Ruth Ozeki’s wonderfully inventive third novel, A Tale for the Time Being, is our March cover story and quite possibly her best work of fiction to date. There are already whispers of this one making the BookPage Best Books of the Year list. . . .
This week, two lucky BookPage readers will find out what we’re so excited about!
Readers who are fascinated by the fiction medium will get a kick out of this genre-bender as Ozeki inserts herself as a character in the story. She finds a Hello Kitty lunchbox on a beach, and inside is the diary of a Tokyo teen, Nao. Read our interview with Ozeki, where she talks about things like “the membrane between fiction and nonfiction.”
TO ENTER: In the comments, share the title of the most imaginative work of fiction you’ve read.
CONTEST DETAILS: Two (2) winners will be chosen by random.org from among entries received by 5 pm CST on Friday, March 15. Each winner will receive one (1) copy of the book listed above. Prizes must be shipped to a North American address, and Rhode Island residents are not eligible. (Full contest rules here.) Good luck!
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ETA: Congratulations to our winners, Pearl and Sharon! Thanks to all who entered! Contest is now closed.
Favorite imagnitive work: Stephen King – “11/22/63″
Thanks
Perdido Street Station by China Miéville
Farewell Summer by Ray Bradbury.
“City of Dark Magic” by Magnus Flyte
“The Night Circus” by Erin Morgenstern
The Road by Cormac McCarthy.
The Time in Between by Maria Duenas.
I will have to say “Kafka on the Shore,” although I hated it. Really turned me off of Murakami.
I was surprised by how much I *liked* this book, despite thinking I’d hate it. But we both agree that it was imaginative.
Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.
City of Women by David Gillham
American Gods. Neil Gaiman.
The Hunger Games books!
Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngarth
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood.
Tales from the Town of Widows
All the Harry Potter books!
Nuclear Winter Wonderland by Josh Corin is as imaginative and quirky a fiction as I have ever read.
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
All of the Harry Potter books.
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.
Worst was “The Particular Sadness of Lemon cake” A little beyond imaginative when the boy turned into a chair
Ha! While I admire Aimee Bender, I have to say, I don’t disagree with you there.
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova.
Watership Down
A classic!
Any Murakami, but particularly “Hard-Boiled Wonderland” – such an incredible and fascinating blend of so many genre types into something completely different and new, and something that has stuck with me for years and years.
I think I have to go with Stephen King’s 11/22/63.
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami.
“The Metamorphosis” by Frank Kafka.
Chemical Garden trilogy by Lauren DeStefano
“Cloud Atlas,” by David Mitchell, tho Marquez’ “One Hundred Years of Solitude” could just as easily be the choice.
the Harry Potter series
“The Stolen Child,” by Keith Donohue — very clever!
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, in my opinion the best ghost story ever written.
Harry Potter books
The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
The Mermaid Chair by Sue Kidd Monk
Harry Potter series
“I Capture the Castle” by Dodie Smith
The Snow Child, by Eowyn Ivey.
Johnathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple
The Red Garden and Blackbird House, both by Alice Hoffman.
Willy Wonka!!! Rahl is genius….and Mr. Wonka was a sadist, if you read deep
A Visit from the Goon Squad or Confederacy of Dunces
Too many to count, but the first one that comes to mind is “Good Omens” by Neil Gaiman!
The Lord of the Rings series
The Dan Brown novels
I’m reading the Night Circus. It is amazing.
Harry Potter series
“Cloud Atlas,” by David Mitchell
My choice is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
I’ve read so many good ones, but one I really enjoyed recently was “Shadow and Bone”.
Life of Pi
This is a tough one but I think I’ll go with 1Q84 ,by Haruki Murakami.
Narrowing this down is difficult, but Shine Shine Shine by Netzer certainly gets my vote
THE BRIEF HISTORY OF THE DEAD by Kevin Brockmeier
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. Wonderfully imaginative. 1st of a trilogy. However, the 2nd book was sort of a dud. I’m anxiously waiting for the 3rd book in the series.
I agree. Book II was dull and a dud.
I thought the second was a dud as well, don’t think I am going to hold out for number three.
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, also by Harkuki Murakami are my favourite works of imaginative fiction.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Loved it.
The hunger games books.
A Dog’s Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron
I think I would have to say NIGHT CIRCUS by Erin Morgenstein.
Stephen King’s Under the Dome.
The most imaginative book i’ve read has to be, hands down, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.
I loved “The Raw Shark Texts” by Steven Hall. A cognitive shark ate my homework…
1984!!
I have a weak spot for Watership Down by Richard Adams.
The People of the Book
Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins is very high on the imagination scale.
The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino
City of women
Inkheart trilogy by Cornelia Funke. I loved it! Thanks for the chance.
These were really good. Loved the series!
The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
Wizards First Rule by Terry Goodkind
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
Blew me away. Completely engrossing.
Not a sci-fi fan but loved The Lefthand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin. The author says good novels are meant to change the reader in an indescribable way after they have completed reading the book! It did.