# Books that make you go "WOW"



## beckyj20 (Jun 12, 2010)

I have recently read two books, and , where I had that "WOW" moment after finishing them. I'm wondering what books that you have read that make you go "WOW" after finishing them?


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## J.R.Mooneyham (Mar 14, 2011)

Since these days I'm awfully picky about what I choose to read in the first place, I tend to thoroughly enjoy almost every book I get. But as for recent standouts, I guess I'd have to say Snowcrash by Neal Stephenson, which I read a few months back. That book was like a rollicking party for the mind! (and this is the first time in my life I've ever had the opportunity to use "rollicking" in a sentence)

Unfortunately, although Stephenson is an awesome talent, and his other books I've read have been great as well, none of them offer quite the same level of uproarious fun as Snowcrash did.

To me, Stephenson in Snowcrash seemed something like a bizarre combination of Vernor Vinge and Tom Robbins.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

If I go back through almost 50 years of reading myself (i.e. I'll leave out any "wow" memories of Doctor Seuss being read to me), I'm sure there are dozens I could come up with. But to limit it to books I read for the first time in the last couple years or so, the ones that jump immediately to mind are _Death and the Penguin_ by Andrey Kurkov and _Lamb_ by Christopher Moore. I found each fascinating to read (for different reasons), and each had an ending that was unexpected yet satisfying (again, in different ways).


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## ceciliagray (Jun 29, 2011)

I felt that way about The Book Thief and more recently about Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor.


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## D/W (Dec 29, 2010)

I haven't read any books lately that made me say "Wow! That was amazing!" They were good, but not _spectacular_. I look forward to learning which books others have enjoyed. Several that were already mentioned have been added to my must-read list.


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## valleycat1 (Mar 15, 2011)

Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series.  Just this week, The Way by Kristen Wolf.  One of my all-time favorites (a sleeper, now available on Kindle) - Dreams of My Russian Summers by Andrei Makine.


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## valleycat1 (Mar 15, 2011)

Just followed the Lamb link from NogDog above.  Sounds along the same lines (although probably less serious/straightforward) as The Way.  Have ordered Lamb & am looking forward to the comparison.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Speaking of "wow" books, I've started re-reading _Slaughterhouse Five_ this week, in part inspired by seeing it show up for various reasons in a couple different threads here. I'll be curious to see if it wows me now anything like it did when I first read it decades ago.


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## apbschmitz (Apr 22, 2011)

I felt that way about the Sandor Marai novel, Embers.



But as always, it's a question of the particular thing that moves you.


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## J.L. McPherson (Mar 20, 2011)

In the last few years, a couple of books that "Wowed" me were _Webb"s Posse _ and _Summers' Horses _ by Ralph Cotton. If you enjoy gritty, sh!tkicker type westerns, Cotton is amazing and one of the best dialog writers I've ever read.


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## WriterCTaylor (Jul 11, 2011)

I'm keeping an eye on this topic, as I also have struggled to find a book that makes me go WOW. I will keep a look out for books that interest me.


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## Ben White (Feb 11, 2011)

The only one I can think of off the top of my head is Terry Pratchett's Night Watch--there is a moment in that book where everything comes together perfectly, and it strikes me the same way every time I read it.


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## youngadultfiction (Jul 28, 2011)

I just finished reading Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and i have to say, it deserved a big WOW moment from me. I would agree with the book thief as well, one of my favorites.


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## ashel (May 29, 2011)

Watchmen, by Alan Moore. The Haunting of Hill House so far feels like it's gonna do that. Conquest of the Useless by Werner Herzog, but probably for an entirely different value of "wow." I expect to feel this way about Godel, Escher, Bach when I finally get around to reading it. 

It's sort of a question of timing, right? Like, whether or not you happen to be reading the right book at the right time in your life? I think some books manage to approximate this regardless of personal context, through technique alone - a skillful manipulation of symmetries and weaving together of threads to arrive at a surprising and inevitable and satisfying moment - and, yeah, I think Night Watch has it, but whether it hits you like a ton of bricks is sort of a different question...


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Ben White said:


> The only one I can think of off the top of my head is Terry Pratchett's Night Watch--there is a moment in that book where everything comes together perfectly, and it strikes me the same way every time I read it.


You have excellent taste. 

(_Night Watch_ is my favorite book by one of my top two favorite authors.)


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## marimorimo (Aug 8, 2011)

*1984 *by George Orwell
*The Wee Free* Men by Terry Pratchett
*Catching Fire* by Suzanne Collins
*The Book Thief* by Markus Zusak
*Survival of the Sickest* by Sharon Moalem (non-fic)

a couple of fanfics in my favorite fandom (Pet Shop of Horrors) 

Hmm, I think I should be reading Night Watch  Love Pratchett.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

marimorimo said:


> *1984 *by George Orwell
> *The Wee Free* Men by Terry Pratchett
> *Catching Fire* by Suzanne Collins
> *The Book Thief* by Markus Zusak
> ...


While _Night Watch_ can be read as a stand-alone book (much like the large majority of Pratchett's "Discworld" books), if you have not yet done so, I would recommend reading the Sam Vimes/City Watch story arc in order, as seeing how Sam's story and character develop up to that point will heighten the overall effect, I think.

1. _Guards! Guards!_
2. _Men at Arms_
3. _Feet of Clay_
4. _Jingo_
5. _The Fifth Elephant_
6. _Night Watch_
7. _Thud!_
8. _Snuff_ (due out this coming October)

If you don't want to read all of them, I'd at least recommend reading _Guards! Guards!_ before jumping to _Night Watch_, as the former sets the scene, and is one of my favorite DW novels (just a couple notches below _Night Watch_).

Sincerely,
Your friendly neighborhood Discworld pusher.


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## marimorimo (Aug 8, 2011)

NogDog said:


> If you don't want to read all of them, I'd at least recommend reading _Guards! Guards!_ before jumping to _Night Watch_, as the former sets the scene, and is one of my favorite DW novels (just a couple notches below _Night Watch_).
> 
> Sincerely,
> Your friendly neighborhood Discworld pusher.


Thank you!!


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## Sara Pierce (May 15, 2011)

Ooh I love this thread!!

"Jellicoe Road" has been on my mental TBR list for a while, maybe this'll give me the kick to finally read it (or even buy it *lol*).

Terry Pratchett's books are a new thing for me; I recently read "I Shall Wear Midnight" and while not a WOW book IMO, it was fun enough for me to realize I'll like the author.


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## JFHilborne (Jan 22, 2011)

Hamelin's Child by DJ Bennett was my latest "WOW" read. It's dark, shocking and fascinating. I loved it and posted reviews.


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## Tamara Rose Blodgett (Apr 1, 2011)

Wow: _Beautiful Disaster_. I'm just letting it "brew" for awhile before I re-read it ( I don't generally re-read).

