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 — 200,270 ratings
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2

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3.85 avg rating — 28,877 ratings
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3

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4.01 avg rating — 267,660 ratings
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4

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4.01 avg rating — 111,950 ratings
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5

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3.97 avg rating — 435,088 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 — 95,741 ratings
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8

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4.17 avg rating — 57,576 ratings
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9

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4.03 avg rating — 76,439 ratings
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10

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3.82 avg rating — 21,677 ratings
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11

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3.89 avg rating — 1,596,904 ratings
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12

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4.10 avg rating — 97,254 ratings
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13

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3.76 avg rating — 137,808 ratings
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14

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4.39 avg rating — 2,877,491 ratings
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15

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4.24 avg rating — 161,332 ratings
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16

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3.23 avg rating — 5,885 ratings
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17

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3.88 avg rating — 8,744 ratings
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18

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4.02 avg rating — 1,475,269 ratings
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19

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3.94 avg rating — 58,423 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 — 189,628 ratings
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22

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4.20 avg rating — 49,130 ratings
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23

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4.33 avg rating — 7,383 ratings
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24

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 769,363 ratings
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25

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4.12 avg rating — 548,180 ratings
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26

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4.17 avg rating — 7,632 ratings
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27

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3.59 avg rating — 6,200 ratings
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28

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4.18 avg rating — 220,915 ratings
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29

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3.73 avg rating — 23,004 ratings
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30

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4.27 avg rating — 947,804 ratings
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31

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3.51 avg rating — 2,428 ratings
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32

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3.70 avg rating — 249,365 ratings
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33

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3.86 avg rating — 195,991 ratings
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34

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3.86 avg rating — 47,884 ratings
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35

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4.37 avg rating — 4,039 ratings
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36

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3.72 avg rating — 216,122 ratings
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37

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3.89 avg rating — 183,840 ratings
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38

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3.65 avg rating — 4,225 ratings
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39

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3.78 avg rating — 356,475 ratings
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40

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4.68 avg rating — 92 ratings
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41

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4.07 avg rating — 5,465 ratings
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42

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3.92 avg rating — 7,310 ratings
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43

by
3.95 avg rating — 114 ratings
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44

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3.55 avg rating — 69,790 ratings
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45

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4.38 avg rating — 338,224 ratings
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46

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4.34 avg rating — 1,005 ratings
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47

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4.50 avg rating — 3,899 ratings
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48

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4.01 avg rating — 657,522 ratings
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49

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4.20 avg rating — 11,254 ratings
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50

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3.86 avg rating — 86,930 ratings
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51

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4.25 avg rating — 36,361 ratings
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52

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4.25 avg rating — 247 ratings
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53

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4.26 avg rating — 345,948 ratings
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54

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3.81 avg rating — 69,630 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 — 155,068 ratings
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57

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3.91 avg rating — 74,870 ratings
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58

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4.55 avg rating — 171 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 — 27,523 ratings
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61

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3.87 avg rating — 1,154 ratings
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62

by
3.87 avg rating — 8,114 ratings
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63

by
3.67 avg rating — 13,632 ratings
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64

by
3.51 avg rating — 86 ratings
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65

by
3.74 avg rating — 1,242 ratings
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66

by
3.72 avg rating — 186,944 ratings
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67

by
4.16 avg rating — 59,720 ratings
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67

by
4.03 avg rating — 373,777 ratings
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69

by
4.18 avg rating — 10,147 ratings
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70

by
4.29 avg rating — 189,674 ratings
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71

by
3.99 avg rating — 436,639 ratings
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72

by
3.83 avg rating — 22,577 ratings
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73

by
3.88 avg rating — 43,599 ratings
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74

by
4.21 avg rating — 1,315 ratings
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75

by
4.18 avg rating — 17,407 ratings
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76

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4.53 avg rating — 108 ratings
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77

by
3.90 avg rating — 61 ratings
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78

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3.90 avg rating — 6,805 ratings
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79

by
3.88 avg rating — 55,542 ratings
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79

by
4.01 avg rating — 1,770 ratings
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81

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3.85 avg rating — 100,417 ratings
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82

by
4.34 avg rating — 43,514 ratings
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83

by
4.16 avg rating — 9,975 ratings
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84

by
4.02 avg rating — 1,611 ratings
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85

by
4.14 avg rating — 53,553 ratings
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86

by
3.95 avg rating — 7,261 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
4.03 avg rating — 1,788 ratings
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90

by
3.71 avg rating — 20,325 ratings
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90

by
4.67 avg rating — 21 ratings
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94

by
3.92 avg rating — 40 ratings
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95

by
3.82 avg rating — 11,553 ratings
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96

by
3.85 avg rating — 5,151 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 — 292,032 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 570 books
59 friends
Kristin 842 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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