Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. Book bloggers create their own lists based on the chosen topics and post links to our lists. It’s a way of all sharing our thoughts and our love of books. And who doesn’t love lists??
So this week’s challenge was to list the top ten most unique books that I’ve read. They can be unique for any reason – the narrator’s voice, the point of view, the setting, the characters – whatever it is that made them stand out in my mind as unique.
- The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick – Told through both words and beautifully intricate and moving illustrations, Selznick’s works are like nothing else I have ever seen.
- The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman – OK, nearly anything by Neil Gaiman! But this adult fairy tale is in a class of its own.
- Maus by Art Spiegelman – A graphic novel about the Holocaust. Sounds strange, but it works, amazingly.
- Monster by Walter Dean Myers – Steve is in juvenile detention, awaiting trial, and tells the story of how he got there through a screenplay running through his mind, along with journal entries.
- Attachments by Rainbow Rowell – Alternate chapters tell the stories of two women through their email correspondence. It sounds like it could be clunky, but it worked.
- ttyl by Lauren Myracle – The entire novel is told through instant message transcripts between a group of teenage girls, it at least left me with a better vocabulary of messaging shorthand!
- The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo – Edward Tulane is a conceited china rabbit (yes – you read that right, but trust me – it works!) who is lost by his owner and goes on a journey of redemption, to learn of love and loss, from garbage piles to the bottom of the ocean to a hobo camp and beyond..
- Burial Rites by Hannah Kent – The first book that I’ve ever read about historical Iceland and the beheading of women. Definitely different.
- Life After Life by Kate Atkinson – Ursula Todd is born on a snowy night in England 1910. Strangled by the umbilical cord she does not survive. Until she is born again, and dies again, and is born again… Through each of her lives she is born into the same family, and meets many of the same people, but her life is different each time.
- Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan – An unique melding of the ancient and technology with one of the quirkiest cast of characters.
“The world is dark, and light is precious. Come closer, dear reader. You must trust me. I’m telling you a story.” This is how The Tale of Despereaux begins and you are completely enchanted until the very end. DiCamillo has written a modern-day fairy tale, the story of a mouse that is not like other mice, with his love of music, books, and the princess. The story of a rat that lives in the darkness but is enchanted by light. And the story of a slow-witted servant girl who simply wishes to be a princess. Their stories all come together as the author directly tells you, the reader, this intertwining story in beautiful and thoughtful language. While I loved all of her books, this was by far my favorite (a mouse that loves to read – how can you go wrong?). The movie? Don’t bother!
Edward Tulane is a conceited china rabbit (yes – you read that right, but trust me – it works!) who is lost by his owner and goes on a journey of redemption, to learn of love and loss, from garbage piles to the bottom of the ocean to a hobo camp and beyond. “Open your heart. Someone will come. Someone will come for you. But first you must open your heart…”
Opal moves with her father, the preacher, to Florida where she finds Winn-Dixie, a big, ugly, loveable dog who will be the friend she needs so desperately, while helping her to make friends in this new place. She spends the summer learning the stories of Otis (the ex-con running the pet store), Franny (the local librarian), and Gloria (the blind woman who sees into Opal’s heart), while also using Winn-Dixie to get her father to tell her about her long-gone mother. Opal will start to grow up, learn how to make friends, and begin to understand forgiveness, all with the help of a dog named after a grocery story. “It’s hard not to immediately fall in love with a dog who has a good sense of humor.” The movie based on this book is definitely worth watching AFTER you read the book (let’s face it – the book is ALWAYS better!).
Rob’s mother has died of cancer and he and his father move to Florida looking to find a new life. Rob is terribly unhappy when he meets someone else new at school, Sistine, who is also struggling with the hope that her father is going to come and get her. When Rob discovers a caged tiger in the woods, the events that follow will allow him to understand what it means to be free, to open up and forge a friendship with Sistine, learn to forgive his father, and deal with his grief. “Rob had a way of not-thinking about things. He imagined himself as a suitcase that was too full… He made all his feelings go inside the suitcase; he stuffed them in tight and then sat on the suitcase and he locked it shut. That was the way he not-thought about things. Sometimes it was hard to keep the suitcase shut. But now he had something to put on top of it. The Tiger. Rob imagined the tiger on top of his suitcase, blinking his golden eyes, sitting proud and strong, unaffected by all the non-thoughts inside straining to come out.”
Watching the Words 