Wow!


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## kansaskyle (Sep 14, 2010)

Tamara Rose Blodgett said:


> Wow: _Beautiful Disaster_. I'm just letting it "brew" for awhile before I re-read it ( I don't generally re-read).


Which author, I see four books by that title in the Kindle store.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

Bryan Dennis' book "An Epitaph for Coyote" did that for me.  Also, Blake Crouch's superb thriller "Run" did it for me as well.  I didn't want either book to end and want more from all of the characters.


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## MGalloway (Jun 21, 2011)

youngadultfiction said:


> I just finished reading Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and i have to say, it deserved a big WOW moment from me.


That's the reaction I had years ago with the book when I read it as a kid. Some of his short stories also have an equal amount of wow to them.


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## Klip (Mar 7, 2011)

Agreed about "Night Watch"

But I've just finished reading "The Wild Shore" by Kim Stanley Robinson and wow WOW!  Fan-TAST-tic book.  Best I've read in years.  Moving, intense, powerful.


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## Ben White (Feb 11, 2011)

Nice to see a lot of Pterry love around here   I thought of another one, not a book but a short story, "All You Zombies" by Robert Heinlein.  Absolutely blew me away when I first read it, I had to go back and read it twice more just to get myself settled.  Also, it's easy to forget because it's such a well-known and analysed and deconstructed ending, but Watchmen made me go WOW when I first read it, so much so that I turned back to the first page and read it through again.

I agree with 1984 too, although it was a different kind of WOW.  I think I was about fourteen when I read it, I spent the rest of the day wandering around in a daze, trying to reconcile the ending--almost trying to come up with a way out.  Very affecting.

And yes, Farenheit 451 ... I Am Legend also, now that my brain has started to work.


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## Emily Kimelman (Apr 29, 2011)

The most recent wow book for me was Susan Biscoff's HUSH MONEY. 

Every Roxana Robinson book, especially COST. P.D James too. Both of them just write so beautifully. 

And my all time favorite book that makes me say wow every time I read it, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE.


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## Tommie Lyn (Dec 7, 2009)

I can't remember reading a WOW book in a long, long time. I've read tons that I enjoyed, but, WOW? No. It must be my age...I've read so much over the years that nothing surprises me anymore.

However.

I can remember a few books that wowed me back in my twenties and thirties. George Orwell's *1984* stayed with me for so long...and some of the concepts are still part of my outlook. I recognize doublethink when I see it nowadays, LOL.

But I think the most WOW piece of writing I've ever encountered wasn't a book...it was a short story: Shirley Jackson's *The Lottery*. Today's readers would probably find it quite ho-hum, but back in the day, it horrified me and gripped me like nothing else before or since.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

Tommie Lyn said:


> I can't remember reading a WOW book in a long, long time. I've read tons that I enjoyed, but, WOW? No. It must be my age...I've read so much over the years that nothing surprises me anymore.
> 
> However.
> 
> ...


I have to agree and wonder if it's a matter of having read so very much. It's been a long time since a novel made me go, "Wow!" _Lord of the Flies_ did (Actually, kind of double wow. It blew me away). _Animal Farm_ did. _The Hunchback of Notre Dame_ did. Oddly enough, King's _Tommyknockers_ did. Mary Renault's _The Charioteer_ did in a big way.

There have been a lot of novels in the past few years that I've enjoyed. Some I have enjoyed very much. But no "Wow" moments, I'm sorry to say.


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## MLPMom (Nov 27, 2009)

kansaskyle said:


> Which author, I see four books by that title in the Kindle store.


I am pretty sure she is referring to the one by Jamie Mcguire. It is pretty intense and just one of those books that catches you off guard.

I can actually think of quite a few books in the past year that I have read and just loved.

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
The Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Gosh, I know there are more I just can't remember them all now!


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## crosj (Nov 8, 2008)

The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford has been one of my favorite books for the
past few years.  If I keep remembering the book then thats a WOW for me


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## jherrick (Apr 1, 2011)

The most recent for me was The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud. To be honest, with the movie and all the buzz, I thought I'd end up disappointed but fell in love with the book. Its climax really tugged at my heart.


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## Michael_J_Sullivan (Aug 3, 2011)

I definitely felt that way after reading the first Harry Potter. It was the so fun and light and even though it was about two of the worst cliches in existance (an orphan destined for greatness and an evil bent on the total dominance) it felt fresh.  It was the book that made me give up my ten-year hiatus from creative writing.


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## Klip (Mar 7, 2011)

Michael_J_Sullivan said:


> I definitely felt that way after reading the first Harry Potter. It was the so fun and light and even though it was about two of the worst cliches in existance (an orphan destined for greatness and an evil bent on the total dominance) it felt fresh. It was the book that made me give up my ten-year hiatus from creative writing.


The first time I read the first Harry Potter, I liked it but thought "nothing special, really". Now I'm listening to it as an audiobook and I'm enjoying it so much more.


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## joshtremino (Jul 31, 2010)

If you like zombie books, I was pretty impressed by World War Z. That one definitely had a big wow factor.


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## nickpeirson (Mar 26, 2011)

Like a few others who've posted, I carefully choose what I read and thoroughly enjoy most of them. There's nothing worse than finishing a book and feeling like you've wasted your time.

Having said that, one of the books that still stands out for me is Iain M. Banks *Use of Weapons*, although I think most of Banks' books are fantastic. I've just finished reading *Transition* and, while it was not a WOW book, I was not disappointed


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

nickpeirson said:


> Like a few others who've posted, I carefully choose what I read and thoroughly enjoy most of them. There's nothing worse than finishing a book and feeling like you've wasted your time.
> 
> Having said that, one of the books that still stands out for me is Iain M. Banks *Use of Weapons*, although I think most of Banks' books are fantastic. I've just finished reading *Transition* and, while it was not a WOW book, I was not disappointed


_Excession_ was the Iain Banks "wow" book for me, probably in part because it was the first book of his that I read and thus my first exposure to "The Culture".


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

Invisible Man  by Ralph Ellison.
Humboldt's Gift by Saul Bellow.


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## jen meyers (Jul 28, 2011)

Recent wow books:

Blackbringer by Laini Taylor
Silksinger by Laini Taylor
Chime by Frannie Billingsley

Wow books I read in the past:

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Cordelia Underwood by Van Reid
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole


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## Linda Andrews (Aug 16, 2011)

I'll have to second the World War Z book. There were things covered in the story that I hadn't thought of and I'm a big zombie fan.

Linda


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## Cheryl Bradshaw Author (Apr 13, 2011)

It's hard for me to find something these days that gives me that "WOW" factor, but a lot of books are pretty good, and a surprising number of indie's have caught my eye as well.  I tend to like clever books that are well written like a well thought out Agatha Christie, and some of Robert B. Parker's novels are good too.


