A list of books whose book designs or inherent literary structure pushed limits at the time of their publication, or whose book designs are well-known for their incredible artistry.
1

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4.09 avg rating — 199,934 ratings
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2

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3.85 avg rating — 28,851 ratings
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3

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4.01 avg rating — 267,467 ratings
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4

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4.01 avg rating — 111,779 ratings
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5

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3.97 avg rating — 434,954 ratings
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6

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3.84 avg rating — 3,797 ratings
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7

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3.78 avg rating — 95,705 ratings
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8

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4.17 avg rating — 57,505 ratings
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9

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4.03 avg rating — 76,397 ratings
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10

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3.82 avg rating — 21,661 ratings
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11

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3.89 avg rating — 1,595,734 ratings
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12

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4.10 avg rating — 97,132 ratings
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13

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3.76 avg rating — 137,717 ratings
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14

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4.39 avg rating — 2,874,194 ratings
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15

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4.24 avg rating — 161,245 ratings
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16

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3.23 avg rating — 5,882 ratings
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17

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3.88 avg rating — 8,746 ratings
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18

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4.02 avg rating — 1,473,833 ratings
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19

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3.94 avg rating — 58,350 ratings
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20

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4.10 avg rating — 15,048 ratings
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21

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4.22 avg rating — 189,577 ratings
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22

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4.20 avg rating — 49,062 ratings
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23

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4.33 avg rating — 7,382 ratings
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24

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 768,653 ratings
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25

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4.12 avg rating — 547,468 ratings
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26

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4.17 avg rating — 7,623 ratings
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27

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3.59 avg rating — 6,195 ratings
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28

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4.18 avg rating — 220,722 ratings
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29

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3.73 avg rating — 23,028 ratings
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30

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4.27 avg rating — 947,339 ratings
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31

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3.52 avg rating — 2,427 ratings
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32

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3.70 avg rating — 249,225 ratings
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33

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3.86 avg rating — 195,844 ratings
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34

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3.86 avg rating — 47,885 ratings
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35

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4.37 avg rating — 4,034 ratings
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36

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3.72 avg rating — 216,055 ratings
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37

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3.89 avg rating — 183,805 ratings
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38

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3.65 avg rating — 4,220 ratings
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39

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3.78 avg rating — 356,040 ratings
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40

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4.68 avg rating — 91 ratings
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41

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4.07 avg rating — 5,464 ratings
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42

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3.92 avg rating — 7,303 ratings
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43

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3.95 avg rating — 114 ratings
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44

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3.55 avg rating — 69,718 ratings
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45

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4.38 avg rating — 338,076 ratings
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46

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4.34 avg rating — 1,004 ratings
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47

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4.50 avg rating — 3,894 ratings
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48

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4.01 avg rating — 657,231 ratings
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49

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4.20 avg rating — 11,251 ratings
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50

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3.86 avg rating — 86,836 ratings
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51

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4.25 avg rating — 36,307 ratings
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52

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4.27 avg rating — 244 ratings
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53

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4.26 avg rating — 345,160 ratings
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54

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3.81 avg rating — 69,589 ratings
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55

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3.65 avg rating — 171 ratings
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56

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3.69 avg rating — 154,859 ratings
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57

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3.91 avg rating — 74,823 ratings
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58

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4.55 avg rating — 170 ratings
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59

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4.01 avg rating — 595 ratings
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60

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3.66 avg rating — 27,499 ratings
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61

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3.87 avg rating — 1,152 ratings
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62

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3.87 avg rating — 8,106 ratings
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63

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3.68 avg rating — 13,619 ratings
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64

by
3.51 avg rating — 86 ratings
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65

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3.74 avg rating — 1,240 ratings
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66

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3.72 avg rating — 186,769 ratings
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67

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4.16 avg rating — 59,711 ratings
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67

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4.03 avg rating — 373,638 ratings
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69

by
4.18 avg rating — 10,134 ratings
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70

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4.29 avg rating — 189,503 ratings
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71

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3.99 avg rating — 436,136 ratings
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72

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3.83 avg rating — 22,558 ratings
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73

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3.88 avg rating — 43,567 ratings
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74

by
4.21 avg rating — 1,315 ratings
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75

