Let's discuss our favorite books that keep us up way past our bedtimes, those books we read even though we know we have to get up early the next day... or is it just me??

Here's mine.

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

Read this and prepare to go without sleep for, say, two weeks, if you read quickly. You may scoff... "Oh, it's just a book about a guy finding a book about a non-existent documentary about a guy who finds a spatial anomaly inside his closet". You may even begin reading it and say, "Oh, well, it's a little weird that the measurement of his house from the inside doesn't match the measurement from the outside," and "That Johnny sure is a character," and "How did a blind guy write a book about a documentary, anyway?"

But then you start eyeing your closet awry after you finally put the book down at 3 am. And then you can't sleep, afraid to hear a strange noise or a cold draft from those doors. I better stop or I won't sleep tonight, and I read that book months ago.

But House of Leaves (to properly talk about this, I should turn the "House" blue, but I don't think the board software will let me) is more than just a scary story. There's a love story in there, fun poked at academia, rich mythological history, word puzzles, family issues galore, and some really profound moments. Like, woah. The formatting veers into nutty from time to time, but the novel eases you into the nuttiness. The author has stated in interviews that he borrowed techniques from film as he wrote the book - starting the audience off slow and then bringing them into the twisted mazes of the pages and the house.

House of Leaves might be my favorite book ever if I had the decision-making capacity to choose a favorite book ever. As it is, it remain by far my favorite scary book ever - Stephen King, bow at this man's feet.*

*I say this as a fervent admirer of Mr. King.

Anyone else? I'm not working or attending school right now, so I have no serious need to fall asleep anytime before dawn.