Submitted by Spookykinkyboi t3_124lxuf in books

In the spirit of the recent "What’s your favorite book of all time that no one has ever heard of?" post, i would like to present a similar question but with a slight shimmy into the even more obscure:

What is a hidden gem of a book that seems virtually unheard of?

I would quantify this "unheard of" status via Goodreads ratings. Let's say below 500. Here are two to start with:

State of Emergency by Dennis Guerrier & Joan Richards

Goodreads rating total: 5

A fascinating choose your own adventure book or as it is advertised: "A Programmed Entertainment." Aimed at a adult and politically minded audience, this book sees you advising and partially governing a newly minted (but fictional) African country.

Tittivulus, or The Verbiage Collector by Michael Ayrton

Goodreads rating total: 2

A extremely funny and verbose little book about a small demon cursed to collect the misused words of the world. With delightful illustrations and excellent turns of phrase such as "No treasonable offer refused."

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HellOrHighWalters t1_jdztvmr wrote

Ghost Flames: Life and Death in a Hidden War, Korea 1950-1953 by Charles J. Hanley. 123 ratings. Excellent book that tells the story of the Korean War through the eyes of 20 different people, from all sides of the conflict.

Stampede: Gold Fever and Disaster in the Klondike by Brian Castner. 414 ratings. Great book about the 1897-98 Klondike Gold Rush and the desperate people trying to survive in Alaska in the hopes of gold.

Birds of Paradise by Oliver K. Langmead. 376 ratings. This book follows Adam, the first man, along with some of the animals from Eden as Adam works to recover and restore pieces of the Garden of Eden.

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jackfaire t1_jdzunlb wrote

The entire Deverry Saga. I'm legit surprised I don't hear about it as often as Wheel of Time. It's a brilliant series of 15 books with interweaving storytelling that uses different time periods, incarnations and the like to tell it's stories. Katharine Kerr is hands down one of my favorite authors of all time.

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elizabeth-cooper t1_je1i58j wrote

The first book has 15k ratings, the last one before the hiatus, over 1,000.

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jackfaire t1_je1ih11 wrote

That's good to know. I never hear people talking about them

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elizabeth-cooper t1_je1ipx4 wrote

Redditors talk about approximately four books. That doesn't make all others "hidden."

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jackfaire t1_je1j1ej wrote

I'm not just talking about reddit. I have never in any circle had someone bring up the series or know what I was talking about when I did

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swampthroat t1_jdzs1g0 wrote

The Red Shoe - Ursula Dubosarky A strange little story set in a small coastal town in Australia about a family struggling all individually and collectively. Told predominantly through the perspective of the youngest sister, Matilda, who is trying to escape her mean imaginary friend.

Just makes the cut off at 497 ratings.

Fearless - Ashley Lister A very short tale of psychological horror. A fun premise, definitely stressful moments and a dry, almost tongue in cheek humour that really tied it all together.

27 ratings.

Faceless - Jeff Monday A beautiful love story, with wonderful understated world building and some spooky elements. Dark fantasy vibes, but really it's the warmth of the characters that carries it.

122 ratings.

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Spookykinkyboi OP t1_jdzwdcn wrote

I've met Ursula at a writer's festival before. She's just as lovely as her books!

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Objective-Grape9790 t1_je5lrep wrote

Yes, I agree more or less with your list, or you simply got me love you for mentioning Fearless. However, you didnt mention "Đavolja noć" by Adam Medvidović on your list, and that is the best of the hidden gems ever.

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swampthroat t1_je5oujc wrote

On my list it goes!

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Objective-Grape9790 t1_jeeb8l8 wrote

I take book recs very personally, and hate to give someone something that didn't satisfy expectations, so if you go for it please give me feedback - HONEST feedback.

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Mosteele t1_je0j2wt wrote

While it doesn't quite hit the OPs threshold, I love talking about this book:

Devils in Daylight by Junichero Tanizaki. 1,070 ratings on GR. This novella coming in at 98 pages was written in 1918 which is why I think it counts. A short murder mystery with themes of voyeurism and obsession and so much more that meets the eye. A really cool observation of films influence on writing too. When I first read it, I thought it was written in the 60s, but for it to be 1918 I was totally blown away it felt so ahead of its time.

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70minus01 t1_je1qqzb wrote

I loved Devils in Daylight -- since you liked it, I would also recommend Star by Yukio Mishima!

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Mosteele t1_je1y4cq wrote

Ooo thanks for the recommendation! Definitely adding this to my list. I love novellas and I really enjoyed Temple of the Golden Pavillion and Confessions of a Mask, so I've been wanting to check out more Mishima.

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swampthroat t1_jdzs5lb wrote

I love this as an idea by the way. Can't wait to see more answers.

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MorriganJade t1_jdzyupz wrote

The loosening skin by Aliya Whiteley

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elizabeth-cooper t1_je02fku wrote

Body Surfing by Dale Peck is to Buffy as The Magicians is to Harry Potter. 144 ratings.

