# What is your favorite book that no one knows about?



## Guest (Sep 11, 2019)

If I had all the money in the world I would go from one bookstore to another and ask the proprietor what is your favorite book that no one knows about? So I thought I would ask reddit. Fiction / non fiction / graphic novel.

I am really interested and fascinated by literary archaeology and would also love any nonfiction or fiction books about this subject. What I really find interesting is the concept of things you do not know that you do not know.

My personal theory is that there are all of these amazing, brilliant books out there but since they were not the same as what was popular they just have become forgotten overtime.

Look forward to your answers.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Two books I really liked that I don't think I've ever heard anyone else talk about:

* _Pears and Perils_ by Drew Hayes
* _Death and the Penguin_ by Andrey Kurkov

Each is kind of quirky and not easily shoehorned into a standard genre/category, which may have something to do with it?


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## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

What kind of feedback did you get from reddit users?


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## Tony Rabig (Oct 11, 2010)

These three come to mind immediately.  The first is long out-of-print but well worth digging for either on Amazon or through interlibrary loan; the other two are available in the Kindle store.

1. MYSTICAL UNION, by Don Robertson
2. 1968, by Joe Haldeman
3. VOICES OF A SUMMER DAY, by Irwin Shaw

Enjoy.


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## barryem (Oct 19, 2010)

I'm about half way through "Tammy Out of Time" by Cid Ricketts Sumner, a 1948 book that was later made into the three Tammy movies of the 1960s. I remember seeing the first movie which I think was based on this book. I don't remember anything about it. I had a date that night and the movie might not have been my focus. I had no idea till a couple of weeks ago that it was even based on a book.

The book is really surprising me. I remember the movie as one of the many teen beach type movies of that era. The book is very intelligent and carefully plotted and unlike anything I've read before. Tammy is raised on a shanty boat and hasn't been exposed to the modern world. And then she is. And among "civilized" people she's pretty impressive. And they are impressed; well, most of them are. Her folksy understanding of the world keeps giving them useful insights into their own lives. This isn't written with teens in mind at all.

Here's a link to it if anyone is interested. It's well worth considering:

https://www.amazon.com/Tammy-out-Time-Ricketts-Sumner-ebook/dp/B07BDQ8RV4/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=tammy+out+of+time&qid=1568601060&s=gateway&sr=8-1

Barry


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## Natasha Holme (May 26, 2012)

_Losing The Moon_ by Byron Katie

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2417234.Losing_the_Moon


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

Mixed Doubles, by Daniel da Cruz—forgotten book by an almost forgotten author, but it is one of the best time travel stories ever written (this obviously limits its appeal)

Shades of Gray, by Timothy R. O’Neill—This one was republished on Kindle decades after the original publication, so not totally forgotten. A wonderful ghost story set at West Point.

The Brigadier Gerard series, by Arthur Conan Doyle (yes, the Sherlock Holmes guy!)—seventeen short stories published in two books, The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard, and Adventures of Gerard. Over the top humor stories about a handsome, honorable, and terminally stupid French officer in the Napoleonic Wars. “How the Brigadier Slew the Fox” May be the funniest thing I’ve ever read.


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## BT Keaton (Feb 10, 2020)

Probably *The NeverEnding Story*. Everyone knows the movie oddly enough, but when I ask people if they've read the book the answer is almost always no... or that they didn't even know it _was_ a book!


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## nonperson (Mar 30, 2020)

Despite its being one of Japan's most widely known novels, few elsewhere seem to know of _No Longer Human_ by Osamu Dazai.


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## mzeki (Apr 3, 2020)

There is this book A Sufi's Journey to Truth: A True Story by Faruk Dilaver. It is one of the best book's I've ever read but it is mostly unknown.


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## archaeoroutes (Oct 12, 2014)

Don't know about no-one knowing it, but The Eyre Affair is superb!


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## Koi (Apr 28, 2010)

This is a fun thread, and I sent myself samples of what I could find of these. Drawing a blank for what to contribute at the moment, now that I’m trying...


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## Ashmor (Jun 13, 2018)

Not my favorite book but I really enjoyed reading this one: Kaiju Rift by Ian Woodhead


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## E.B. Roshan (May 21, 2020)

"Ballad of the White Horse" a historical epic poem by G.K. Chesterton (something different for fans of Beowulf and Lord of the Rings.)

"Indiscretions of Archie" by P.G. Wodehouse (his Bertie and Jeeves series is well-known, but for some reason Archie slipped through the cracks.)

"The Daughter of Time" by Josephine Tey (a fascinating historical detective mystery.)


