Four Weird Books That Deserve a Place on Your Bookshelf

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Abstract

rnatural phenomenon, greed, and treasure. There’s a haunted house, a lake monster, and an enthusiastic Weimaraner. If all of that isn’t enough to garner the title of ‘weird’, there’s also the fact that Cantero often makes up words as he sees fit — such as turning Pippi Longstocking into a verb (she “Pippi-Longstockinged” around). With this book, Cantero throws a ton of pop culture references into a blender, adds a touch of whimsy, and serves it up in a smoothie. When you take your first sip, you’ll think, “That’s weird, but I like it.”</p><p id="0218">I loved this book so much, I included it in a roundup of books that changed my perspective completely.</p><div id="3e39" class="link-block"> <a href="https://vmp22.medium.com/the-8-books-that-shifted-my-perspective-c2092e369cc1"> <div> <div> <h2>The 8 Books That Shifted My Perspective</h2> <div><h3>Spanning genres, styles, subjects, and authors — these are the books that made me stop and think.</h3></div> <div><p>vmp22.medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*PkWRzO4Sp_NgOncW7ZzAdw.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><h1 id="c827">Horrorstör, by Grady Hendrix</h1><p id="b984"><b>Summary</b>: All is not well at the Cleveland branch of Orsk, a store similar to IKEA. When employees continually come in each morning to find destroyed furniture, a small group decides to stay in the store overnight to get to the bottom of the mystery.</p><p id="29a4"><b>Why it’s weird</b>: I’ve described this story before as an “IKEA fever dream”, and that’s exactly what it is. In addition to the strangeness of the story itself, each chapter is accompanied by schematic drawings of realistic furniture, complete with instructions for how to build each piece. The formatting of the book itself is different and interesting — which isn’t so surprising, considering the book’s publisher is Quirk Books, well known for their publication of quirky fare.</p><p id="d946">You can read more about this book in my article linked below.</p><div id="9b58" class="link-block"> <a href="https://baos.pub/horrorst%C3%B6r-the-ikea-fever-dream-story-you-didnt-know-you-needed-d57672714dea"> <div> <div> <h2>Horrorstör: The IKEA Fever Dream Story You Didn’t Know You Needed</h2>

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        <div><h3>This quirky novel has it all — danger, excitement, and, of course, diagrams of impossible-to-put-together furniture</h3></div>
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    </div><h1 id="5d54">Lincoln in the Bardo, by George Saunders</h1><p id="bc0c"><b>Summary</b>: Abraham Lincoln’s son, Willie, has just died and been interred in the cemetery. Trapped in the liminal space between life and death, called the bardo, Willie’s soul fights to communicate with his father, who continues to visit his son’s grave and hold his body.</p><p id="b21a"><b>Why it’s weird</b>: This story is strange because of how it’s told. There isn’t one, or two, or even three narrative voices. Instead, the tale is communicated through a host of characters, their souls all trapped in the bardo alongside Willie’s. While it can take a few chapters to orient yourself in the story, once you’re there — it completely grips you. I’m not the only one who feels this way; <i>Lincoln in the Bardo</i> won the Man Booker Prize in 2017.</p><p id="9c97">This story elicited such powerful emotions, I included it in a roundup of books that made me ugly cry.</p><div id="242f" class="link-block">
      <a href="https://baos.pub/5-books-that-made-me-ugly-cry-d17ba78d0720">
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            <h2>5 Books That Made Me Ugly Cry</h2>
            <div><h3>Powerful stories activate unstoppable emotions</h3></div>
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    </div><p id="ddbf">While I certainly read my share of more standard fare — thrillers, contemporary fiction, et cetera — I love finding a book that completely upends conventional storytelling tropes. Whether that be in format, narrative voice, subject matter, or even book layout, ‘weird’ books absolutely deserve a place on your bookshelf. I read nearly one hundred books every year, and it’s the strange ones that stick with me, even years after I’ve closed their covers. Do yourself a favor and give one (or all!) of these quirky books a chance.</p></article></body>

Give these weirdos a chance

Every now and then, I come across a book that can only be described as ‘weird’ — but in the best possible way. Some books have stories that are straight-up weird; others are weird due to how the story is presented or told, other elements included in the story such as illustrations or collages, or even the language used (such as made-up words). Whenever I find a ‘weird’ book with a good story, I’m utterly delighted. There’s something special in finding something new, something different, something undeniably strange.