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## ashel (May 29, 2011)

I feel this way about a lot of humorous books, because I think, in a lot of ways, it's just so much harder to do. PG Wodehouse's prose is so rhythmic, it's almost musical. You just _keep reading_. And at one point, I went through the first few opening sections of Sir Terry's Unseen Academicals and counted the number of what I like to think of as "nuggets of awesome" - turns of phrase that turn a cliche on it's head, or make you see something ordinary in an extraordinary way, unique and insightful constructions, equally insightful similes, whatever. It was like one every 200-300 words. That's absurd. _Absurd._

Smilarly, A Confederacy of Dunces is a remarkable structural feat, as well as being somehow joyfully funny with an undercurrent of self-loathing. Don't know how it works, but it does. He also managed to capture dialects to the point where linguists were (apparently? I don't have a citation) like, let's save this important document to preserve mid-century New Orleans dialects, because it's the best thing ever.

So those three go on the list, for sure. Maybe Cold Comfort Farm, too, but it's kind of mean-spirited? Still, though.

Orlando, because it seemed so effortless. To The Lighthouse because it made me pay better attention to my own moment to moment experience.

At the time I first read it, Going Native by Stephen Wright. Now, not so much, but whattaya gonna do.

I think just the opening of Crime and Punishment qualifies by itself, or did when I read it.

(This becomes the thing, though, right? Does what wow'd you then wow you now? I dunno, I'm just gonna keep listing things.)

I remember being really impressed by Elizabeth Costello, because she seemed very real, and JM Coetzee is not middle aged and female. Ditto Sidhartha, Grendel.

Flannery O'Connor, Edna O'Brien. Flan O'Brien.

I'm realizing as I randomly try to surf my memory that there are many different kinds of "wow."


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## yomamma (Feb 10, 2011)

I read INTO THE WILDERNESS by Sara Donati and had a 'wow' moment. It was beautiful, language-wise and the story was epic. I think GAME OF THRONES made me wow, but that was more toward the end when a certain thing happened.


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## KTaylor-Green (Aug 24, 2011)

Game of Thrones gave me a definite wow. Enough that the rest of the series and read them one right after the other.
But I think the wow that stands out for me the most was in the 70s when I first read Stephen King's The Stand. Have read it several times over the years and still get that wow.


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## yomamma (Feb 10, 2011)

I have yet to read THE STAND. I totally need to!

Just thought of a more recent 'wow' book. I LOVED this one.



Crazy worldbuilding that was a lot of fun.


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## Iain Manson (Apr 3, 2011)

Has anyone read Vikram Seth's gigantic novel _A Suitable Boy_? I mean, anyone at all . . .

I haven't, but it still took my breath away. I dropped it on my foot, you see. Drop it on _your_ foot, and it'll have the same effect. And it's a lot quicker than reading it.


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## DrugWarAnalyst (Aug 24, 2011)

These days I prefer non-fiction to fiction; perhaps that's because it's my genre . I recently finished reading "33 Men" by Jonathan Franklin, which is the account of trapped Chilean miners. THAT was intense! "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer was also very intense. A friend and colleague of mine, Fred Burton from Stratfor, recently had published his true account of a murdered Israeli spy called "Chasing Shadows," and I definitely said WOW after reading the last page!


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## Daniel McHugh (Aug 15, 2011)

The Time Traveler's Wife blew me away. I thought it was a romance novel but soon had that misconception erased. Excellent piece of fiction by Audrey Niffenegger.


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## Robert S. Wilson (Jul 21, 2011)

I recently read Fight Club after years of meaning to get around to it. It sucked me in and tossed me out the back cover (The Kindle version is rather expensive though, I bought it at a used bookstore.) 


Another one that made me have that wow moment would be Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill (for those of you who don't know, Joe Hill is Joseph Hillstrom King as in Stephen King's son. He's definitely following in his father's footsteps and equally as original.)


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## Ben White (Feb 11, 2011)

If I hadn't seen the movie first, Fight Club probably would've been a WOW book for me. I still enjoyed it, but it's one of the few cases where I think the movie is better.

World War Z wasn't _quite_ a WOW book for me either, although I did get all tingly at the end of Tomonaga's chapter.


Spoiler



"We may be facing fifty million monsters, but those monsters will be facing the gods."


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## Robert S. Wilson (Jul 21, 2011)

I saw the movie first too and I thought they were both awesome. In fact, I think I had low expectations of the novel when I went to read it. The reason it was a wow for me was more in it's prose and craft. As a writer, I was blown away. Being the first book I've read by Chuck Palahniuk, I had no idea how masterful a writer he is.


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## Grace Elliot (Mar 14, 2011)

I was ambivalent about The Hunger Games...until I read it. 
Wow! Just Wow!
I read the first one and forced myself to read another book inbetween. Then I gobbled up the second one in two days and am indulging myself in reading Mockingjay straight afterwards. My copies are on the Kindle, but I've even bought DTB versions to encourage my teenage boys to read them.


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## Robert S. Wilson (Jul 21, 2011)

Yeah, Hunger Games was pretty wow, too. My ten-year-old son is devouring it right now. And even though he's usually an avid reader, he's lately been sucked into a particular video game and very anti reading since the beginning of the summer. So, that earns an extra wow in Dad's view.


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## JWBirch (Aug 1, 2011)

The ending of Orwell's "Coming up for Air" - any modern man who reads this book probably thinks this way, for the accuracy of his portrayal of what it means to be a man in the modern world.


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## Patrick Reinken (Aug 4, 2011)

Agree on _Fahrenheit 451_ and _The Stand_. Could add another King, too - _Different Seasons_. I mean seriously, 4 novellas, each of them precise in itself and unique in tone, and 3 of the 4 were made into movies (including 2 movies that are iconic to many people)?

I also like books that surprise me, that make me blink and think, "I didn't expect to end up here."

There, I'm thinking of things like _Presumed Innocent_, _Empire Falls_ (which, about 2/3 the way in, sets out an event or two that startled me in a story so focused on small town life), and _Kavalier & Clay_.


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## Ben White (Feb 11, 2011)

Thought of some more--Roald Dahl's short stories.  Especially Beware Of The Dog, an absolute cracker of an ending.  They Shall Not Grow Old is wonderful also, more of a gentler WOW.  I'm pretty sure it was what influenced a particularly lovely moment in Studio Ghibli's Porco Rosso, also.


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## djgross (May 24, 2011)

Another vote for The Stand 

Recent books that made me go wow:



Silent in the Grave is included in the three book The Lady Julia Grey Bundle. The three book bundle is priced at $8.83 kindle, while Silent in the Grave alone is $8.28 kindle.





Fair warning - the last two books are $12.99 kindle, but The Likeness is available in paperback for $9.03. The Language of Flowers is a new release.


