,

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 — 199,775 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
2

by
3.85 avg rating — 28,831 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
3

by
4.01 avg rating — 267,366 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
4

by
4.01 avg rating — 111,707 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
5

by
3.97 avg rating — 434,911 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
6

by
3.84 avg rating — 3,799 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
7

by
3.78 avg rating — 95,682 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
8

by
4.17 avg rating — 57,470 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
9

by
4.03 avg rating — 76,378 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
10

by
3.82 avg rating — 21,656 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
11

by
3.89 avg rating — 1,594,968 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
12

by
4.10 avg rating — 97,073 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
13

by
3.76 avg rating — 137,680 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
14

by
4.39 avg rating — 2,872,595 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
15

by
4.24 avg rating — 161,199 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
16

by
3.23 avg rating — 5,882 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
17

by
3.88 avg rating — 8,746 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
18

by
4.02 avg rating — 1,472,955 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
19

by
3.94 avg rating — 58,310 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
20

by
4.10 avg rating — 15,049 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
21

by
4.22 avg rating — 189,538 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
22

by
4.20 avg rating — 49,029 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
23

by
4.33 avg rating — 7,383 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
24

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 768,431 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
25

by
4.12 avg rating — 547,103 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
26

by
4.17 avg rating — 7,622 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
27

by
3.59 avg rating — 6,197 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
28

by
4.18 avg rating — 220,616 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
29

by
3.73 avg rating — 23,023 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
30

by
4.27 avg rating — 947,114 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
31

by
3.52 avg rating — 2,426 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
32

by
3.70 avg rating — 249,140 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
33

by
3.86 avg rating — 195,789 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
34

by
3.86 avg rating — 47,888 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
35

by
4.37 avg rating — 4,032 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
36

by
3.72 avg rating — 216,033 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
37

by
3.89 avg rating — 183,792 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
38

by
3.65 avg rating — 4,217 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
39

by
3.78 avg rating — 355,819 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
40

by
4.68 avg rating — 91 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
41

by
4.07 avg rating — 5,465 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
42

by
3.92 avg rating — 7,302 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
43

by
3.95 avg rating — 114 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
44

by
3.55 avg rating — 69,689 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
45

by
4.38 avg rating — 338,011 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
46

by
4.34 avg rating — 1,004 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
47

by
4.50 avg rating — 3,892 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
48

by
4.01 avg rating — 657,117 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
49

by
4.20 avg rating — 11,250 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
50

by
3.86 avg rating — 86,789 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
51

by
4.25 avg rating — 36,281 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
52

by
4.27 avg rating — 243 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
53

by
4.26 avg rating — 344,811 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
54

by
3.81 avg rating — 69,578 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
55

by
3.65 avg rating — 171 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
56

by
3.69 avg rating — 154,773 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
57

by
3.91 avg rating — 74,802 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
58

by
4.55 avg rating — 169 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 — 27,494 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
61

by
3.87 avg rating — 1,152 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
62

by
3.87 avg rating — 8,102 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
63

by
3.68 avg rating — 13,618 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 — 1,240 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
66

by
3.72 avg rating — 186,702 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
67

by
4.16 avg rating — 59,700 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
67

by
4.03 avg rating — 373,560 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
4.18 avg rating — 10,130 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
70

by
4.29 avg rating — 189,425 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
71

by
3.99 avg rating — 435,902 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
72

by
3.83 avg rating — 22,550 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
73

by
3.88 avg rating — 43,552 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
74

by
4.21 avg rating — 1,315 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
75

by
4.18 avg rating — 17,380 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
76

by
4.56 avg rating — 105 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
77

by
3.90 avg rating — 61 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
78

by
3.90 avg rating — 6,786 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
79

by
3.88 avg rating — 55,505 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
79

by
4.01 avg rating — 1,770 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
81

by
3.85 avg rating — 100,335 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
82

by
4.34 avg rating — 43,448 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
83

by
4.16 avg rating — 9,967 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
84

by
4.02 avg rating — 1,607 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
85

by
4.14 avg rating — 53,457 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
86

by
3.95 avg rating — 7,254 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
87

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

by
3.93 avg rating — 332 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
89

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

by
4.28 avg rating — 360 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
90

by
4.04 avg rating — 1,782 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
90

by
3.71 avg rating — 20,319 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 — 11,552 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
96

by
3.85 avg rating — 5,148 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
97

by
4.17 avg rating — 296 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 — 2,460 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
98

by
3.74 avg rating — 291,820 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
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 88 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


back to top