My favorite book; and I'd marry anyone that brought it up in a first date is The Darkness That Comes Before by R.Scott Bakker. I love the whole series. But that book i had to go back to after giving up on it to find it to be the most intriguing and entertaining book. Filled with real life extrapolation based on contexts in the book. Also great advice and thought projects. But I have yet to meet someone thats enjoyed this book as much as I have. What books would you suggest like this?
by sephanna
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Walter Benjamin’s “Arcades” project, if you could call it a book.
_A Pattern Language_ by Christopher Alexander was actually a great companion piece to Benjamin, a wonderful reference manual, and put me down the path of considering the way we structure our material environments as being in dialectical tension with our social systems and/or conception of ourselves.
Jazz Anecdotes by Bill Crow. It’s just funny little anecdotes about jazz musicians. It’s great.
_To Say Nothing of the Dog_ by Connie Willis
A friend accidentally forgot this book at my place. Never heard of it and based on the first few pages probably would have never picked it up. But it was such a delightful walk though the Victorian era that I found myself absorbed by the atmosphere and read it in a few sittings. It opened my appetite for good historical fiction, while previously I had no attraction to it.
Not sure that “niche” is the word, but I don’t really see it mentioned here or anywhere:
The Fat Woman’s Joke – Fay Weldon
I read it around 25 years ago when I was 19. I worked at a Barnes & Noble at the time and picked it up because I liked the title.
I’ve yet to see it in a brick and mortar store since then.
We Are Pirates – Daniel Handler
It’s about pirates. In present day California. And very truthful.
Tell me I’m worthless by Alison Rumfitt. NSFL, amazing.
Open Throat by Henry Hoke.
Written from the point of view of a mountain lion living in the Hollywood hills. It’s quite short, but goes completely off the rails by the end. It’s wonderful.
The Book of William by Paul Collins
Reincarnation Blues by Michael Poore- it’s like if midnight library was good and also insane.
Stone Dance of the Chameleon by Ricardo Pinto. It’s a terrific and imaginative low fantasy series with a gay main character.
But it is also pretty dark and grim.
[The Hands of the Emperor](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/af2bba9c-8f41-4a3e-b87a-8532a44ccb67) by Victoria Goddard! It’s a beautifully written slice of life book about the personal secretary to the emperor of the world, with a heavy focus on platonic relationships. It’s my favorite favorite book.