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## Julia444 (Feb 24, 2011)

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT by Dostoevsky.  I feel downright invigorated every time I read it.  The main character, Raskolnikov, is one of the most fascinating psychological studies I've ever come across.

Nietzsche once wrote "All I know about psychology I learned from Fyodor Dostoevsky."  When you read the book that seems like a believable statement.

Julia


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## AshMP (Dec 30, 2009)

_She's Come Undone_ by Wally Lamb..that was my first "wow" book ever...

I just finished reading _The Devil All The Time_...and although it's particularly macabre, the weaving of different lives is fascinating.


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## TheSFReader (Jan 20, 2011)

My first real "WOW" was IIRC The Left Hand of Darknses by Ursula K. Le Guin.
Other than that, "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" by Heinlein.


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## bordercollielady (Nov 21, 2008)

For me it was Room...  getting into the mind of a young child was an experience I have never had before.


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## JFHilborne (Jan 22, 2011)

I'd just like to comment on what an uplifting, great thread this is. With so many threads picking holes in novels and pointing out errors in books and such, this is so nice to see people commenting on the positive points and letting others know of some great reads they've found. Thanks everyone.


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## WriterCTaylor (Jul 11, 2011)

Just read 1984, as I have been keeping an eye on this thread and got the idea from here. There is one more I am going to load onto the Kindle as well. There was definitely a wow moment for me during and after reading 1984!


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## Pnjw (Apr 24, 2011)

The Hunger Games trilogy
Harry Potter
Outlander
The Help
Adrian Phoenix's Maker's Song series. I was wowed by her writing.

And not so much WOW, but I was seriously impressed with Stacia Kane's Downside novels. Anyone who can make me care so much about a junkie and a front man for the local drug dealer has some serious writing chops.


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## noraquick (Sep 3, 2011)

I have to say almost all the books in the great thread are "wow!" reads. For me I do have to say, nothing on earth makes my head spin more than finishing George RR Martin book from the "Song of Ice and Fire" series.


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## scribbler100 (Aug 16, 2011)

Kim Newman's Anno Dracula.  Vampires, alternate history, famous literary characters (Dr. Jekyll, Dracula, Mycroft Holmes, etc) all brought lightly together by Kim Newman's sure hand.  My favorite alternate history novel that really wowed me when I first read it.

Animal Farm.  Who can forget the ending?

Neil Gaiman's Sandman series.  This is how I like my comicbooks.  Great storylines, great art, complex and flawed characers.  

P.G. Wodehouse's The Code of the Woosters.  I couldn't stop laughing.

Agatha Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.  That ending floored me.


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## jmoralee (Sep 6, 2011)

The first time I read Hyperion by Dan Simmons I felt as though I'd been transported to another world.  His book contained so many genres in a complex plot that I had to read every book by him - only to discover his other books were just as good.

I also felt the same way when I read Clive Barker's Books of Blood.  The writing was superlative.

Wow.


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## GerrieFerrisFinger (Jun 1, 2011)

DreamWeaver said:


> I haven't read any books lately that made me say "Wow! That was amazing!" They were good, but not _spectacular_. I look forward to learning which books others have enjoyed. Several that were already mentioned have been added to my must-read list.


I haven't either. I think WoW books are by an author I've never read before. For instance, I enjoy Lee Child's Jack Reacher series, but they don't make me go wow. Not any longer. Same with Robert Crais or Dennis Lehane and Val McDermid. They're like old friends.


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## CollinKelley (Sep 1, 2011)

There are two for me: Don DeLillo's Underworld and Jeanette Winterson's Written on the Body. The writing is so fine and beautiful that they both hold up to multiple readings -- even Underworld, which is 800 pages long.


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## Aubrie Dionne author (Feb 10, 2011)

Yes, I read one of those "wow" books:

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I couldn't shake the ending for months.


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## Lyndl (Apr 2, 2010)

The Stand was a real "wow" book for me. I've read it so many times I could practically recite it.

More recently, Swan Song by Robert McCammon and The Tomorrow series by John Marsden

But , there's really only been one in the last year or so. _In Her Name _ by Michael Hicks. WOW !!!


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## Klip (Mar 7, 2011)

Aubrie Dionne said:


> Yes, I read one of those "wow" books:
> 
> Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I couldn't shake the ending for months.


Oh yes, I agree. Made me cry, and I still think about the story often.


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## Robert S. Wilson (Jul 21, 2011)

I want to read Swan Song so bad! It sounds awesome... Stupid being broke!


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## Kimberly Llewellyn (Aug 18, 2011)

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. Poetic and haunting. It's the biggest WOW I ever had after reading a book; still affects me today. Strangely, the book was written decades ago and is dystopian, which is so popular right now! I got to meet M.A. a few years ago and was in complete awe.


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## liafairchild (Apr 2, 2011)

For me it was The Millionaires by Brad Meltzer. From the first page, I was riveted. After chapter 1, I literally said to my husband, "Wow, you've got to read this book!" Of course I knew he wouldn't. Not much of a book fan there.


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## Ben White (Feb 11, 2011)

Aubrie Dionne said:


> Yes, I read one of those "wow" books:
> 
> Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I couldn't shake the ending for months.


I can't believe I forgot this one--yes, absolutely.


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## ronvitale (Mar 11, 2011)

I think that The Reapers Are the Angels by Alden Bell is my biggest "wow" within the last year or so. A friend of mine had recommended it to me and I just assumed it was an easy to read YA book. I wasn't expecting some of the depth of emotion and character development that Bell pulls off. Made me look at YA books in an entirely different light. Well worth the read.


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## ashel (May 29, 2011)

I lost count of how many times this book has been mentioned in this thread, but I am having a pretty much continuous "wow" moment to Slaughterhouse Five right now. I'm about 35-40% through it? Had been on my list (and my bookshelf) since, um, wow, high school. Well worth the wait, I guess.


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## Robert S. Wilson (Jul 21, 2011)

Speaking of wow, how could I have forgotten Slaughterhouse Five? That was definitely a "Wow" book too!


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## EGranfors (Mar 18, 2011)

*The Submission *by Amy Waldman (fiction about choosing a 9/11 memorial)

*The Language of Flowers* by Diffenbaugh

*Keeping Together* by Marisa de los Santos

_--- edited... no self-promotion outside the Book Bazaar forum. please read our Forum Decorum thread._


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## StaceyHH (Sep 13, 2010)

jillmyles said:


> I have yet to read THE STAND. I totally need to!
> 
> Just thought of a more recent 'wow' book. I LOVED this one.
> 
> ...


EEK! I get to see her at a reading/signing in just a couple of weeks, with Blake Charlton!


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## Kayden Lee (Sep 9, 2011)

I am always looking for a WOW book, so I will definitely keep track of this post.


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## Robert S. Wilson (Jul 21, 2011)

Kayden Lee said:


> I am always looking for a WOW book, so I will definitely keep track of this post.