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4.18 avg rating — 17,395 ratings
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76

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4.55 avg rating — 106 ratings
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77

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3.90 avg rating — 61 ratings
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78

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3.89 avg rating — 6,791 ratings
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79

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3.88 avg rating — 55,521 ratings
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79

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4.01 avg rating — 1,770 ratings
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81

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3.85 avg rating — 100,359 ratings
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82

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4.34 avg rating — 43,469 ratings
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83

by
4.16 avg rating — 9,970 ratings
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84

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4.02 avg rating — 1,607 ratings
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85

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4.14 avg rating — 53,489 ratings
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86

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3.95 avg rating — 7,256 ratings
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87

by
3.73 avg rating — 26 ratings
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87

by
3.93 avg rating — 332 ratings
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89

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 205 ratings
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90

by
4.28 avg rating — 360 ratings
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90

by
4.04 avg rating — 1,784 ratings
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90

by
3.71 avg rating — 20,321 ratings
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90

by
4.67 avg rating — 21 ratings
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94

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3.92 avg rating — 40 ratings
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95

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3.82 avg rating — 11,552 ratings
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96

by
3.85 avg rating — 5,149 ratings
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97

by
4.17 avg rating — 296 ratings
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98

by
4.22 avg rating — 59 ratings
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98

by
3.92 avg rating — 2,460 ratings
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98

by
3.73 avg rating — 291,881 ratings
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304 books · 549 voters · list created October 5th, 2010 by Aaron Dietz (votes) .
494 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Aaron 757 books
379 friends
Andrea 209 books
45 friends
Katie 569 books
59 friends
Kristin 840 books
100 friends
Victoria 89 books
100 friends
Riona 1935 books
66 friends
Logophile 1007 books
15 friends
Alison 358 books
38 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-12 of 12 (12 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Sharon (new)

Sharon Why isn't the book Night Fim on this list? It should definitely be added!


message 2: by Aaron (new)

Aaron Dietz Night Film? Agreed, it looks terrific! I haven't read it yet, but I've added it to the list. You can add books, too, and/or vote for them/others to move them up in the order. Thanks for mentioning Night Film!


message 3: by Michelle (new)

Michelle I haven't actually read these books yet, but they certainly have intriguing design. There's Tristano, a novel that is printed in different order every copy, and also 10,000 Ghost Stories.
It doesn't look like Tristano is all that well received, but that's not a criteria, is it?


message 4: by Aaron (new)

Aaron Dietz Well received or actually being good is not a criteria--I imagine this to be a list of books pushing boundaries and often those are failed experiments (in terms of final impact) yet still great opportunities for others to study them and learn from them. Thanks for the comment!


message 5: by Lobstergirl (new)

Lobstergirl I'm not sure "The Road" really pushed boundaries, at least at the time it was published. Maybe it would have in the 19th century. What does it do besides not use quotation marks for dialogue?


message 6: by Aaron (new)

Aaron Dietz Thanks, Lobstergirl, I haven't read it myself. Do you recommend I remove it?


message 7: by Lobstergirl (new)

Lobstergirl Yes, I don't really think it's innovative in terms of design or structure. It's a good book though.


message 8: by Aaron (new)

Aaron Dietz Yeah, I've been very much meaning to read it, but...being already familiar with the story it's hard to get excited about it. Thanks for the tip! I'll remove it from the list.


message 9: by Aaron (new)

Aaron Dietz Oh, looks like the joke's on me--I can only remove the books I voted for, which probably still only removes the vote I contributed. So it looks like this book is here to stay. Working on an experimental fiction course, though, and I'll definitely remove it from the list of works for students. Thanks again!


message 10: by Andrea (new)

Andrea Not sure that Eating animals by Jonathan Safran Foer belongs on this list... I haven't read it though, so perhaps it does.


message 11: by Vincent (new)

Vincent Quiquempoix You definitely can add all the comics from Marc Antoine Mathieu like the Julius Corentin Acquefaques series.
Unflattening from Nick Sousanis , which is a phD thesis on comics in form of a comic book, my preferred one.
Un cadeau , which is a comic book you unfold that is destructible


message 12: by Mark (new)

Mark Pettit Saving this to my history


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