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 — 200,481 ratings
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2

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3.85 avg rating — 28,907 ratings
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3

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4.01 avg rating — 267,822 ratings
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4

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4.01 avg rating — 112,036 ratings
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5

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3.97 avg rating — 435,161 ratings
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6

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3.84 avg rating — 3,796 ratings
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7

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3.78 avg rating — 95,775 ratings
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8

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4.17 avg rating — 57,608 ratings
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9

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4.03 avg rating — 76,469 ratings
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10

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3.82 avg rating — 21,683 ratings
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11

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3.89 avg rating — 1,597,661 ratings
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12

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4.10 avg rating — 97,339 ratings
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13

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3.76 avg rating — 137,867 ratings
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14

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4.39 avg rating — 2,879,566 ratings
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15

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4.24 avg rating — 161,385 ratings
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16

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3.23 avg rating — 5,886 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 — 1,476,542 ratings
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19

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3.94 avg rating — 58,495 ratings
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20

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4.10 avg rating — 15,049 ratings
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21

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4.22 avg rating — 189,654 ratings
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22

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4.20 avg rating — 49,175 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 — 769,762 ratings
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25

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4.12 avg rating — 548,648 ratings
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26

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4.17 avg rating — 7,633 ratings
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27

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3.59 avg rating — 6,203 ratings
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28

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4.18 avg rating — 221,068 ratings
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29

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3.73 avg rating — 23,012 ratings
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30

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4.27 avg rating — 948,069 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 — 249,517 ratings
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33

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3.86 avg rating — 196,068 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 — 4,040 ratings
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36

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3.72 avg rating — 216,181 ratings
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37

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3.89 avg rating — 183,872 ratings
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38

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3.65 avg rating — 4,224 ratings
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39

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3.78 avg rating — 356,723 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 — 5,464 ratings
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42

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3.92 avg rating — 7,314 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 — 69,846 ratings
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45

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4.38 avg rating — 338,314 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 — 657,708 ratings
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49

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4.19 avg rating — 11,262 ratings
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50

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3.86 avg rating — 86,984 ratings
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51

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4.25 avg rating — 36,391 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 — 346,424 ratings
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54

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3.81 avg rating — 69,659 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 — 155,196 ratings
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57

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3.91 avg rating — 74,898 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 — 27,536 ratings
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61

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3.87 avg rating — 1,154 ratings
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62

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3.87 avg rating — 8,119 ratings
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63

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3.67 avg rating — 13,638 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 — 187,046 ratings
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67

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4.16 avg rating — 59,726 ratings
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67

by
4.03 avg rating — 373,893 ratings
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69

by
4.18 avg rating — 10,158 ratings
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70

by
4.29 avg rating — 189,780 ratings
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71

by
3.99 avg rating — 436,915 ratings
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72

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3.83 avg rating — 22,601 ratings
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73

by
3.88 avg rating — 43,613 ratings
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74

by
4.21 avg rating — 1,315 ratings
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75

by
4.18 avg rating — 17,412 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 — 6,810 ratings
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79

by
3.88 avg rating — 55,550 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 — 100,449 ratings
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82

by
4.34 avg rating — 43,549 ratings
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83

by
4.16 avg rating — 9,981 ratings
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84

by
4.02 avg rating — 1,612 ratings
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85

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4.14 avg rating — 53,596 ratings
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86

by
3.95 avg rating — 7,262 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 — 1,789 ratings
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90

by
3.71 avg rating — 20,330 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 — 5,155 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 — 2,462 ratings
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98

by
3.73 avg rating — 292,120 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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