Just keep in mind that sometimes one person's wow is another's yuck!


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## MMancey (Sep 8, 2011)

The Game of Thrones, definitely. Though WOW is usually followed by 'shudder.'


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## Joseph_Evans (Jul 24, 2011)

For me it was The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman. I mouthed 'wow' through my tears!


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## Amyshojai (May 3, 2010)

The Art Of Racing In The Rain.

Wow-wow-wow...


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Also The Book Thief and The Help


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## Selina Fenech (Jul 20, 2011)

A lot of books on this list I agree with as Wow books, and some I'm going to have to try.

Lately, I've read a lot of books that I thought might be Wow books... They were Wow books for maybe 3/4's of the way through, and then became Meh books. Getting the end right is so important to reach that Wow standard!


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## herocious (May 20, 2011)

Knut Hamsun's HUNGER


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## RonnieLevy (Sep 19, 2011)

Ender's Game


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## Nancy Beck (Jul 1, 2011)

Recently, The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford. I was always curious about reading it, and then my mother urged me to read it - even gave me her copy to read, lol.   I have a lot of interest in everything 1940s, and will be turning my writing attention next year to finally finishing the historical fantasy I started...but I digress. This was an absolutely fascinating fiction account of what it must have been like to be Japanese American during World War II - and being considered an "enemy alien" even though you were a U.S. citizen.

Strong stuff. A huge WOW moment for me.

The Lord of the Rings. I remember back in 11th grade when a burnout (an ancient term used by a lot of us in the 1970s who knew those who smoked cigarettes of various substances  ) said he'd read LOTR. What That got my attention, and it stayed with me...

...until I met my husband, who did backflips and bugged the crap out of me to read it. So I read it for the first time at the tender age of...24 (lol), when he'd already read it several times, starting in 6th grade. Wow, wow, wow! 

There are probably others, but those are the two that stand out.


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## Ty Johnston (Jun 19, 2009)

WOW books? Hmm, to be honest, I'm not sure I've had any in the last few years. The last one I truly remember was Max Brooks' _World War Z_, but that's been almost 5 years ago since I read it. Tolstoy and Steven Erikson have provided me with some WOW moments, but I don't think of the entire novels by them as being WOW books. John Gardner's _On Moral Fiction_ had a *lot *of WOW moments for me, but that's non-fiction.


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## GerrieFerrisFinger (Jun 1, 2011)

My Wow book for the past couple of years has been The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. I loved the structure and writing. The plot is long and drawn out with three stories to tell, all centering around the legend of Dracula. I'd say it is the penultimate Dracula/vampire book, the ultimate as yet to be written.
JMHO, of course.


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## Guy James (May 2, 2011)

Joseph_Evans said:


> For me it was The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman. I mouthed 'wow' through my tears!


That's great to hear. I'm almost there myself and have been loving the series so far.


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## Guy James (May 2, 2011)

NogDog said:


> Speaking of "wow" books, I've started re-reading _Slaughterhouse Five_ this week, in part inspired by seeing it show up for various reasons in a couple different threads here. I'll be curious to see if it wows me now anything like it did when I first read it decades ago.


My copy of _Slaughterhouse Five_ is literally in tatters, and it's been too long since I reread it.


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## Spitzbub (Jul 4, 2011)

Aubrie Dionne said:


> Yes, I read one of those "wow" books:
> 
> Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I couldn't shake the ending for months.


I'm bummed I did not make it through that one. The Remains of the Day is one of the greatest novels I have read. It shook me to my core, and since then its significance to me has only deepened. Maybe someday I'll go back to NLMG.

A recent Wow on a different level was The Hunger Games. Taut, smart, exciting, and an excellent strong female character. Fun pageturner!

John


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## Iain Manson (Apr 3, 2011)

_*Star of the Sea*_ by Joseph O'Connor is a terrific novel.

Set mostly in Ireland (but also in England, America and on the Atlantic Ocean) in the 1840s, it tells of the potato famine which claimed a million Irish lives, and drove still more to leave their native land for ever.

One critic described it as "almost miraculously even-handed", for O'Connor is scrupulously fair: there is no question of all the Irish being heroes and all the English villains. But if you want to know how Ireland came to lose a quarter of its people in the 1840s, this wouldn't be a bad place to start.


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## Miriam Minger (Nov 27, 2010)

A "wow" for me is Ciji Ware's Island of the Swans.  Love it.

Miriam Minger


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## Edward C. Patterson (Mar 28, 2009)

If you want WOW, try _*His Majersty's Dragon *_ by Naomi Novik (and the rest of the Temeraire series). I rarely write reviews, but this one, got one.

Edward C. Patterson


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## djgross (May 24, 2011)

A recent "WOW" book:



Gorgeously written book set before and during the Roman siege of Masada. Read it in one marathon session.


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## MTM (Aug 9, 2011)

i just returned from Monterey and reread CANNERY ROW. Wow! I can't believe how Steinbeck's description is so powerful. I recommend rereading this novel. It's a gem.
Mike


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## Grace Elliot (Mar 14, 2011)

I felt like this about The Hunger Games trilogy - i've become quite evangelical about it, boring anyone that will listen and telling them to read the series. 

A great thread - Ive picked up some awesome book recommendations.


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## evanlavine (Oct 4, 2011)




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## Debra Purdy Kong (Apr 1, 2009)

I read _Beloved_ by Toni Morrison years ago, and it's still on my "Wow" list. It's one of the most memorable books I've ever read. It's also one of the most disturbing and heartbreaking.


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## Skate (Jan 23, 2011)

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. I sort of knew the end before it happened, but it still left me feeling like I'd been hit by a bus. Not a good wow, maybe, but definitely an impact.


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## TerryS (Mar 29, 2011)

Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence. I love a well done antihero, no matter how gruesome he gets.


----------



## Michelle Muto (Feb 1, 2011)

It was the Harry Potter series... 

Otherwise, I'd say Hannibal Rising because of content.


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## Harry Shannon (Jul 30, 2010)

Damn near any paragraph by James Lee Burke. I'm reading "Feast Day for Fools" now, and he hasn't lost a step.


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## prairiesky (Aug 11, 2009)

d*mn near any paragraph by James Lee Burke. I'm reading "Feast Day for Fools" now, and he hasn't lost a step.

Harry, I couldn't agree more


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## RDaneel54 (Sep 10, 2010)

My most recent WOW book was _The Doomsday Book_ by Connie Willis.

I had just read one other book of hers before this (had never heard of her before) and thought she was a good writer. After reading _The Doomsday Book_, I realized she was a great writer.


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## 31842 (Jan 11, 2011)

Most recently, I really felt that "Wow!" feeling after The Hunger Games (but that's not particularly news to anyone). I was having a tough time following it up and then I read Susan Ee's book Angelfall.



