Weirdest / Strangest Book

RayofSunshine18 · 2025-07-18T12:45:07+00:00

What is the strangest / weirdest (in your opinion) book that you have ever read but HAD to finish? Mine is Better to Eat you With by Amber Garza

weareallcats · 13/08/2025 20:53

MaggieBsBoat · 13/08/2025 17:31

I agree re Piranesi. I loved it. It was so incredibly sad though (for me at least).

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I found Piranesi incredibly beautiful - I loved the otherworldliness of it. God, I loved it.

I’ve ordered some of the books mentioned on this thread and am excited to read them!

MaggieBsBoat · 13/08/2025 17:31

PestoHoliday · 10/08/2025 13:31

The Master And Margarita - just bonkers but entertainingly so.
Cloud Atlas - had to keep going but it was bloody odd in parts. I still liked it.

I loved Piranesi, I didn't think it was hard to understand 🤷🏻‍♀️ but it was certainly distinctive.

I agree re Piranesi. I loved it. It was so incredibly sad though (for me at least).

JaneJeffer · 13/08/2025 16:44

mumtoadhdadult · 11/08/2025 14:46

Still reading it - recommended on here,

Life after Life. Kate Atkinson.

it’s like one of those kids books where you decide how the story goes by picking which page you go to next. It is absolutely bizarre.

I couldn’t finish it

CMOTDibbler · 11/08/2025 19:44

@ObtuseMoose thats really interesting. What is is about it that works for you?

richtea5 · 11/08/2025 18:02

Hangman by Maya Binyam. It was on last year's Women's Prize longlist. It's the weirdest book I've ever read. I have no idea what it was about but I just had to finish the book.

mumtoadhdadult · 11/08/2025 14:46

Still reading it - recommended on here,

Life after Life. Kate Atkinson.

it’s like one of those kids books where you decide how the story goes by picking which page you go to next. It is absolutely bizarre.

ObtuseMoose · 11/08/2025 08:35

Tender is the Flesh is one of my absolute favourite reads.

autienotnaughty · 10/08/2025 21:42

Peaces by Helen oyememi So weird

CMOTDibbler · 10/08/2025 21:18

@mrslimpetthats it. I think I read both of these after Never Let me Go

mrslimpet · 10/08/2025 20:54

CMOTDibbler · 10/08/2025 20:14

I can't remember the title, but I read this super disturbing book with the premise that something had happened to animals so they couldn't be eaten anymore. So humans were being bred to be eaten. In one part they talk about someone keeping one of these sort of humans in a room in their house and having a book on the 'death by a thousand cuts' principle so they had fresh meat. It was massively disturbing but really well written.
Also, The Unit which is if you were childless and hadn't achieved enough you were moved at 50 to this centre where they took your organs and did medical experiments. Very strange, but a good read somehow

I think this is called ‘ Tender is the flesh’ my daughter lent me this book but I found it too disturbing to finish !

CMOTDibbler · 10/08/2025 20:14

I can't remember the title, but I read this super disturbing book with the premise that something had happened to animals so they couldn't be eaten anymore. So humans were being bred to be eaten. In one part they talk about someone keeping one of these sort of humans in a room in their house and having a book on the 'death by a thousand cuts' principle so they had fresh meat. It was massively disturbing but really well written.
Also, The Unit which is if you were childless and hadn't achieved enough you were moved at 50 to this centre where they took your organs and did medical experiments. Very strange, but a good read somehow

thenightsky · 10/08/2025 20:09

thistimelastweek · 18/07/2025 18:08

The Wasp Factory.

Oh yes, this.

WonsWoo · 10/08/2025 20:07

I thought Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders was unusual but I enjoyed it. Then I read another one of his books, Liberation Day and that was super weird. Again, I did enjoy it but I probably couldn’t convey what happened or what it was about!

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 10/08/2025 19:59

Noddy and the Magic Rubber.

It still haunts me. 😳

Fairyvocals · 10/08/2025 19:53

Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World, and Wild Sheep Chase, both by Haruki Murakami.

The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier.

MonGrainDeSel · 10/08/2025 19:26

House of Leaves is fantastic.

Also, in a similar vein, The Raw Shark Texts.

And We Have Always Lived in the Castle (completely different but very unsettling and also wonderful).

Abhannmor · 10/08/2025 13:47

WhiteNoiseBlur · 18/07/2025 21:45

I couldn’t finish this even though I really wanted to - did you read the two narratives at the same time or ignore the footnotes? I just struggled!

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The bloody endless footnotes! I gave up. But Radio 4 had a brilliant play based on it maybe you can find it in Sounds?

Cinaferna · 10/08/2025 13:36

Edited - wrong thread!

PestoHoliday · 10/08/2025 13:31

The Master And Margarita - just bonkers but entertainingly so.
Cloud Atlas - had to keep going but it was bloody odd in parts. I still liked it.

I loved Piranesi, I didn't think it was hard to understand 🤷🏻‍♀️ but it was certainly distinctive.

Cinaferna · 10/08/2025 13:26

CatChant · 18/07/2025 18:42

The Restraint of Beasts and All Quiet on the Orient Express, both by Magnus Mills. Very readable and unsettlingly odd.

I loved both of those books. I wonder if he has published anything recently.

clotheslinefiasco · 10/08/2025 13:24

placemarking😀

petitpasta · 10/08/2025 13:19

Agree on Piranesi. Listened to the audio book, no idea what was going on.

A few years ago my book club read A Year of Marvellous Ways by Sarah Winman. Completely bonkers. The entire book club was confused!

dayswithaY · 10/08/2025 13:07

Lorelei’s Secret.

I still think about sometimes.

weareallcats · 08/08/2025 09:36

Love this thread - have added many to my Amazon basket.

I almost exclusively read horror and ghost stories but have always been nervous of House of Leaves - this thread has made me feel braver, so might give it a go (have a copy, but have never opened it).

Loved Piranesi and hated lemon cake.

My addition is Lost in the Garden by Adam S Leslie - I’m still not sure whether I liked it or not.

Also absolutely loved The Elementals by Michael McDowell - possibly weird in a more straightforward way (if there is such a thing) but really enjoyed it.

Oh! And Strange Pictures by Uketsu - I’ve never read anything like it before.

BlackAmericanoNoSugar · 06/08/2025 20:02

Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky not service unit