y’all, i want some recs for weird books. the weirdest you’ve ever read. stuff that just made you go ‘what the fuck?’
y’all, i want some recs for weird books. the weirdest you’ve ever read. stuff that just made you go ‘what the fuck?’
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Geek love was the weirdest book I’ve read to date!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13872
@Vanessa YES!!!!
@Vanessa this was my answer too
Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs…
@Jenna I second this. I read it in high school and it still sticks out in my mind as one of the strangest books I’ve read.
One of the few books I have never finished.
Going Bovine, Libba Bray. I loved it but the whole time I was like… WHAT is happening?!?!
Knockemstiff gave me the creeps in a very “Deliverance” kinda way. Blood Meridian is incredible and fucked up and unforgettable. There were some stories in the collection “999” that made me do a double take as well.
House of Leaves!!!
Or The Strange Library
Is house of leaves worth it? In your honest opinion…. I just bought it and was sooo excited but several people have talked to me about it and I’m kind of bummed with their reactions….
its a tough read for sure but such an intriguing one. I had to try to read it like 4 times but was overall happy I got to do it
Everything by Chuck Palahniuk, but especially Invisible Monsters.
@Sarah Invisible Monsters was the book that sold me on him being one of my favorite writers (and was also my first book tattoo)!
@Olivia ohhh please let’s have a look ??
Harry Harrisons Eden series.
Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk
Blahskldfjoidufsoidf I hated that book, lol
@Veronica Lol I was warned about it and I still tried to read it anyways.
We Need To Talk About Kevin. Not so much content, but the language choices and build-up made it amazing. It’s slyly disturbing, but you’ll either love it or hate it depending on your tastes. ☺️
Dawn by Octavia Butler.
Tampa by Alison Nutting. Only because its the perspective of a female pedo.
I don’t remember the name but I once read a book about a girl who could taste the emotions of the cook in her food. It was very strange. There also weren’t any quotation marks or anything so it was hard to follow the dialogue. Unusual book indeed.
@Alex The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake?? I just read this a few months ago and it definitely made me go “wtf?” but not necessarily in a good way…. I wasn’t really a fan lol
Alex Papitto there’s a graphic novel named “Chew” that is something like that, is a detective that can know what happened by chewing the evidence or the body xD
Library at mount char
Amber Dreighton Not sure that I thought of it as weird, but I love this book!
F
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The Light of the Fireflies by Paul Pen. Didn’t even finish it then I read the summary on Goodreads and was glad I stopped.
@Erin I just read this. Definitely WTAF. But a good read.
@Erin I thought this book was EXCELLENT!!
‘Nod’. It’s a Sci fi where most people are unable to sleep but some still can and the World just implodes, basically. Can’t remember the author but man it was weird
The metamorphosis, by far the most out there book I have read.
Anything by Chuck palahniuk really
The divine child by pascal Buckner
Chuck Palahniuk’s Rant
@Adriane Rant definitely made me say WTF, but it was so good too! I would take it a step forward and say Haunted gave me several WTF moments
It’s not out until Tuesday and so I haven’t read it yet but it is my dearest hope that Supermarket by Bobby Hall ends up being a wtf kind of book.
the master and margarita
Although I am in love with this series it was pretty weird.
i love that series too. i didn’t find it all that weird, though.
In Watermelon Sugar
As a PP mentioned, Light of the Fireflies. I couldn’t put it down, then the twists at the end…when I finished I just sat there like WTAF WTF WHAT JUST HAPPENED HOW?? WHY? ???
@Kristin sooooooooo good
@Kate it was! Definitely not what I expected at all, but it was great! It would be a great book club discussion book!
@Kristin I got it for free on a kindle download once and thought I’d give it a go. Was so glad I did
@Kate same here!
Just downloaded it! I’ll make a post if I need to talk about it ?
Wasp factory by Iain Banks.
Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut
@Megan yes to slaughterhouse 5! It was a good kind of wtf though ?
house of leaves
Thomas Pynchon – The Crying of Lot 49
@Rhea yeah, this one did make me go “what the fuck?”
