot fully comprehend this book without having a copy of the ‘Nadsat’ dictionary in hand. It’s a slang language created by the author of the novel. I will never forget reading this book with my little folded up dictionary tucked away in the back cover.

4. Most Unique Love Story: Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

warm bodies cover

It’s a story about a girl and a zombie falling in love (amongst other things that happen in the novel). It doesn’t get weirder than that!

5. Most Unique World: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland gets a lot of credit for being a bizarre world, but a lot of people forget about this book! Maybe because it has become so ubiquitous? I mean, aside from weirdness that is the Emerald City and flying monkeys and living tin man and cowardly lion, there are a bunch of strange places in that book. See my thoughts on this book here!

6. Most Unique Use of Language: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

the phantom tollbooth cover

This book is so clever! Juster’s tongue-in-cheek and literal use of language is hilarious. Definitely something an adult is going to appreciate way more than a kid.

7. Most Unique Dystopian: The Bone Season series by Samantha Shannon

the bone season  

Shannon has created a really elaborate and detailed clairvoyant dystopian world, and it’s definitely unlike anything I’ve read. Click the links to see my reviews for The Bone SeasonThe Mime Order, and The Song Rising.

 

What are some unique books you’ve read, and why?