House of Leaves would make a terrible audiobook if that’s the kind of thing you’re looking for.

Hoppscotch comes to mind. There are 2 ways to read, first is read chapters 1-56 and discard the rest. Second is follow the author’s order, which is 73, 1, 2, 116, 3, 84… At the end of each chapter it says where you should jump next. Plus there’s a lot of experimental stuff in it, steam of consciousness, news fragments, a chapter where the author made up his own language, fragments of a fictional writer, etc

Only thing is I don’t know how well the original Spanish translates to other languages (tho according to Wikipedia the English translator won some award so should be good).

Station eleven had a really unique format. You could say there were multiple main characters from different timelines but I would almost argue there was not a “main” character. All of them were super fascinating in their own right and the transitions between them, and their timelines, was incredibly smooth. I didn’t find it confusing at all and I normally do with books formatted like this.

It’s a post pandemic dystopia that focuses on the role of art in helping people find purpose if you want the shortest possible synopsis.

Feersum Endjinn

In literary fiction, it’s probably As I Lay Dying. Flowers for Algernon is also a really neat concept (and a much easier, more enjoyable read).

Lockpick Pornography by Joey Comeau. I’d never read a book from the POV of a genderqueer character before.

I never finished it, but definitely House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. I’ll call it a “labyrinthian” horror story where both the narrative and physical formatting mirror the themes presented in the story. It’s hard to describe, but you have to at least find one in a bookstore and look through it. I don’t know if audio or digital versions exist, but I’d avoid them, you won’t get the whole experience.

Edit: Damn, took to long to write and somebody already mentioned it, lol.

All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld is told backwards. Each chapter takes place before the previous one.

Twenty-One Truths about Love by Matthew Dicks is told entirely in lists.

A Touch of Jen by Beth Morgan switches genres about 60% through. It’s best if you know that and nothing else.

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

Cemetery of Forgotten Books by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. A luscious rich story in a difficult period of Spanish history.

originally in Spanish, but the translation to english is pretty good

If you can find it, Gooberz by Linda Goodman is a pretty wild read. It’s a poetic semi-autobiography with an overarching theme of love and grief.

It’s also printed in a fairly bold style in the original hardback.

I can’t think of anything I’ve read that stands out as much in terms of never having run across anything quite like it. People just don’t write 1000+ page stories in rhymed meter for one thing. Doing so with a blend of autobiography and fiction, weaving in bits of mysticism and philosophy (rather woowoo in that regard, the author was a professional astrologer, but don’t let that sour you on the book itself) and managing to tell a heart wrenching story.

Is it something everyone will like? Absolutely not. I did. I recently acquired a first edition of it and plan a re-read soon (the book is fucking thick though, so it isn’t a casual read with my arthritis nowadays). It weren’t cheap, though also not beyond my reach either, so I obviously think it worth the effort of wrestling my attention span for.

I do, however, suggest that one get a digital version and just look up pictures of the printed version lol.

I really recommend the Raw Shark Texts. It’s really interesting in that it only works as a book, and it really plays with the meta. I’m told it’s like House of Leaves in that respect, and I loaned it to someone in exchange for their copy of House of Leaves but that’s a way tougher read so I’ve stalled out pretty early.

Clemens P. Suter’s “Heavenland” a plainly weird crime story. Entertaining though.

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

I think that would probably be Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, although I haven’t finished it.

I’ve never read anything quite as horrible or with a unreliable narrator that justifies his behaviour this hard. The story keeps getting worse too. There’s no clear hope for a long stretch.

If you don’t know the narrator, Humbert Humbert, is the pedophile who goes after the twelve year old Dolores Haze, whom he calls Lolita.

Can be read here: https://online.fliphtml5.com/unwsfj/Lolita---Vladimir-Nabokov/