When I saw all the five star reviews, I was sure something fishy was going on. And then I read the book. It is really that good. I want to stand on top of rooftops and shout to the world how good it is! I can hardly wait for the sequel!


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## EGranfors (Mar 18, 2011)

*When She Woke* by Hillary Jordan. Suspense and cultural commentary. Sort of a new *The Handmaid's Tale.*


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## David Elham (Sep 29, 2011)

Audrey Niffeneger's *The Time Travelever's Wife * had that WOW factor for me. Pity the movie simplified it so much and changed the sense of the ending...

[=The Time Traveler's Wife=]


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## Seleya (Feb 25, 2011)

A few : The Silmarillion (The Music of the Ainur is single-handedly responsible for my love of English), To Kill a Mockingbird, A Canticle for Leibowitz and one theatre script: Murder in the Cathedral.

Another book, while not a masterwork per se gave me a big 'WOW' moment, I was a kid and the book was 'The Sword of Shannara' a chance order of my parents from a book club catalogue (not much of interest on that catalogue but it was time for the bi-monthly order). It was my first fantasy book and it was an epiphany 'There is people who write stories like these!'


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## Paul Clayton (Sep 12, 2009)

My last wow went to Brave New World, which I re-read, having read it when I was a young man.  One interesting thing I noticed was how much of what the writer saw in his fictive dream, I now see around us.  Keep in mind that I read it when I was a young man in 1970 or thereabouts, and I'm 63 now.  Things 'have' changed, slowly, perhaps too slowly for folks to notice, especially folks who weren't around for the bad old daysl.

And my latest wow moment would be Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett.  A damn good novel!


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## David Elham (Sep 29, 2011)

Paul Clayton said:


> My last wow went to Brave New World, which I re-read, having read it when I was a young man. One interesting thing I noticed was how much of what the writer saw in his fictive dream, I now see around us.


Yeah, I love _Brave New World_, Paul, for the same reason. Huxley saw the future with clarity. I also love the ending - dark, but the truth often is.

David.


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## tinytoy (Jun 15, 2011)

After reading this thread I am looking forward to reading The Book Thief which I recently purchased but have had loaned out up through yesterday.

A Game of Thrones wowed me, especially considering how hesitant I was to pick it up because I've never been really into Fantasy much before.  I am now 1/2 way through the 5th book in the same series and am still wowed.


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## hudsonam (Jan 13, 2010)

Italiahaircolor said:


> _She's Come Undone_ by Wally Lamb..that was my first "wow" book ever...


I've never heard anyone else mention this book. I loved it!

Another wow for me was The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver.


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## Batgirl (Sep 22, 2009)

I know I'm resurrecting an old thread, but it's such a good one.  It's definitely added to my TBR pile.

One book that really wowed me recently was The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons.  It's such a heartbreakingly beautiful love story and tale of WWII from the Russian point of view.

I wholeheartedly agree with others here who mentioned The Hunger Games, Watchmen and Outlander - definitely three of my favorites.


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## Lursa (aka 9MMare) (Jun 23, 2011)

marimorimo said:


> *1984 *by George Orwell
> *The Wee Free* Men by Terry Pratchett
> *Catching Fire* by Suzanne Collins
> *The Book Thief* by Markus Zusak
> ...


Survival of the Sickest is excellent! I really enjoy reading about the evolution of human society, behavior, physiology and how they are all so interrelated.


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## Adonna (Feb 4, 2012)

Bleekness said:


> Blake Crouch's "Run."
> 
> Probably the best book I've read in all of 2011 and certainly set the bar for 2012.
> 
> Very dark, tense thriller and not a bad segue for folks in between zombie book reads. No zombies in here, but... well... you'll see. I've read other books by Blake, and while they were okay--"Run" didn't just shine, it blazed. (In my opinion )


Yes. I've been telling people about this book also. They must think I work for the author!  I've never ready anything by the author, only tried it because of the comparison to Koontz, but I'm glad I did.


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## bnapier (Apr 26, 2010)

_House of Leaves_ by Mark Danielewski
_Salughterhouse Five_ by Kurt Vonnegut
_The Great and Secret Show_ by Clive Barker
_The Road_ by Cormac MacCarthy
_Good Omens_ by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

House of Leaves may go down as my favorite novel ever. Such a highly underrated novel.


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## Sean Patrick Fox (Dec 3, 2011)

Everything I've read by Ken Bruen. Seriously. Start with _The Guards_ and thank me later.


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## John A. A. Logan (Jan 25, 2012)

I second Steinbeck's Cannery Row...

Also, Knut Hamsun's HUNGER


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## djgross (May 24, 2011)

Just finished...



Definitely a WOW book. Funny, tragic, and deeply moving.


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## Aardvark (Feb 4, 2012)

I'm reading David Wong's "John Dies At The End".  It's not WOW but it's very, very good.


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## acellis (Oct 10, 2011)

_*I Am Legend*_, by Richard Matheson. One of my all-time favorite books. Wow!


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## Neil Ostroff (Mar 25, 2011)

Although, it's very old, MAN'S QUEST FOR MEANING blew me away.


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## aecardenas (Dec 16, 2011)

There's actually very few books that made me go "Wow", but here's three of them:

*F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby*:
When I was in High School I read F. Scott Fitzgerald's _The Great Gatsby_. Or I rather, I thought I had read it. Many years later, after my reading habits matured and I myself became a writer, I came back to it for some reason, and I read it again, and I was in awe, I literally went "Wow". I could not believe how perfectly written this book was, how beautifully drawn the characters were, how evocative and exquisite the language. And then I remember why I had dismissed it before.

Back then I had also read Faulkner and Hemingway...the two extremes of the writing style spectrum...one ultra complex while the other utterly simple. Between them, Fitzgerald seemed...almost ordinary. I was enamored by the flash of style, and didn't' realize that the true meaning of good writing is to communicate perfectly your ideas. The words and style shouldn't draw attention to itself, because then you are thinking "Oh, this is Faulkner" or "Oh, this is Hemingway", so in reality it's not the story that is capturing you, but the writer. The writer and his/her style shouldn't overcome the story...but rather should serve the story, and serve it so perfectly as to disappear. And that's what _The Great Gatsby_ is...a perfect novel written by a true artist.

*Clive Barker's The Books of Blood:*
As a lover of horror fiction, I am always seeking stories that frighten me, disturb me, terrify me and make me question my sanity and beliefs.  Clive Barker's _Books of Blood_ floored me by how stunning and powerful this man's imagination is. The stories contained in these volumes run the gamut of horror--psychological horror, sexual horror, fantastical horror, mythic and monster horror, breaking of social and sexual taboos, and just plain ol' blood and gore type of horror.

