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

by
4.09 avg rating — 206,115 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
2

by
3.85 avg rating — 29,416 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
3

by
4.01 avg rating — 271,510 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
4

by
4.01 avg rating — 114,424 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
5

by
3.97 avg rating — 437,494 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
6

by
3.84 avg rating — 3,805 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
7

by
3.78 avg rating — 96,561 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
8

by
4.17 avg rating — 58,722 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
9

by
4.03 avg rating — 77,119 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
10

by
3.82 avg rating — 21,960 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
11

by
3.89 avg rating — 1,613,531 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
12

by
4.09 avg rating — 99,470 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
13

by
3.76 avg rating — 139,672 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
14

by
4.39 avg rating — 2,925,368 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
15

by
4.24 avg rating — 162,647 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
16

by
4.02 avg rating — 1,506,652 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
17

by
3.23 avg rating — 5,930 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
18

by
3.88 avg rating — 8,761 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
19

by
3.94 avg rating — 60,144 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
20

by
4.10 avg rating — 15,063 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
21

by
4.22 avg rating — 190,510 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
22

by
4.19 avg rating — 50,211 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
23

by
4.33 avg rating — 7,406 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
24

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 780,940 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
25

by
4.11 avg rating — 560,133 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
26

by
4.17 avg rating — 7,745 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
27

by
3.59 avg rating — 6,256 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
28

by
4.18 avg rating — 224,115 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
29

by
3.72 avg rating — 23,153 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
30

by
4.27 avg rating — 955,462 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
31

by
3.52 avg rating — 2,449 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
32

by
3.70 avg rating — 252,501 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
33

by
3.86 avg rating — 198,429 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
34

by
3.86 avg rating — 47,966 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
35

by
4.37 avg rating — 4,096 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
36

by
3.72 avg rating — 217,359 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
37

by
3.89 avg rating — 184,504 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
38

by
3.65 avg rating — 4,254 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
39

by
3.77 avg rating — 364,678 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
40

by
4.66 avg rating — 94 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
41

by
4.07 avg rating — 5,488 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
42

by
3.54 avg rating — 70,961 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
43

by
3.92 avg rating — 7,460 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
44

by
3.96 avg rating — 115 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
45

by
4.38 avg rating — 340,427 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
46

by
4.35 avg rating — 1,006 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
47

by
4.49 avg rating — 3,930 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
48

by
4.01 avg rating — 661,652 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
49

by
4.19 avg rating — 11,327 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
50

by
3.86 avg rating — 88,419 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
51

by
4.25 avg rating — 37,431 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
52

by
4.22 avg rating — 254 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
53

by
4.26 avg rating — 359,701 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
54

by
3.81 avg rating — 70,345 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
55

by
3.64 avg rating — 173 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
56

by
3.70 avg rating — 159,074 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
57

by
3.91 avg rating — 75,590 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
58

by
4.55 avg rating — 173 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
59

by
4.01 avg rating — 595 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
60

by
3.66 avg rating — 28,010 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
61

by
3.86 avg rating — 1,158 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
62

by
3.86 avg rating — 8,249 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
63

by
3.68 avg rating — 13,738 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
64

by
3.51 avg rating — 86 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
65

by
3.74 avg rating — 1,251 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
66

by
3.72 avg rating — 190,141 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
67

by
4.17 avg rating — 59,971 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
67

by
4.03 avg rating — 376,410 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
4.17 avg rating — 10,370 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
70

by
4.29 avg rating — 192,336 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
71

by
3.99 avg rating — 444,379 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
72

by
3.83 avg rating — 23,017 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
73

by
3.88 avg rating — 44,098 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
74

by
4.21 avg rating — 1,316 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
75

by
4.18 avg rating — 17,792 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
76

by
4.54 avg rating — 111 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
77

by
3.92 avg rating — 62 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
78

by
3.90 avg rating — 6,963 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
79

by
3.88 avg rating — 55,978 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
79

by
4.01 avg rating — 1,783 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
81

by
3.85 avg rating — 101,202 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
82

by
4.34 avg rating — 44,445 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
83

by
4.16 avg rating — 10,037 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
84

by
4.02 avg rating — 1,630 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
85

by
4.14 avg rating — 54,993 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
86

by
3.95 avg rating — 7,313 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
87

by
3.73 avg rating — 26 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
87

by
3.91 avg rating — 340 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
89

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 205 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
90

by
4.29 avg rating — 358 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
90

by
4.02 avg rating — 1,812 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
90

by
3.71 avg rating — 20,376 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
90

by
4.67 avg rating — 21 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
94

by
3.92 avg rating — 40 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
95

by
3.82 avg rating — 11,704 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
96

by
3.85 avg rating — 5,222 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
97

by
4.17 avg rating — 297 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
98

by
4.22 avg rating — 59 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
98

by
3.92 avg rating — 2,476 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
98

by
3.73 avg rating — 294,134 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
306 books · 551 voters · list created October 5th, 2010 by Aaron Dietz (votes) .
496 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Aaron 760 books
379 friends
Andrea 209 books
45 friends
Katie 576 books
52 friends
Kae 855 books
100 friends
Victoria 131 books
102 friends
Riona 1941 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


back to top