It is true that books have become fairly predictable, which could be a consequence of there just being so many authors writing so many books these days that it is impossible to be original let alone come up with mind blowing twists. I have lost count of the amount of times where I got to chapter three in a book and already knew exactly where the story is heading and where it will end. I think that anyone that has spent the majority of their live reading books will suffer from this problem, so I can totally understand why you would be on the hunt for these "unicorn" books that still has the power to surprise and shock you. They are very hard to find, but not totally impossible. There are a lot of books with good plot twists, but many of these are so mainstream that virtually everyone know them already so I will try and skip them. My suggestions would be as follow;
* The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena - If you want shocking and unexpected twists then I cannot recommend The Couple Next Door enough. It is about a couple who become embroiled in a terrible crime and the detective who tries to figure out what really happen. All I can say is that this book is an emotional roller coaster that is as riveting as it is twisted.
* Lost Among The Living by Simone St. James - If you want a book that continually toys with your expectations, then read Lost Among The Living. It is about a woman who lost her husband to the war and Germany and now works as a companion to his wealthy aunt. While at the family estate, she begins to uncover stuff about her husband that she never knew, as well as things about the family...
* We Were Liars by E. Lockhart - If you want a book where, if you paid close attention, you might have an inkling of what twists await you, then read We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. The first time I read this book about a girl who has hazy memories of an accident that occurred the previous summer I was totally oblivious about what was really going on. When I finally cottoned on the tears were rolling. This is a great book and the twist makes it even better.
* Fool me Once by Harlan Coben - Harlan Coben is an incredibly gifted author and Fool Me Once is in my humble opinion one of his best books so far. This guy knows how to write thrillers and I couldn't turn the pages fast enough while reading Fool Me Once. It is about a woman who loses her husband and while investigating the causes she uncovers a some shocking truths. I can't say much more, but if you enjoy a good thriller with twists that you can't see coming a mile off, then Fool Me Once is exactly what you want.
Cré na Cille is an incredible novel and until very recently it was impossible to read if you did not understand Irish. It is relatively easy to find best sellers that were not originally in English as popular books these days get translated into hundreds of different languages. Cré na Cille is very different in this regard as critics have been calling it one of the greatest Irish language novels of all time, but for some reason nobody was successful at translating it to English despite numerous attempts. The book, which means Churchyard Clay, was first published in 1949 by the Irish author, Máirtín Ó Cadhain and involves a lot of conversations between the dead in a graveyard. It wasn't until 46 years after it was first published that the book was translated into Norwegian and five years after that to Danish. English readers however had to wait 67 years until the book was translated into their language. I can highly recommend this book and you will love it if you appreciate the works of Joyce or Beckett as these authors have a similar style.
If you're reading on a tablet or your phone use an ereader app that can display epub files. Epub files are reflowable and will better fit the screen than a pdf file. They also often will remember where you stopped reading. E.g., on android, R2 Reader or Pocketbook Reader.
This is a rather unusual question and, surprisingly, books that feature spiders are not as niche as people might think. I've actually read quite a few of them, so here is what I can suggest:
1 American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Yes, I know that technically Mr. Nancy is not an actual spider, but he is the Trickster God Anansi who has the ability to turn into a spider and command other spiders, so I still think this counts.
2 It by Stephen King
Once again, I know that everyone remembers Pennywise as a scary clown, but in his real form he is actually a giant spider, which is even more terrifying.
3 The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
I would say that Shelob featured prominently enough in the book to be included in this list. I actually remember having nightmares about her after reading The Lord of the Rings as a youngster, and I think a lot of authors who included giant spiders in their books got the idea from Tolkien.
4 Spiderlight by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Just the cover art of this novel is already enough to send any arachnophobes screaming, so I would recommend this book if you are into giant spiders. The Great Mother is the most terrifying spider in the story, but when one of her spawns takes on a human like form, things get even more disturbing. At least it doesn't wear a clown costume like IT.