As you review this list of ‘weird’ books, please keep in mind that I use the term weird very loosely. As mentioned above, weird can mean so many different things, but the one thing all of these books have in common is how completely, irresistibly enjoyable they are to read.

Jitterbug Perfume, by Tom Robbins

Summary: Jitterbug Perfume is an epic, a saga, a time-travel adventure, a mystery, a quest, and a love story, all wrapped up in mythology. It all comes down to a very old blue bottle, which contains, as some believe, a minuscule amount of the essence of the universe. Unfortunately, the bottle is both missing and leaking.

Why it’s weird: This book earns the title of ‘weird’ simply because of its impressive scope — it’s a little bit of everything, everywhere, at every time. Honestly, it almost defies description. Few books can tackle so many things at once so gracefully. This is a tale that sticks with you, long after you read the last word.

Meddling Kids, by Edgar Cantero

Summary: Meddling Kids follows a group of former childhood friends as they try to solve a decades-old mystery in their hometown, while at the same time finding the answers they need to get their lives back on track.

Why it’s weird: This book is Scooby-Doo meets Nancy Drew meets Hardy Boys, with a Lovecraftian twist. There’s adventure, mystery, supernatural phenomenon, greed, and treasure. There’s a haunted house, a lake monster, and an enthusiastic Weimaraner. If all of that isn’t enough to garner the title of ‘weird’, there’s also the fact that Cantero often makes up words as he sees fit — such as turning Pippi Longstocking into a verb (she “Pippi-Longstockinged” around). With this book, Cantero throws a ton of pop culture references into a blender, adds a touch of whimsy, and serves it up in a smoothie. When you take your first sip, you’ll think, “That’s weird, but I like it.”

I loved this book so much, I included it in a roundup of books that changed my perspective completely.

Horrorstör, by Grady Hendrix

Summary: All is not well at the Cleveland branch of Orsk, a store similar to IKEA. When employees continually come in each morning to find destroyed furniture, a small group decides to stay in the store overnight to get to the bottom of the mystery.

Why it’s weird: I’ve described this story before as an “IKEA fever dream”, and that’s exactly what it is. In addition to the strangeness of the story itself, each chapter is accompanied by schematic drawings of realistic furniture, complete with instructions for how to build each piece. The formatting of the book itself is different and interesting — which isn’t so surprising, considering the book’s publisher is Quirk Books, well known for their publication of quirky fare.

You can read more about this book in my article linked below.

Lincoln in the Bardo, by George Saunders

Summary: Abraham Lincoln’s son, Willie, has just died and been interred in the cemetery. Trapped in the liminal space between life and death, called the bardo, Willie’s soul fights to communicate with his father, who continues to visit his son’s grave and hold his body.

Why it’s weird: This story is strange because of how it’s told. There isn’t one, or two, or even three narrative voices. Instead, the tale is communicated through a host of characters, their souls all trapped in the bardo alongside Willie’s. While it can take a few chapters to orient yourself in the story, once you’re there — it completely grips you. I’m not the only one who feels this way; Lincoln in the Bardo won the Man Booker Prize in 2017.

This story elicited such powerful emotions, I included it in a roundup of books that made me ugly cry.

While I certainly read my share of more standard fare — thrillers, contemporary fiction, et cetera — I love finding a book that completely upends conventional storytelling tropes. Whether that be in format, narrative voice, subject matter, or even book layout, ‘weird’ books absolutely deserve a place on your bookshelf. I read nearly one hundred books every year, and it’s the strange ones that stick with me, even years after I’ve closed their covers. Do yourself a favor and give one (or all!) of these quirky books a chance.