Most books, not all, but most, follow conventions of book design that have been in place for literally hundreds of years. With very few exceptions, it wasn’t until the 1960s when authors began to play around with story structure that there were any books that also played with the structure of the book itself. And it was later still that graphic design started adding another layer to the storytelling in popular literature. The colors, the typography, the page layouts all came to be used in service of the story. In House of Leaves, when the story starts getting really weird, so does the page layout. In The Illuminae Files, the pages look like reports, transcriptions, and electronic messages and include diagrams and drawings. These books, and the others like them, ask something extra of the reader, but give back an experience that may delight some and infuriate others. However readers feel about this type of weird book design, these books push the boundaries of book design into new and exciting territory.FURTHER READINGPale Fire by Vladimir NabokovtheMystery.doc by Matthew McIntoshThe Black Locomotive by Rian HughesOnly Revolutions by Mark Z. DanielewskiHopscotch by Julio CortazarBats of the Republic by Zachary ThomasThe Raw Shark Texts by Steven HallCity of Saints and Madmen by Jeff VandermeerParabola by Lily HoangExtremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran FoerThe People of Paper by Salvador PlascenciaMaxwell’s Demon by Steven HallREFERENCESAarseth, E. (1997). Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.Abrams, J.J. & Dorst, D. (2013). S. New York: Mulholland Books.CloudCuckooCountry. (2022, November 15). Ergodic Literature: The Weirdest Book Genre [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/tKX90LbnYd4?si=GYwECYZ4FdOzF9SOCoe, J. (2011, October 28). Composition No. 1 by Marc Saporta - review. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/oct/28/composition-no-1-saporta-reviewDanielewski, M. Z. (2000). House of Leaves. New York: Pantheon Books.Digital Humanities Initiative. (2019, March 14). Mark Z. Danielewski at SDSU Library, Standard Video [Video} YouTube. https://youtu.be/wwCp8Y6k_BI?si=s7zFZZOpPDuIXBrmForbidden Planet TV. (2021, July 29). Rian Hughes Stokes up the Black Locomotive [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/emge3qLMatM?si=WNWzNZgXrHwNA-mzHill. L. (2013, October 27). A Long Time Ago, in A Universe More Analog. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/28/books/j-j-abrams-and-doug-dorst-collaborate-on-a-book-s.htmlHughes, R. (2020). XX. New York: The Overlook Press.Kaufman, A. & Kristof, J. (2015). Illuminae. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.Kaufman, A. & Kristof, J. (2016). Gemina. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.Kaufman, A. & Kristof, J. (2018). Obsidio. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.Little Book Owl. (2015, December 15). Q&A w/ Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristof [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/jZ3_ulIEEe4?si=c6mXnEdBKTLaf5JuRoth, G. [VMSpod]. (2023, July 12). Virtual Memories #546 - Rian Hughes [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=js0DYgMzKwQRoth, G. [VMSpod]. (2020, November 24). Virtual Memories #409 - Rian Hughes [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/Iw_kuUqxyjM?si=8J9cEIZa2P5ToJHqStar Sessions. (2014, May 18). J.J. Abrams & Doug Dorst Delve into S: A Multi-Layered Book Experience [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/Adpb9Dn0PoM?si=lHXLynpj5Oj7fq07Tales of the Ravenous Reader. (2018, April 11). Interview w/ Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristof | The Illuminae Files [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/gJl4eDRDM04?si=qetFYjnb9KIx6kOhTalks at Google. (2016, August 11). The Familiar|Mark Z. Danielewski|Talks at Google [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/mw0bGiVDTMI?si=mn19emWU4ttp_CWhTyer, B. (2014, February 20). Untangling S., Doug Dorst’s Novel Within a Novel. Texas Observer. https://www.texasobserver.org/untangling-s-doug-dorsts-novel-within-novel/Zambra, A. (2014). Multiple Choice. New York: Penguin Books.