Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish where book lovers post their top ten books for various themes that are given.
April 8: Top Ten Most Unique Books We’ve Read
Caleb’s Picks:
- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley – You just don’t see any other books like this. I’ve tried, believe me I’ve tried hard for reasons of my own, to find similar stories, but there just aren’t very many. In many ways, Shelley’s first (and perhaps greatest) literary achievement is simply exceptional.
- The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes – I know, another one of the standards I often fall back on, but come on—it’s a standard for me because it’s that good. Cervantes’s magnum opus is arguably one of the best, certainly among the best known, and definitely one of the most original, novels of all time.
- The Princess Bride by William Goldman – Goldman has a . . . unique mind, that’s for sure, and his most famous work is a very unique reading experience.
- The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck – Buck has a very unique style, beautiful in its simplicity, and in addition to that the subject matter—China in the early 20th century—is unusual. You just don’t see much fiction coming out of China in that era, and though Buck is American, she was raised in China and that was what she knew.
- A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket – There’s just something about it, and all of Snicket’s work, that stands out. He has an imagination that’s . . . frankly a little deranged, but on the whole quite amazing.
Andrew’s Picks:
- S. by J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst. This is without a doubt the most unique book I’ve read. I mean in so many ways it’s much more than just a book. You’ve got notes in margins, inserts, mysteries to solve…really, it’s just an incredibly fun read.
- The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern. This book certainly stands out to me as being unique–never have I read something where a setting is, well, personified, really, to such an extent. The Circus itself is magical, captivating, and awesome, and just how the entire novel is focused around that is what makes it so great (and unique).
- The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster. The writing style is definitely what makes this book unique.
- The Prestige, by Christopher Priest. I think the way this novel is structured and put together is incredibly unique (and amazing). There are two diaries read by grandchildren, who then have chapters of their own lives (current events) in the novel. It’s quite brilliant, really. And such a fun read.
- Survivor, by Chuck Palahniuk. This was the first (and is, currently, the only) Palahniuk book I’ve read, and if I had to sum up the book and Palahniuk’s writing overall in one word, I think I’d choose “unique”.
- Honorable Mention: The Amulet of Samarkand, by Jonathan Stroud. I had to mention this because I just finished the book today and it’s one of the most unique (and most enjoyable) books that I’ve read, specifically due to the footnotes when in first-person. I loved it, personally.
- Honorable Mention 2: Calvin and Hobbes. Not strictly a single book, but rather the whole series of (comic) books, I simply had to mention it, as it is certainly, in my mind, a very unique comic (and unsurpassed in wit and humor).
The Ambage 