Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Top Ten Tuesday #7

Hosted by the Broke and the Bookish

Top Ten Most Unique Books I've Read


This is not going to be the most easy topic, because I really can't think of any on the top of my head at the moment. I've read most 100 books in the past four years (yes I know, it's a sad number) so the chances of any of them being "unique" to me are pretty slim. So technically this will be my top five instead of top ten.

1. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
There is absolutely no quotation marks or true dialogue you would find in other books. I'm not sure if I'm describing it correctly, but basically no punctuation is used throughout the road.

"A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don’t know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other."



2. Machine of Death by Ryan North
My favorite anthology of all time, because it has one of the most unique concepts I have ever read about. Seriously, everyone should go read this.

"The machine had been invented a few years ago: a machine that could tell, from just a sample of your blood, how you were going to die. It didn't give you the date and it didn't give you specifics. It just spat out a sliver of paper upon which were printed, in careful block letters, the words DROWNED or CANCER or OLD AGE or CHOKED ON A HANDFUL OF POPCORN. It let people know how they were going to die."



3. A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
I didn't like this book, but I thought it was pretty different that each character was linked to one another. And the Mountains Echoed and the History of Love are more examples of this.

"Bennie is an aging former punk rocker and record executive. Sasha is the passionate, troubled young woman he employs. Here Jennifer Egan brilliantly reveals their pasts, along with the inner lives of a host of other characters whose paths intersect with theirs. With music pulsing on every page, A Visit from the Goon Squad is a startling, exhilarating novel of self-destruction and redemption."



4. The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
One of my favorite books from 2013. Wecker takes two religions and weaves them together, literally by using a golem and a jinni.

"Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life by a disgraced rabbi who dabbles in dark Kabbalistic magic. When her master, the husband who commissioned her, dies at sea on the voyage from Poland, she is unmoored and adrift as the ship arrives in New York in 1899. Ahmad is a jinni, a being of fire, born in the ancient Syrian desert. Trapped in an old copper flask by a Bedouin wizard centuries ago, he is released accidentally by a tinsmith in a Lower Manhattan shop. Though he is no longer imprisoned, Ahmad is not entirely free – an unbreakable band of iron binds him to the physical world. The Golem and the Jinni is their magical, unforgettable story; unlikely friends whose tenuous attachment challenges their opposing natures – until the night a terrifying incident drives them back into their separate worlds. But a powerful threat will soon bring Chava and Ahmad together again, challenging their existence and forcing them to make a fateful choice"



5. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
I've read books that featured emails, like in The Boy Next Door and Attachments, but I loved the idea of a story being told in letters.

"Charlie is a freshman. And while he's not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his years yet socially awkward, he is a wallflower, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it. Charlie is attempting to navigate his way through uncharted territory: the world of first dates and mix tapes, family dramas and new friends; the world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. But he can't stay on the sideline forever. Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor."



Feel free to comment and link up your TTT below :)

21 comments:

  1. I want to read #4 so much. I had it from the library but it was due back before I could read it. So I didn't get to it. Also I haven't watched the movie the Road because I have been waiting till I read the book first!!

    Angie
    Top Ten Unique Books

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    1. I actually really liked the movie, but I agree with you on reading books before the movie. I still haven't gone to see Divergent yet because I haven't read the first book.

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  2. I absolutely adore Perks- both the book and the movie! I haven't read any of the others though...I really, really want to read The Golem and the Jinni though.

    x Ely

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    1. You should definitely read it, you will not regret it!

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  3. I really need to read Perks and honestly have no idea why I haven't yet!
    Great list!

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    1. I really have no idea why you haven't either! :)

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  4. The only book on this list that I've read is Perks... if you like the letter format, then try Love Letters to the Dead

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    1. Thanks Emily! I'll add it to my TBR list. I also read the The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society which is also all in letters, and I thought it was pretty good too.

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  5. Of these I've only read Road and Wallflower, but I agree...very unique.

    Here's my Most Unique Books.

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  6. I've never read any of these books before :\ that's seems to be the going theme for me today lol
    Here's my TTT

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    1. Yes that was the same for me too. Basically it was everything I wanted to read, but not what I actually have read.

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  7. The Golem and the Jinni!!! Yes! I should have added that to my list; I wish there could me more historical fantasies like that one!

    I have been meaning to read the Perks of Being a Wallflower.

    my list: http://margoberendsen.blogspot.com/2014/04/top-ten-most-unique-books-ive-read.html

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    1. The Golem and the Jinni was one of my favorite books released in 2013 :)

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  8. Yeah for The Perks of Being a Wallflower!
    Missie @ A Flurry of Ponderings

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  9. I loved The Perks...seriously *sniff* all the feels there. I read it last year in about one afternoon and then I just walked around in a daze afterwards. x)

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    1. I just finished reading Cinder and that's how what I feel like now. ugh the feels

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    2. I just finished reading Cinder and that's how what I feel like now. ugh the feels

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  10. Great list :) Perks made my list, I really loved that book! I can't believe I forgot The Road, very unique book and such an amazing story. My TTT.

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  11. Ahhh I need to read Perks + the movie too. Also The Golem and the Jinni. I wasn't into that book at all initially, but everyone speaks so highly of it that I have to give a try. Nice list Val :)

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    1. Thanks Angel! You should definitely go read both of those books. I also watched the movie and I loved it and I highly recommend it!

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  12. I haven't read any of these other than The Perks of Being a Wallflower, but I agree about that one! The main character's voice is so memorable and I LOVE the idea of "feeling infinite."

    Thanks for stopping by my TTT back on Tuesday!

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