5 Books with Very Strange Premises

Yesterday's post listed 5 short, quirky books. Today, in a related theme, I combed my reading journal for books with a premise which requires a certain suspension of disbelief by the reader.
Forever Odd by Dean Koontz, from the bestselling series about Odd Thomas who communicates with dead people. Dean Koontz is a mega-bestselling author whose style is easy to read, entertaining and rather poignant in tone in this book.


Thursday Next in First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde, from the bestselling Thursday Next series about a literary detective in a kind of futuristic/alternative U.K. where fictional characters run loose, puns are rampant and the author's imagination is really, really wild.
I liked the Eyre Affair in this series, but got bogged down in the verbal wizardry in this outing.


The Spare Room by Helen Garner, a friend with end stage cancer moves in and becomes the most annoying house guest imaginable. She won't leave, but what can you say in that situation?


Laura Rider's Masterpiece by Jane Hamilton, middle-aged mid-Western housewife encourages an affair between her husband and local celebrity so she will have material for the book she plans to write.


The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst. A professor of linguistics tries to teach his dog, the only witness to his wife's death, to talk so he can understand what happened.


Bonus book:

Bunnicula, a rabbit tale of mystery by James Howe. Harold the Dog and Chester the Cat realize that the house bunny is a vampire: he sucks the color out of the vegetables in the refrigerator. This series for elementary school readers is fantastically funny and one that I recommend to reluctant readers, 3rd to 5th grade boys and adults who have never grown up.