5. Perdido Street Station by China Mieville
This book features a character called "The Weaver"and it wins my vote as the most disturbing spider in literature. It's not an actual spider and more of a multi-dimensional being who just happens to look like an enormous spider, but still. Oh and another thing, it constantly babbles out free-verse poetry, which is about the last thing that I would want to hear coming from a giant spider, especially one that can move through dimensions.
If you only ever read one book that is not English, make sure that it is Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong. The book is set appropriately enough in the Three Kingdoms period, which was when China was split between Wi, Shu and Wu after the dissolution of the Han dynasty. Now despite starting in 169 AD, this book is not a boring historical tome. It does contain a lot of history yes, but also lots of myths and legends, which makes for plenty of excitement. The book is considered to be one of the greatest works of Chinese literature and it is simply mammoth. Since it has more than one hundred chapters I cannot even begin to describe the plot, but if you like epic military battles and political ploys you will love the book. One thing that you absolutely have to watch out for is reading the correct translation of the book. You have two choices for reading the full story, either the Brewitt-Taylor version or the Moss Roberts version. The first uses nicer language, but for some reason uses an alternate system for the names, which can be very confusing if you are already familiar with the story. The Moss Roberts version is more modern, so it doesn't have the same type of flowery language, but at least the names will be more recognizable. The first chapter can be a slog to get through, but after that you are in for a wild ride.
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(view all)* The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena - If you want shocking and unexpected twists then I cannot recommend The Couple Next Door enough. It is about a couple who become embroiled in a terrible crime and the detective who tries to figure out what really happen. All I can say is that this book is an emotional roller coaster that is as riveting as it is twisted.
* Lost Among The Living by Simone St. James - If you want a book that continually toys with your expectations, then read Lost Among The Living. It is about a woman who lost her husband to the war and Germany and now works as a companion to his wealthy aunt. While at the family estate, she begins to uncover stuff about her husband that she never knew, as well as things about the family...
* We Were Liars by E. Lockhart - If you want a book where, if you paid close attention, you might have an inkling of what twists await you, then read We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. The first time I read this book about a girl who has hazy memories of an accident that occurred the previous summer I was totally oblivious about what was really going on. When I finally cottoned on the tears were rolling. This is a great book and the twist makes it even better.
* Fool me Once by Harlan Coben - Harlan Coben is an incredibly gifted author and Fool Me Once is in my humble opinion one of his best books so far. This guy knows how to write thrillers and I couldn't turn the pages fast enough while reading Fool Me Once. It is about a woman who loses her husband and while investigating the causes she uncovers a some shocking truths. I can't say much more, but if you enjoy a good thriller with twists that you can't see coming a mile off, then Fool Me Once is exactly what you want.
1 American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Yes, I know that technically Mr. Nancy is not an actual spider, but he is the Trickster God Anansi who has the ability to turn into a spider and command other spiders, so I still think this counts.
2 It by Stephen King
Once again, I know that everyone remembers Pennywise as a scary clown, but in his real form he is actually a giant spider, which is even more terrifying.
3 The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
I would say that Shelob featured prominently enough in the book to be included in this list. I actually remember having nightmares about her after reading The Lord of the Rings as a youngster, and I think a lot of authors who included giant spiders in their books got the idea from Tolkien.
4 Spiderlight by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Just the cover art of this novel is already enough to send any arachnophobes screaming, so I would recommend this book if you are into giant spiders. The Great Mother is the most terrifying spider in the story, but when one of her spawns takes on a human like form, things get even more disturbing. At least it doesn't wear a clown costume like IT.
5. Perdido Street Station by China Mieville
This book features a character called "The Weaver"and it wins my vote as the most disturbing spider in literature. It's not an actual spider and more of a multi-dimensional being who just happens to look like an enormous spider, but still. Oh and another thing, it constantly babbles out free-verse poetry, which is about the last thing that I would want to hear coming from a giant spider, especially one that can move through dimensions.