I mean, where else will you read stories where a man's hands plot again their owner, or a mythical killer is sustained by urban legend and rumors, or where the fate of the world is determined by some old men racing frogs, or a cancerous tumor gains sentience and goes on a cinematic rampage, or where Poe's _Murders in the Rue Morgue_ gets re-imagined in a delightfuly perverse way.

But the one story in the _Books of Blood_ that quite simply blew me away was "In the Hills, the Cities", in which two cities somewhere in Yugoslavia wage an ancient war every ten years. But they don't fight with weapons and armies, instead they spend years constructing these towering giants composed of the actual citizens of each city, binding each person to each other so that they become one single giant monstrous entity. It's an incredible story, which has such mythic power and scope, I can still experience it in my mind after almost twenty five years.

*Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude:*
This book was amazing. A true storyteller in the classic tradition, where there's not a lot of the standard "He said then she said, and then he said," Garcia Marquez actually uses prose the way you're supposed to: To tell the d*mn story. There are passages in this book that are so evocative and perfectly written&#8230;they humble you, much in the way you are humbled when witnessing something inexplicable and miraculous as childbirth or a tornado touching down on the earth or the terrifying thrill and awe of seeing a woman naked for the first time. This is a beautiful and profound book.


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## Nana Malone (Dec 31, 2011)

I read it every year and still Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird makes me go WOW!


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## KathyLynnHarris (Feb 2, 2012)

Totally agree. Fault of Our Stars is still with me weeks after finishing it. Just a great book. 


djgross said:


> Just finished...
> 
> 
> 
> Definitely a WOW book. Funny, tragic, and deeply moving.


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## EGranfors (Mar 18, 2011)

Madeline Miller (coming in March) The Song of Achilles.
This is going to be my 2012 pick for book of the year, I am rather sure already!


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## Darlene Jones (Nov 1, 2011)

A Cup of Tea by Ephron and The Uncommon Reader by Bennett - two little books that were incredibly well written.


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## anguabell (Jan 9, 2011)

KateDanley said:


> Most recently, I really felt that "Wow!" feeling after The Hunger Games (but that's not particularly news to anyone). I was having a tough time following it up and then I read Susan Ee's book Angelfall.
> 
> 
> 
> When I saw all the five star reviews, I was sure something fishy was going on. And then I read the book. It is really that good. I want to stand on top of rooftops and shout to the world how good it is! I can hardly wait for the sequel!


I was just searching this board to see who recommended this. Not my usual type of a book at all but after reading a sample I simply had to get it. Well written in a twisted sort of way, but even if it wasn't, it quite impossible to put it down  Thank you Kate!


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## Sean Patrick Fox (Dec 3, 2011)

Tower by Ken Bruen and Reed Farrel Coleman. Read a lot of Bruen and love it, but Coleman was new to me. An excellent novel, and the way it was written is unique (at least in my experience).


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## JRainey (Feb 1, 2011)

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman are the three that immediately come to mind. I feel like I'm constantly singing the praises of these books, but all three touched me very profoundly.

I had a similar reaction to I, Lucifer by Glen Duncan and Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood, too.

Another poster mentioned Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill, which I did love, but I'm not sure I'd personally put it in this category. That is a very memorable book, though. I recommend it every chance I get!


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## Rebecca Burke (May 9, 2011)

Ok, now I know I have to read The Book Thief! I really was wowed by Jonathan Franzen's Freedom.  Couldn't put it down. Loved the environmental themes, the characterizations (note: not the characters themselves! Some of them were pretty awful.). Yeah, yeah--the author shoots himself in the foot every time he opens his mouth--but we're talking about his work, here. I was wowed by The Man from Beijing by Henning Mankell and Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson. And I loved the book by Julian Barnes that won the Booker, The Sense of an Ending. Great writers who wrap their ideas up in stories that are compelling.


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## horsebreaker53 (Feb 24, 2012)

William R. Forstchen's "One Second After" ... A giant Wow all the way through. Loved it!


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## pavb2 (Feb 29, 2012)

Largely overshadowed by the events of Scott in the South Pole I found 'The worst Journey In the World' by Apsley Cherry Garrard one of the most evocative books I have read.

He details the hardships they faced and  was one of the explorers who discovered Scott's final camp. The following quotation sums it up.

“And I tell you, if you have the desire for knowledge and the power to give it physical expression, go out and explore.
If you are a brave man you will do nothing: if you are fearful you may do much, for none but cowards have need to prove their bravery. Some will tell you that you are mad, and nearly all will say, “What is the use?” for we are a nation of shopkeepers, and no shopkeeper will look at research which does not promise him a financial return within a year.
And so you will sledge nearly alone, but those with whom you sledge will not be shopkeepers: that is worth a good deal. If you march your Winter Journeys you will have your reward, so long as all you want is a penguin’s egg.” – Apsley Cherry Garrard


----------



## cheriereich (Feb 12, 2011)

Beth Revis' _Across the Universe_ and _A Million Suns_. I loved those books, and reading them reminded me why I'm a writer. Of course, Beth's own writing story is inspirational too.


----------



## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

horsebreaker53 said:


> William R. Forstchen's "One Second After" ... A giant Wow all the way through. Loved it!


Just as I was scrowling down this page, I was trying to think of a book that gave me the 'Wow!' factor and it hit me, "One Second After". Then, literally a second later, I saw your post. lol. I bought the book in hardcover the day it came out. (had a pre-order in). The day I finished it, I lent it to my brother in law and haven't seen it since.  I think I may have to go re-buy it in ebook format.


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## horsebreaker53 (Feb 24, 2012)

MaryMcDonald said:


> Just as I was scrowling down this page, I was trying to think of a book that gave me the 'Wow!' factor and it hit me, "One Second After". Then, literally a second later, I saw your post. lol. I bought the book in hardcover the day it came out. (had a pre-order in). The day I finished it, I lent it to my brother in law and haven't seen it since.  I think I may have to go re-buy it in ebook format.


 I think you can get it at Amazon for 9.99 right now. Fantastic book. All americans should read this.


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## FrankZubek (Aug 31, 2010)

"Since the Layoffs" by Iain Levison
A down and out clerk who working at a convenience store in a destitute town accepts a hit contract from a local bookie to kill the man's wife. 

He does this and then has the money to keep his rent and put food on the table. 

As it turns out, he was so good at it- the bookie offers him a few more jobs!

There are a few twists in there too- its a short novel but easy to read and has a surprising number of funny moments
A dark book to be sure but I still find it to be the book I most recommend out of everything else I usually read. I would think that that says something about Levison. 

It almost reads like an autobiography it all has a very real feel to it.


----------



## jlee745 (Jul 27, 2010)

I just finished Iron House by John Hart and I loved it.


----------



## Derek Clendening (Mar 1, 2012)

beckyj20 said:


> I have recently read two books, and , where I had that "WOW" moment after finishing them. I'm wondering what books that you have read that make you go "WOW" after finishing them?


