Welcome back, friends.
Today our co-host is the very sweet Stacey of Life on Cephei. She blogs about books, wedding planning and life in Perth. She's a super cool blogger, so go say hello for me.

Today's book chat topic is a completely random one, but I want to hear what the strangest book you've ever read is. I know there are some people who seek out strange books on purpose. Honestly, I'm not one of those people. I like surprising stories and creative writing, but I can't say that I'm drawn to "strange" books. So, I guess today's topic is subjective. You have to define "strange" for yourself. It can be books that you love because they are strange or books that you thought were just plain odd.
As for me, I'm going to share a book that I loved but was very strange, at least for me.

I'm sure you have heard of this book, but if you haven't, don't worry. I hadn't heard of it either. I assume it's probably very popular among a certain crowd. I imagine that this is the kind of book that interesting people read. I can honestly say that I would never have picked it up on my own. My best friend gave it to me for Christmas once, and I felt awful that it took me two years to finally read it.
Here is the synopsis:
Still Life with Woodpecker is a sort of a love story that takes place inside a pack of Camel cigarettes. It reveals the purpose of the moon, explains the difference between criminals and outlaws, examines the conflict between social activism and romantic individualism, and paints a portrait of contemporary society that includes powerful Arabs, exiled royalty, and pregnant cheerleaders. It also deals with the problem of redheads.
So, yeah. I had no idea what it was about going into it. I put it down about five times before it finally stuck. I had a hard time connecting with it because of my pre-conceived notion that it was strange and not meant for people like me. And it was strange. The people in it were very strange. The writing was mind-frying strange. The setting...foreign royalty living in the PNW among blueberry bushes...strange.
But you know what?
I fucking loved it. (excuse the language, but it's appropriate here) I loved the shit out of this book. By the time I finally connected, I had a fondness for its oddities. The love story is so endearing. It was funny, unpredictable, and even sexy and profound. Before long, the writing grew on me. I began to see the writer as a rambling storyteller I had to constantly remind to get back to the story, which he did.
The point is...once I got over my fear of it's strangeness, this book became very personal to me. My ignorance toward this book at first angers me. Now, I try not to fear the odd ones anymore. I almost let my unfair judgement of this book stop me from finding a new favorite.
If this book is strange, I don't want to be normal.


Now it's your turn. I'd love to hear your opinion on this topic. Do you enjoy "strange" books or do you avoid them like the plague? What's your definition of strange?

strangestbook

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Next week's topic: Book Hangovers <----I need a cohost!