Calendar Girl is a monthly meme now hosted by Katie@nevernotreading and Adrienne @darquedreamer
The Calendar Girls is a monthly blog event that was created by Melanie at MNBernard Books, and Flavia at Flavia the Bibliophile. It was inspired by the 1961 classic song by Neil Sedaka and created to ignite fun bookish discussions among readers and bloggers.
Each month we get a new theme and choose our favorite book for the theme. The participants get to vote for their favorite.
With Bad Moon Rising and other life stuff, it’s been months since I’ve participated in Calendar Girls, and I’ve missed it. But I’m back – yay!
This category nearly stumped me. I read mainly sci-fi, fantasy, and horror, so I’ve come across all kinds of strange things, but considering the genres, that kind of goes with the territory. So they’re not really that strange. To me, anyway. Nothing immediately came to mind, so I had to go back to my Goodreads lists for the past few years. When I finally came across it, I knew. My choice is Dark Matter by Blake Crouch.
Dark Matter wasn’t strange in a bad way, but it’s a book I gobbled up in less than a day. Over three years later, it’s stuck with me. It was mind-blowing, intense, and a stunning blend of of sci-fi, suspense, thriller and, believe it or not – romance. I can’t say much more about it without spoilers, but for sci-fi fans, it’s absolutely a must read. It’s been optioned for a movie by Sony, but who knows if it will ever get made. Below is the book description – but if you’re participating in NaNo, don’t even try reading it this month. You’ll never meet your goal!
Jason Dessen is walking home through the chilly Chicago streets one night, looking forward to a quiet evening in front of the fireplace with his wife, Daniela, and their son, Charlie—when his reality shatters.
It starts with a man in a mask kidnapping him at gunpoint, for reasons Jason can’t begin to fathom—what would anyone want with an ordinary physics professor?—and grows even more terrifying from there, as Jason’s abductor injects him with some unknown drug and watches while he loses consciousness.
When Jason awakes, he’s in a lab, strapped to a gurney—and a man he’s never seen before is cheerily telling him “welcome back!”
Jason soon learns that in this world he’s woken up to, his house is not his house. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born.
And someone is hunting him.
Books and Such 
Pingback: Calendar Girls November: Strangest Book You’ve Ever Read – Never Not Reading
I feel as if I have read about this book before, Teri. Maybe you reviewed it at some point. It certainly sounds very good.
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I did, Robbie – it was from my 2016 Goodreads challenge, i think. Such a captivating premise.
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Yes, it is. I have added it now.
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Sounds pretty good. I’ll have to turn up my strange meter for my own books.
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Yours already have some awesome strangeness to them, Craig – which is one of the reasons I love them, lol. It’s not like you see root monsters everywhere, you know.
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I suppose that’s true. I would like to get back to them this winter. They have some fun things ahead of them.
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Wow. This one sounds good.
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Sooo good, John. It made my sci-fi-loving heart go pitter patter.
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I’ll bet. I think you are going to like my next one.
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Sounds like an exciting book, Teri. 🙂 I’d better wait to start it – that Nano thing, ya know. 🙂 Calendar Girls sounds like fun. I’m glad you’re back at it.
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Yep -it’s best not to get into a book that difficult to put down, Diana – not this month. I’ve missed Calendar Girls – happy to be back.
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If it stuck with you for over three years it need to be mentioned here Teri!
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Exactly, Sophie!
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Oh good pick for this one!
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Thanks, Gemma! Such a fantastic read.
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How can I resist an introduction like that? On my TBR list.
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You know how I love contributing.
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It does sound strange indeed! I always think of the sci-fi show when I see the title of this book, but they are definitely not related. Both are strange though, lol!
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The show has been on my list to watch, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. Need to find some time!
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Pingback: Calendar Girls: Eleven (Strangest Book You’ve Ever Read) – The Mermaid Behind the Books
Great pick! This book was SO unusual! I think what made it seem odd to me was that it went in a direction that I did not at all expect for it to go. Also, the ethical dilemmas brought to light were … definitely weird.
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Yes – exactly! That direction was so surprising – and I loved it.
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Pingback: Calendar Girls November Wrap Up – The Mermaid Behind the Books