Everdead by Rio Youers did that for me. What would have been a run-of-the-mill vampire novel was beautified by some of the finest prose I've ever read. House of Windows was a character study in a haunted house setting that left me breathless.


----------



## EspressoCap7 (May 14, 2012)

Not to make it sound like high school again but The Catcher in the Rye left a pretty profound impact on me. It was "WOW" in the sense that there was so much symbolism and generally a lot of things to piece together. If you guys haven't gotten around to reading it, you should give it a shot. From what I saw though, it's not for "everyone".


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## 31842 (Jan 11, 2011)

anguabell said:


> I was just searching this board to see who recommended this. Not my usual type of a book at all but after reading a sample I simply had to get it. Well written in a twisted sort of way, but even if it wasn't, it quite impossible to put it down  Thank you Kate!


You're TOTALLY welcome. It took me by surprise, too. I originally was like, "Fallen angels and the apocalypse? Pffft. I guess for 99-cents..." And then it blew my mind. Just absolutely made my brain explode. I was totally stalking her Amazon page as if, I don't know, somehow if I kept hitting refresh it would make her type the sequel faster...? The best book I read last year. So AMAZING.

But this is the best book I've read THIS year: The Writing Life by Annie Dillard



She won a Pulitzer for one of her other works, and yet, I had never heard of her. Even if you haven't written since senior year, I think everyone could get something out of this book. It is almost poetry on the page. I want to tattoo every sentence on my body so that I can reread it over and over again. It is so profound and philosophical and... I don't know... it is like a call to live a truer life. I have been buying copies for all my friends. It is stunning and life altering and gorgeous.


----------



## Cege Smith (Dec 11, 2011)

Hands down, the best book I've read so far in 2012 was Forsaken- A Novel of Art, Evil, and Insanity by Andrew Van Wey. The title kind of says it all- but to me it was really reminiscent of early Stephen King as I was reading it. I'm a horror fan from way back and so I'm pretty jaded about books I read in the genre. This one gave me nightmares (I know- a weird thing to consider "good"- lol).


----------



## djgross (May 24, 2011)

tinytoy said:


> A Game of Thrones wowed me, especially considering how hesitant I was to pick it up because I've never been really into Fantasy much before. I am now 1/2 way through the 5th book in the same series and am still wowed.




Ditto! I'm not yet at the 5th book though . After devouring the first three I'm taking a breather before A Feast for Crows: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book Four.

Another vote for !

I recently reread The Hunger Games Trilogy as my daughter was reading the books and I was majorly wowed again. I've always loved the 1st book, but found I was equally wowed by the 2nd and 3rd books of the trilogy on the second read.


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## JRWoodward (Apr 26, 2011)

My biggest WOW recently was Piers Anthony's UNDER A VELVET CLOAK, the long-awaited extra sequel in his Incarnations of Immortality series. Nox, the Incarnation of Night, finally get's a chance to explain her point of view. Antony used the book to explain some puzzling aspects of the earlier book, but the biggest impact for me was simply to have the whole series timeline laid out in a single plot, as Nox is present from before the beginning to the end.


----------



## Guest (May 21, 2012)

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell 

The Cruise of the Nona by Hilaire Belloc

Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield


----------



## herocious (May 20, 2011)

Parts of "But Beautiful" by Geoff Dyer made me go WOW. The afterward is not as WOWing as the story, but it is highly informative for jazz lovers.


----------



## Kay Bratt (Dec 28, 2011)

Just finished this and absolutely loved it.


----------



## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

There hasn't been a book in a while that has given me the WOW moment like The Left Hand of Darkness. Nothing in nearly a decade has rivaled that moment.


----------



## Nicole Ciacchella (May 21, 2012)

I plug this book everywhere I go. It's one of those breathtakingly beautiful books that stays with you forever. I've succeeded in making almost everyone I know read it, and they all end up raving about it too. I started reading it at one of my old jobs, where I usually ate my lunch at my desk in an open cubicle. I spent several days hunched over, trying not to sob too loudly and hoping my coworkers wouldn't notice the tears streaming down my cheeks. Seriously, it's that good.


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## Twofishes (May 30, 2012)

This is a great thread.  I saw more than a few posts mentioning Orwell's  1984, a great wow book. It made me think of Haruki Murakami's very weird 1Q84, a wow homage. 

I saw one post that mentions Don Delillo's  Underworld. Great book but not a wow for me. It did remind me of David Foster Wallace and Infinite Jest, definitely  a wow.

The post that mentions One Hundred Years of Solitude is spot on. Gabriel Marquez is a genius. I've probably read One Hundred Years of Solitude 30 times and it still makes me wow just thinking about it. 

Anyone else seeing banners for China Mieville's new book  Railsea? I don't know about that just yet,  but China's book Embassytown was another weird wow. 

Wow is not visceral enough for Krakauer's  Into Thin Air. It started me thinking about non-fiction. I concluded that the wow from non-fiction is different than the wow you get from fiction.  The non-fiction wow is more like  'wow that really happened'.  Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage(Lansing) and Conquistador: Hernan Cortes, King Montezuma, and the Last Stand of the Aztecs(Levy) both fall into my ' wow that really happened' category.


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## charlesatan (May 8, 2012)

For me it would be Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord which I read last year. I love how Lord managed to convey the oral tradition, the non-Western culture, and how she managed to sneak in science fiction into what would ordinarily be considered a fantasy story.


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## Kenton Crowther (Jan 5, 2012)

For me it's got to be _Mila 18_ by Leon Uris. My most un-put-downable for several years. And this book I just devoted a whole free day to, couldn't do anything other. Now that is a read, when you even forget to brew your tea on time.


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## Margo Karasek (Feb 29, 2012)

My strongest wow moment came when I finished reading _Life of Pi_. That book was amazing, genius, . . . can't say enough good things about it. And then, of course, there are the classics like _Old Man and the Sea_ and _Animal Farm_.


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## Meb Bryant (Jun 27, 2011)

Our mystery club chose The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz. I wouldn't refer to it as a WOW book, but it read like a breath of fresh air smelling like newly cut grass. Love her sense of humor and chaotic writing style.


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## DYB (Aug 8, 2009)

I must join the praise for "A Song of Ice and Fire" by Martin.  I'm in the middle of book 3 (for our Book Klub here) and even though I knew a lot of the things that happen in advance (a certain event in book 3 is probably bigger than the certain event in book 1) - I still felt a WOW last night when I finally read that chapter.  My heart was racing like crazy.  Martin really is a genius.


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## DYB (Aug 8, 2009)

scribbler100 said:


> Agatha Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. That ending floored me.


Oh yes!


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## Alexandra Sokoloff (Sep 21, 2009)

If you like smart... well, brilliant... horror:  THE TERROR, by Dan Simmons.  Fantastic.


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