Every librarian has unusual or “quirky” books cross their desk. But, for the most part, readers may not even know they exist unless the titles get media coverage. For example, we received recently a title called What she ate : six remarkable women and the food that tells their stories by Laura Shapiro. The author examines what six famous women liked to eat and, remarkably, you can tell a lot about a person by what they consume. The subjects include such diverse women as Eleanor Roosevelt and Eva Braun. Quirky? Sure, but interesting? You bet! Karl Ove Knausgaard has written a new unusual biography called Autumn. It’s a kind of love letter to his daughter where he focuses on the beauty of things such as fingers, beekeeping, and badgers. It is illustrated by Vanessa Baird and Esquire says, “…will make you slow down, take a moment, and recall your childlike wonder.”
And, if you prefer fiction? How about M.T. Anderson’s Landscape with invisible hand? This scifi novel is a biting and brilliant satire on a near-future Earth where an alien race called the vuvv has brought advanced technology and cures for disease—and ushered in the collapse of Earth’s economy. Like a more conventional story? Try Goodbye, vitamin: a Novel by Rachel Khong. Struggling with disillusionment after a broken engagement, Ruth moves back home with her 
parents to discover that her father's erratic memory loss and her mother's eccentricity are manifesting in near-comical ways that help Ruth transform her grief. It may not sound comical but it’s supposed to be quite funny and poignanbt.