@Bella yes!! So so bizarre ?
Never read this, but it might be what you’re looking for.
well that book has everything i need in life
All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood
I LOVED that book so much.
Veronica Alexander So did I but it did make me say, what the eff!!
The Death of Bunny Munro by Nick Cave
On The Road
Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer.
The five people you meet in heaven
Forgot about Kill The Farm Boy! That book was excellent, but weird as all get out.
wasnt that delilah s dawson? she wrote my favorite star wars novel
@Kell Her and Kevin Hearne, which is how I found it because he wrote Iron Druid Chronicles and the first book in a new series, A Plague Of Giants, all of which I loved. There’s a sequel out for Kill The Farm Boy that I haven’t read yet but I intend to soon!
nice!!
She also writes under Lila Bowen for some of her fantasy stuff!
We Need to Talk About Kevin
@Madi so good!!!!!
Anything by Chuck Palahniuk fits here. ?
Ulysses by James Joyce.
The Hike by Drew Magary, super weird but really good!
Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh was kinda gross and odd in a maybe good way ?
So I have gotten super into the podcast Welcome to Night Vale recently. It is the weirdest thing ever, and it is delightful but also so absurd and sometimes disturbing (in a great way!). There are a couple full books out right now with transcripts of every episode, as well as two full standalone novels set in the Night Vale world. I haven’t read them yet (and have only listened to ~55 episodes of the podcast so far), but just going by excerpts I’ve seen, I am 100% sure that they are weird beyond belief.
The pisces by Melissa Broder
@Katie YES! I got it as an ARC and felt compelled to finish it but at the end I was like W T F!?
@Michelle haha i loved it!
Philip k dick has some pretty weird science fiction
Geek Love
I’m surprised no one has said this yet but Kafka on the Shore. Also try: The Watermelon King by Daniel Wallace, Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer, Perfume the Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind, And Slapstick by Kurt Vonnegut.
Grasshopper Jungle, Naked Lunch (too weird for me to finish)
Oh Yes anything by William Burroughs.
Anything by Aimee Bender. Especially her short stories. I love reading her stuff to just be totally disconcerted. I don’t think I’ve ever finished one of her stories without an audible “wtf”
Clockwork Orange, Naked Lunch, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Fear and Loathing in Los Vegas, Everything is Illuminated.
The Haunted Vagina
American gods for me
Me too! I remember being about halfway through and my dad asking me what it was about… I literally could not tell him ?
Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs.
The whole family in the book just…not… right?? ?
I’m currently reading this book and adding it to this list. ?
Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk. Very messed up and a very cool book. If you can get the remix version, it’s even weirder
Perfume by Patrick Suskind, was really good though.
One of my all time faves <3
SUPER unsettling but I liked it.
@Leanne this is what I came to say! Immediately sprang to mind!
Verity
this book is very very good but incredibly really messed up ?
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
Go Ask Alice
House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski
Sometimes I lie by Alice Feeney
Cheese Monkeys by Chip Kidd. I bought it as a high schooler solely because I thought the title was funny.
Love Me Back by Merritt Tierce is absolutely painful, raw and very real and I had to put it down several times while reading it because it was so heartwrenching and awful. The weird thing is I still think about it and think about reading it again
The Library at Mount Char
The King in Yellow
The Library At Mount Char! Great book!
The Light of the Fireflies
Geek Love!
The Library at Mount Char
The southern reach trilogy by Jeff Vandermeer
The Great and Secret Show by Clive Barker.
In the Miso Soup
Flowers in the Attic
Damsel. 100% never reading that again ?
The little girl who was too fond of matches
Chuck Palahniuk’s cannon
House of Leaves hands down
Following because this is a genius question to ask.
It Happened in Boston?
It was called The Fuck up-and yeah,wtf.
My favourite is John Dies At The End by David Wong. He has a sequel to it plus another new series thats definitely weird too
@Savanna isn’t he the guy who wrote the books talking about how everyone even you have a spider in your head controlling you??