My Ride With Gus by Charles Carillo is short, funny, and surprisingly touching. 265 ratings.

The Names of the Dead by Stewart O'Nan. Beautifully written book about a Vietnam vet. 273 ratings.

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LittleSillyBee t1_je0602d wrote

Thanks for the link back to the other. Saved for digging through later, and added my book.

Here are two from me with below 500 Goodreads ratings, that I personally rated as 5 star books and have over 4 star average on Goodreads (note: I do not use Goodreads so my rating is not included in that average):

  • The White Space Between by Ami Sands Brodoff

>Willow is a loner, an artist and an acclaimed puppeteer whose marionettes have become the family she has missed. But secrets from the past can no longer be hidden away when mother and daughter journey back to their homeland to resurrect the past.

  • Diary of Interrupted Days by Dragan Todorovic

>Diary of Interrupted Days is playful, blazingly intelligent, occasionally erotic and ultimately tragic, unfurling from the cliffhanger scene that opens the book: a lone exile, returning to Belgrade for the first time since he fled to Canada in the mid-nineties, is stranded on the only bridge into the city that hasn't been destroyed by NATO bombers as air raid sirens sound.

/editing to add that I didn't even realize they'd both appear to have a 'theme' by the snippets from Goodreads that I quoted. Totally NOT intentional.

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helen_twelvetrees t1_je1yba5 wrote

The First Verse by Barry McCrea. A freshman at Trinity College in Dublin becomes caught up in a strange cult of people who consult random passages from random books for every decision in their lives. I don't know why a book with a plot that seems tailor made for literature fans is so obscure. Plus this book has such vivid descriptions of Dublin's university scene that I feel like I could find my way around just from having read it, and a realistic portrait of a young gay man navigating his first relationships. Definitely an intriguing read.

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LittleSillyBee t1_je30rwc wrote

I'm on an Irish book kick right now so I'm going to check this one out!

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Dramatic_Raisin t1_je04d75 wrote

Kelly Luce- Three Scenarios In Which Hana Sasaki Grows A Tail

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AdrianaSage t1_je2wnj4 wrote

My favorite book is up to 600 so I guess it no longer qualifies.

But for a hidden gem with fewer reviews, I will say "Because of You" by Lisa Walker. It only has 17 ratings on goodreads and is no longer in print. It follows the story of a girl from childhood into her early 20s, as she deals with a dysfunctional family and dysfunctional relationships. There are some interesting thoughts and observations that she offers along the way. I read it as a teenager when it came out, and I'd still consider it one of my all time favorites.

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BinstonBirchill t1_jdzrffo wrote

The Manifold Destiny of Eddie Vegas by Rick Harsch

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StrawberryFields_ t1_jdzrmxo wrote

Not unheard of but Witold Gombrowicz is underrated in the Anglo world.

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Hopeful_Meeting_7248 t1_je15rc0 wrote

That's a surprising pick. I'd assume that his works don't resonate with English readers as much as with polish. But he's my favourite writer tho

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StrawberryFields_ t1_je18vyu wrote

Mine too. So I try to mention him as much as possible.

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Hopeful_Meeting_7248 t1_je1n1gq wrote

I tend to avoid mentioning him in international discussion, bc first I don't know how good are the translations (and I can imagine he's really hard to translate) and second - I think he might be too hermetic to people of other nationalities. At least in novels, because his Diaries should be easier to appreciate.

But overall I must say that polish literature has a lot of gems, that most likely will never be translated.

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sekhmet1010 t1_jdzsrnq wrote

Odd Women by George Gissing

People are stsrting to talk more about Gissing, but i think he deserves even more recognition.

The Belton Estate by Anthony Trollope

A great standalone novel by the author who is most well-known for his two series.

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schreyerauthor t1_jdzttsy wrote

Go to your local author guild or library and ask about local indie authors. You can probably inquire through Facebook or their email. Chances are there are dozens you haven't heard of and at least half are publishing quality work. You will find more than one hidden gem among them.

I do not recommend going on an open "self published" or "indie authors" group because you'll get a higher percentage of garbage. The ones who are doing readings and workshops with local establishments or who have their books in the local library, are more likely to be edited and good quality writing.

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LittleSillyBee t1_je063nt wrote

I also use the 'low circulating feature when searching my library or on Libby. Handy for those that are not broadly read.

