This week’s topic is on the Most Unique Books We’ve Read, and Tatum is joining me for this one because she was very enthusiastic about it. I actually struggled quite a bit at trying to find even five unique reads, so I’m rather thankful that she was here to rescue me. As always, feel free to link your post in the comments below using the CommentLuv, and I’ll pop over to your blog!
Amber’s Top 5 Most Unique Books
1. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Because I’ve never read a book that was narrated by Death before.
2. Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
It’s unique in the sense that it’s uniquely fucking awful.
3. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
I wish it wasn’t so unique, because I really want to read more books about dinosaurs! Can this be the next YA trend?
4. Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman
Blackman puts a unique spin on racial segregation.
5. Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Even in history classes, I learnt very little about what was going on in Eastern Europe and Russia during WWII, so Sepetys’ novel parted the clouds and shed some light on it.
Tatum’s Top 5 Most Unique Books
I was going to add The Book Thief to my list but Amber beat me to it *shakes fist* On the other hand I have read a lot of weird and wonderful books so hey ho, at least this way I can add more to my list? As per usual with lists these won’t be in any order other than remembrance XD
1. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
The first book in Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy introduces us to an alternative steampunk world filled with zeppelins, extraordinary characters and races and of course, daemons, which arguably are the manifestation of a person’s soul in animal form. Also RELIGION, ARMOURED BEARS and Will/Lyra tragic OTP.
2. The Knife of Never Letting Go By Patrick Ness
The Chaos Walking trilogy is told almost entirely in dialect and it is a deliberately disconcerting experience for the reader at first. Todd’s world is one in which the thoughts of men can be heard by all and Ness shows the chaos of this with entire passages scrawled with disjointed thought patterns; it’s so cool tbh. There’s also Viola, queen, warrior, flawless general etc. etc. she is perfect Amber and I will fight you on this. This series is about war, oppression, equality and gender – Ness is just a brilliant, brilliant author and honestly I think he is one of the most important literary figures of our generation.
3. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
He turns into a fucking FLY horrible bug creature. A FLY horrible bug creature. And then he just goes around being a horrible bug creature-human hybrid and it’s deeply disturbing because he is a FLY horrible bug creature. I hate this book it scarred me for life. Life lesson: don’t fuck with people who go away thinking this book is hilarious because those people are sociopaths in the making.
*I was corrected by some obviously smarter people who actually pay attention to what they’re reading – it isn’t a fly the dude turns into but a horrible bug creature that varies depending on the translation of the text. It’s still the creepiest thing I’ve ever read, nothing changes that.
I deeply love this philosophical, introspective novel about faith and religion. I read a lot but it’s a rare kind of book that can make me stop and think in the way Life of Pi did. I don’t even have words really so I’ll just post a quote instead:
“If you stumble about believability, what are you living for? Love is hard to believe, ask any lover. Life is hard to believe, ask any scientist. God is hard to believe, ask any believer. What is your problem with hard to believe?”
5. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
This book starts in the past, goes to the far future (ohmygod the future parts of this novel are THE BEST), back to the past, into the present, past all of that into a future so far away it’s hard to comprehend, all while keeping a tight narrative that spans all these generations. The language changes with each character, including different dialects and narrative techniques and it’s just so good. This is not an easy novel to read but it is very rewarding and it’s amazing to watch the story come together.
~Bonus~ The Shadow of The Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Because it’s about The Cemetery of Forgotten Books and Barcelona in the midst of the Fascist regime and romance and intrigue and mystery and authors and readers and basically this is a love story about books and is therefore worthy of any list.
I enjoyed Beauty Queens and some good titles here. Check out mine @ http://thephantomparagrapher.blogspot.co.nz/2014/04/top-ten-tuesday-top-ten-most-unique.html
I really need to read Beauty Queens! I loved every book by Libba so far but I’m not sure I will like this one too. But now that I see it on multiple lists this week and want to start reading it right away.
The Knife of Never Letting Go is my favorite book! I love that series so much! Seeing it on your list makes me want to reread it again 😀
Dinosaurs as the next trend in YA? YES please!
I keep meaning to read Noughts and Crosses. Thanks for reminding me! Great list 🙂
There are so many books I want to read on this list – most of them mainly just because I’ve heard that they are really unique 🙂
Such great picks here. I really keep meaning to read Shadow of the Wind; books about books are basically my favorite thing, so I know I will love it. I totally agree also with The Book Thief – it has some elements that are reminiscent of other books, but the POV is so freaking unique it really sets it apart!
Golden Compass and Book Thief are definitely unique reads!
Northern Lights was awesome, right? And I’ve got a copy of Between Shades of Grey sitting at home somewhere – really should get around to it soon. Thanks for the reminder!
The book thief: because I never had a book that made me cry real tears. Only thinking about this beautiful story makes me want to sob :’)
This are great lists! Between Shades of Gray is such a good choice! It looks like I need to read some Patrick Ness!
I am bummed that I forgot Chaos Walking! Loved that series! Beauty Queens certainly is unique and I really enjoyed it for the over-the-top satire. I am happy to see Shadow of the Wind on your list; it’s an all-time favorite of mine. Thanks for sharing! ~Megan
http://wp.me/pzUn5-1WR
Great picks! Noughts & Crosses is one of my all time favourite series and was definitely going to make my list… but then I ran out of time lol – which is why I have 8 this week and not ten. His Dark Materials and Life of Pi both made my list, such unique books and I adore the Northern Lights, such an incredible story and trilogy.
Lots of great books here, some I’ve read and some I haven’t gotten to yet. I really want to read the Knife of Never Letting Go and its sequels — I’ve only ever heard good things about the series. Cloud Atlas is one of my choices for this week’s Top Ten as well.
GOLDEN COMPASS. I read the first one as a kid but never finished the series because I remember my mom having a bit of a problem with the books being written by an Atheist author. Which is funny because now that I’m a lot older our family isn’t even religious anymore. I should probably pick them back up! Is it sad I haven’t read The Book Thief yet? Everyone has raged about it but I just haven’t made it a priority. :B
Great list! So many of these are on my TBR, and I definitely need to start reading them soon!
I had no idea Cloud Atlas was a book!! That movie confused the hell out of me, but pretty much all my friends loved it. I will have to try again and probably read the book too 😀
I must respectfully disagree with Amber’s review on Between Shades of Gray, well I will let my review speak for itself.
Rhayna,
http://shakespeareangirl.com
Jurassic Park – I’ve always been interested in dinosaurs and I feel Crichton’s Jurassic gave the reader intelligent knowledge of the dinosaur, its past, technology insight, and the damage the misuse of DNA technology can cause.
If you like books about dinosaurs and ancient things, maybe I suggest James Rollins? This guy knows to write about weird and unique. He has his Sigma Force series, a group of special-ops that fight totally weird terrorists, those who want to destroy the entire world, but I think what you would enjoy even more are his standalone novels like Amazonia and Subterranean. Just blows your mind away.