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## pjocon (Aug 23, 2010)

Limbo, by Bernard Wolfe. The author was Leon Trotsky's bodyguard while he was living with Frieda Kahlo and Diego Rivera in Mexico. (He was away when Trotz got axed.) His book concerns an unusual application of artificial-limb technology and a drastic peace movement, whose creator had no idea how hiw ideas would spread or what they would become.  Deep, and operates at so many levels...


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## LDB (Oct 28, 2008)

Unintended Consequences by John Ross.


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## Sophie Newton (Jun 26, 2020)

_The Little Book_ by Selden Edwards.


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## RuthGrenfell (Jun 30, 2017)

Anything by H Beam Piper, but in particular his Little Fuzzy series.

He has a clean (classic  ) style so that even though his work is from the 50's and 60's it doesn't feel outdated. With very little setting details so you only occasionally get caught out by words or items that haven't made it into the future. It is the people and interactions that make his books so re-readable even 60 years after they were written.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B016K1CBJU/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0

Not sure how unknown he is as an author but he was well before my time!


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

The Hooded Claw said:


> Mixed Doubles, by Daniel da Cruz-forgotten book by an almost forgotten author, but it is one of the best time travel stories ever written (this obviously limits its appeal)


I really enjoy time travel stories so I thought I would check this one out. I can only find it on Amazon as a used paperback for £40.99! I don't love time travel books quite _that_ much!


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## pentopaper (Sep 22, 2019)

mzeki said:


> There is this book A Sufi's Journey to Truth: A True Story by Faruk Dilaver. It is one of the best book's I've ever read but it is mostly unknown.


what's it about? what genre is it?


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## Kathy Dee (Aug 27, 2016)

Mine is a public domain book by Mildred Mann, _How to Find Your Real Self_ and you can get it for free at many places online, incl Project Guttenberg.


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## NiaQuinn (Feb 23, 2021)

Mirabile by Janet Kagan. A delightful sci-fi book, I've never met anyone else who's read it.


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## autumnst (Mar 14, 2021)

I'll chip in with my two cents, if I might. "Minimum Wage Magic" by Rachel Aaron is one of the best contemporary fantasy books I've read so far, and hugely underrated/unknown, in my humble opinion. It's part of a trilogy and I'm currently partway through the second book, called "Part-Time Gods". The third book is titled "Night-Shift Dragons".

Anyone (like myself) who's ever worked themselves to the bone with little to no pay to show for it will definitely relate and appreciate the wit, humor, struggles, and triumphs that she brings to bear in her trilogy. It's a future fantasy with dragons and other cool magical beings and settings. The protagonist, Opal, is a riot and I could read about her for days on end.

If the author had a big marketing budget behind her, this series could easily rival and perhaps surpass today's bestselling novels. In terms of quality of writing, story development, and worldbuilding, she has no equal. Change my mind LOL 😂😂😂


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## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

The problem is that you can't search for a book you don't know about  . The best way to find interesting books that are new to you is to volunteer in a charity bookshop or your local library. Sorting out donated books exposes you to ALL sorts of books and you'll end up with a pile of TBR. In a library you can offer to return books to their shelves and this will also give you a wide variety of books that you probably have never heard of


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## NanSweet (Apr 14, 2015)

I have a couple: 

Deed of Paksennarion by Elizabeth Moon In my opinion, this book can compete with The Lord of the Rings in the fantasy category. It's one of those huge stories that builds to a finale with perfection. It should have sold millions of copies...

On the Way to Heaven by Tina Wainscott -Rereleased as Until I Die Again by Jamie Rush. - This is my favorite romance ever. And I've read a lot. It's a soul swap story about a woman who died and got a second chance in another body. I think that bit of weirdness might have kept the book out of mainstream, but it is well worth the read.


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## HerbertBargas (12 mo ago)

In the last 2 years, we got many new authors. And we can find many unknown well written books! Recently my girlfriend bought The Zero Sum game of you and she loved this book a lot. I forcefully read this book because of her, but after reading half chapter I also found this book interesting and now I am on the last chapter.


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## NickD (Jan 6, 2022)

Not unknown, but rarely mentioned - how about:-
Trent's Last Case: A Detective Novel (Also known as The Woman in Black): Amazon.co.uk: Bentley, E. C.: 9788027332199: Books

also known as :- 









The Woman in Black Illustrated eBook : Bentley, E.C.: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store


The Woman in Black Illustrated eBook : Bentley, E.C.: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store



www.amazon.co.uk





a very good read if you enjoy detective stories.

Edmund Clerihew Bentley, was the inventor of the "Clerihew" e.g.:-
*George the Third Ought never to have occurred. One can only wonder At so grotesque a blunder. 

