This week is all about unique books. It’s probably quite hard to find truly unique ideas these days, but lots of writers have come up with fantastic twists or ways of doing things. So I present to you, ten books with something different about them which I thoroughly enjoyed reading.
The whole Skyscraper Throne trilogy is packed with creativity. Tom re-imagines a London where the city is alive. Also one of the first books I read with a Muslim character where her faith isn’t a plot point.
Sentient tapeworms taking over their human hosts? Yup, pretty unique premise. The first book is the strongest but it’s well worth reading the whole trilogy.
I don’t think anyone else has ever had a Golem as a central and sympathetic character. It’s also a beautifully told story about immigration, faith and integration.
A zombie love story sounds like it would be dreadful but I love the skill with which this book is told. It’s a lot better known since the film was made, but I think it’s often pitched as a comedy which would have completely put me off.
One day, the whole world hears a voice in the sky. Is it a god, aliens or something human-made? Whatever it is leads to global chaos, and this novel follows it all through 26 different narrators.
Stunning retelling of part of the Iliad, a love story between Achilles and Patroclus. I don’t think much historical fiction acknowledges the fact that ancient Greece and Rome were pretty fluid with their sexuality. I mean, just look at all the things Zeus got up to!
Supernatural, killer horses from the sea, an isolated island community and the humans who try to tame them. This reminded me a little of Patricia Leitch’s Jinny series which I adored as a kid. Still my favourite Stiefvater book.
I read this back when I really didn’t experiment much with my reading and I read jumped in head first into surreal literary fiction with it! Amnesia probably sounds like standard fayre by now but sharks made out of text are still uncommon. How Eric tries to recover his past is really quite unique. I loved the use of typography in it too.
A book about the apocalypse without violence or action scenes. It is so so sad, but I hope we would see in the end of days this way if it ever happened. The polar opposite of The Road.
The beginning may have been ripped off repeatedly by now, but no one else has really gone on to explore carniverious plants taking their place at the top of the food chain.