By the light of the fireflies
The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall. It’s like a freakin progressively intense acid trip honestly.
@Katie seconded!
John Dies at the End
Apeshit by Carlton Mellick III. Or any book by him ? definitely fun reads but very odd
Grasshopper jungle and Alex crow (both by Andrew smith)
I personally can’t think of any, but my daughter says The Telltale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe.
The Vegetarian, by Han Kang
Weird as hell but I loved it.
@Jordan me too! Considering rereading it… it was really good!
Lolita and Virgin Suicides are their own kind of f’d up too.
Any of Mary Roach’s books.
Verity by Colleen Hoover
The birthing house
The wasp factory by Iain Banks. Books can’t get much whatthefuckier, and I have pretty high tolerance.
Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller, the ending is ‘where did that come from’ plot twist, ‘what the hell is going on’ twisted gold ?
Sharp Objects
House of Leaves
Legion by Brandon Sanderson
Watch your mouth by Daniel handler ?
John dies at the end. Also, this book is full of spiders. And, where the hell is Tesla?
Snuff by Chuck Palihnuk
Sixty Stories by Donald Barthelme
Rivers of London and The Last Days of Jack Sparks
All the beautiful lies by Peter Swanson, and Elevation by Stephen King
House of Leaves
The Siren Call of Hungry Ghosts.
The entirety of the “John dies in the end” series written by David Wong. Haha, the theme is pretty much “what the fuck”.
In the Miso soup by Ryu Murakami. Hotel Iris by Yoko Ogawa.
A play really, but read the book in college: “Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll” – Eric Bogosian
Also: Running With Scissors and Flowers in the Attic
Beautiful You by Chuck Palahniuk- Actually, anything by him. But Beautiful You was definitely a “what the fuck?” book
Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk
This book messed me up for years.
Welcome to Night Vale ?
Following
Choke by Chuck Palahniuk
Necropolis by Guy Portman
John Dies at the End by David Wong
Miss Peregrines Home For Peculiar Children
Pigmy – Chuck Palanuick
The Girl in 6E by A. R. Torre
@Melissa I loved that book! Was weird but a nice change! I read the sequel too!!
@Tamara okay I really thought I was the only person who actually really loved this book! I’ve read the continuing two books and they weren’t as top tier but they were still so great!!
@Melissa I cant recall if I’ve read one or 2 sequels now!!
The People in the Trees! It’s hard to even describe.
Geek Love, Wetlands, and I’ve heard (though I haven’t read it) that Cows is the weirdest/most disturbing book EVER. I still haven’t found anyone who has actually read it.
@Veronica I loved geek love! That was going to be my first recommendation!!
Anything by Chuck Palahniuk or Tom Robbins.
The Library at Mount Char was plenty odd. Also, have you read anything by China Mieville?
I second The Library at Mount Char. That one messed with my brain lol
The n Body Problem by Tony Burgess. Or any bizarro I guess
Oh The Beauty by Aliyah Whitely had my kids’ father making all kinds of faces when I described the plot to him.
its really interesting the different kinds of books people think are weird. like, i’ve read some of the suggestions and didn’t think they were weird at all! it just goes to show you how different people are.
Sourdough by Robin Sloan.
Also naked lunch
Wish, I can’t remember the authors name but for some reason my tenth grade English teacher thought I should read a book about sign language and beastiality?
Waiting for godot
Snuff by Chuck P.
Light Boxes by Shane Jones
Pygmy by Chuck Palahniuk. Still deeply disturbed by it tbh
NASHVILLE by Antonia Michaelis. I had to read the first chapter (it was two pages long) four times and it took me like five minutes to get on the next one because I would be like: “what the hell did I just read?” But at the end I LOVED it.
Rant by Chuck Palahnuik. Suuuuper weird, but really good
The vegetarian Han kang
I see a lot of Palahniuk’s in here. Haunted is another of his. What I love about them is the social commentary embedded in the novels. Brilliant. I’d also recommend My Name is Red, by Orhan Pamuk. I haven’t finished it, but it’s something different.
HAUNTED