 Nick*


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## *DrDLN* (dr.s.dhillon) (Jan 19, 2011)

Like this saying and book:
• With first breath we came and with the last we leave this world.That’s "Power of Breathing" http://amzn.to/h14DD2


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## jlaughs (Aug 31, 2018)

Nearly a decade ago, it was "Thomas The Obscure" by Maurice Blanchot. I spent a good deal of time and energy getting used to reading this book. I had to haul every bit of my imagination and concentration for this. It was also a crucial text for my thesis, but not many people knew of Blanchot, and those who did either thought he was the most insufferable writer or one of the best.


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## NickD (Jan 6, 2022)

jlaughs said:


> Nearly a decade ago, it was "Thomas The Obscure" by Maurice Blanchot. I spent a good deal of time and energy getting used to reading this book. I had to haul every bit of my imagination and concentration for this. It was also a crucial text for my thesis, but not many people knew of Blanchot, and those who did either thought he was the most insufferable writer or one of the best.


I had a quick look on Amazon at Thomas...

A review on there caught my eye. I quote a chunk of it, below.

Two irreverent thoughts :-

1) If life is too short to peel a grape, it is definitely not long enough for me to try making sense of this book.
2) French intellectualism is impossible to parody because it is pure comedy in and of itself. (You could say the same of English exceptionalism or American barbarity, of course).



> A stone rolled, and it slipped through an infinity of metamorphoses the unity of which was that of the world in its splendor. In the midst of these tremblings, solitude burst forth...Thomas went forward. The great misfortune which was to come still seemed a gentle and tranquil event."
> This passage comes near the end of Thomas the Obscure (p. 114); but it just as well could have been placed in the beginning. It is not that nothing happens in the course of this brief and intense fiction - it is as long as it can be, and no shorter. Anne dies. That is event enough.
> The book gathers around that event, and eavesdrops on two beings that are differently enveloped in it: Anne dying and Thomas affected. What we hear are the murmurings of their beings, waves of singular beings crashing onto the shore, of this death; the slightly different tones and rhythms of the waves' slapping is what we hear. The text is all foam. We begin with Thomas in the water, losing himself there. Awaiting the death, witness to the dying, and the intimate companion of this dying woman. Foam: the in between formations of the water's detritus that mark what the accumulated cycling of wave upon purely flowing wave deposits around the shoals of these individuals.
> Anne, in dying, (not quite her own dying) wonders at Thomas' perpetual absence. The "obscurity" of Thomas is her rendering of him. She bursts onto the scene at a dinner occasion, blazing with beauty and concentrates Thomas' attention. The vividness of the encounter creates the book, but does not provide Anne with companionship in her most solitary moments. Anne has died by the time the passage cited above comes up in the text, but maybe she has already died, whatever that means for Thomas, by the time the book begins, with Thomas in the ocean, amid the foam, maybe drowning, communing in dying but absent from Anne's bedside.


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## jlaughs (Aug 31, 2018)

NickD said:


> I had a quick look on Amazon at Thomas...
> 
> A review on there caught my eye. I quote a chunk of it, below.
> 
> ...


That's a very fair response. There are many books out there that give readers a strong sense of exhilaration, wonder, and pain even. Heck, sometimes a single line in a poem can accomplish this. So I do strongly disagree with anybody who says "one must read Thomas The Obscure, or one is missing out." If not for my thesis, I'm not sure I'd have stuck with the book, which became an acquired taste.


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## Jena H (Oct 2, 2011)

A little gem of a book that I like to mention to people is Eight Cousins. The author, Louisa May Alcott, is almost always known for Little Women, and (to a somewhat lesser degree) Little Men. But for me, Eight Cousins is a treasure. It's sort of a "girl power" book, which is kind of amazing considering that it was written in the 1870s. Anyway, it's a great read for kids over the age of 10-- especially girls, but boys too... since there are so many of them in it.


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## lombok (10 mo ago)

Oceano Mare by Alessandro Baricco. Not sure if it’s really not that well known or if the people I talk books with just don’t have it on their radar. But I very warmly recommend it, it’s beautifully written. A book I’d learn Italian for, just to be able to read it in the original.


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## Fairly priceless (9 mo ago)

Steppenwolf by Henry Heller


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## WC John (Mar 11, 2019)

Linjeakel said:


> I really enjoy time travel stories so I thought I would check this one out. I can only find it on Amazon as a used paperback for £40.99! I don't love time travel books quite _that_ much!



Amazon has it on sale here. Only one in stock.

I'm also hooked on time travel stories. I couldn't get a peek inside the cover though.


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## Heffnerh (Feb 1, 2013)

For Fantasy Fans - Lord of Snow and Shadows by Sarah Ash! Great world building and I seem to have a thing for relationships with misunderstood dangerous creatures like the Drakhoul: 



Amazon.com


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## kw35789 (5 mo ago)

One that stuck in my memory was The Dosadi Experiment by Frank Herbert from 1977. Another that comes to mind is Neuromancer by William Gibson from 1984. Both good sci-fi novels.


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