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Jyx_The_Berzer_King t1_jdzzfoo wrote

Psychohistorical Crisis by Donald Kingsbury

Good Reads ratings: 276

this is a "re-imagining of the world of Isaac Aismov's Foundation series set after the establishment of the Second Empire" from Wikipedia, which is not recognised as canon by the estate, nor intended to be one. with that said, and a warning that the vocabulary is WAY the hell out there and requires you to either eat a dictionary or use context clues every three paragraphs, this is a fantastic read.

quick rundown of the plot: math has gotten to the point that people can use it to predict the future of populations (psychohistory), and after this was used to limit a dark age from 10,000 years down to a mere 1,000 the galaxy has entered a second empire just like the first one. surely this won't have any negative repurcussions? enter the protagonist Eron Osa, a pscholar (psychohistorian that uses data of the past to predict the future) who was sentenced for a crime he can't remember because his computer brain with the crime recorded on it has been taken from him and has basically been reduced to a toddler since he used the machine instead of his wet brain for 90% of his life. the story follows him as he learns to use his feeble human gray matter in tandem with a much less impressive computer than the old one he had as a pscholar, and piece together what the hell he did to deserve getting it taken away.

it's been a few years since i read it, but i remember being blown away by how well the universe and various worlds were described, the cultures Eron wades through on his journey. it focuses much less on the mystery of his crime than the synopsis would have you think, but the answer is eventually brought to light. most of the fun came from trying to figure out what any of the giant words meant, since i was in high school and had never heard of things like psychohistory before this book, and i still haven't had the opportunity to read Foundation ungortunately. a great standalone book all the same.

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draelogor t1_je0blto wrote

Nikolai Nikolaevich and Camouflage: Two Novels, by Yuz Aleshkovsky

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ChaDefinitelyFeel t1_je0jvbm wrote

The Prodigy: A Biography of William James Sidis, America's Greatest Child Prodigy

206 total ratings on goodreads

William James Sidis is quite possibly the most intelligent man who ever lived, and virtually no one has heard of him. The son of Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire, his IQ is estimated to have been upwards of 200. He was the youngest person to ever attend Harvard University, enrolling at the age of 11, and began giving lectures at the age 12 to mathematics post-doctorates on the subject of four dimensional bodies. By the age eight he had taught himself eight languages and by the end of his life was conversant in 25. Sidis was scrutinized and harassed by the press throughout his childhood because of his prodigal abilities and lived most of his adult life in seclusion, constantly using pseudonyms to avoid the attention of the media.

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Jack-Campin t1_je1kk42 wrote

I would suggest the political novels of Rex Warner, written in the runup to WW2: The Wild Goose Chase, The Professor, and The Aerodrome. He was something like a British Kafka, or what Orwell might have been if he'd had more flair and imagination. There are less than 100 ratings for all these books together, and the first (my fave) gets no reviews and 7 ratings, mostly poor. It won't take much googling to show you how little use Goodreads is for books like this.

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TheChumsOfChance t1_je1pmyp wrote

Adam Levin has been a pleasant find as someone who loves maximist books and he is similar in vein to DFW or Saunders. Both Mount Chicago and Bubblegum are around 500 or less. The Instructions has over 2500 ratings but also rated the highest. I've read the first two and currently reading The Instructions and all of them have been highly enjoyable and would recommend to anyone who enjoys these types of books.

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Infamous_Button6302 t1_je1prsy wrote

The Way of the Worm - Ramsey Campbell.

116 ratings.

I don't know how obscure it is as it is the end of the trilogy, but it doesn't seem to have had much love which is a shame as it is the best Lovecraftian horror I've read outside of Lovecraft really.

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l00ky_here t1_je31phx wrote

Dark Erotic Fiction with LGBTQ+ and BDSM Themes - The Mistress and Masters of Restraint series by Erica Chilson will blow you away with it's family saga. This is a long and heavy read that will leave you drained but inspired.

Splatter Gore with a bit of humor - Tim Shaw "How Much To" Series

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HoodratWizard t1_je4cyhg wrote

As Ever, Gordy. By Mary Downing Hahn

The whole Gordy Smith series is great, As Ever, Gordy is a really good melancholic novel that puts you in the shoes of a misbehaving kid in a world that doesn't seem to want him.

I can't say much else without spoilers or references to the other books, but it's stuck with me for at least twenty years as one of the best fiction books I've ever read.

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emmylouanne t1_je53ttz wrote

You can’t get lost in Cape Town by Zoe Wicomb - 426 ratings. Mixed race young woman in Apartheid South Africa living as a white woman.

Dancing in the Dust by Kagiso Lesego Molope another South African book. This is a coming of age story of a girl growing up and being made to grow up be society. Was incredible. Needs to be more widely available!

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franknelsonyes t1_je8aft9 wrote

Time on My Hands by Peter Delacorte, 221 ratings: travel writer has to go back in time to Old Hollywood to prevent Ronald Reagan from becoming president, meets/befriends all the stars, becomes a successful screenwriter by writing classic movies he knows from the future

Lloyd--What Happened, A Novel of Business, by Stanley Bing, 92 ratings: hilarious satire of corporate life

What the Dogs Have Taught Me, Merrill Markoe, 343 ratings: humorous essays by the original head writer of Late Night with David Letterman

George Bush, Dark Prince of Love Lydia Millet, 198 ratings: political satire, title says it all

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