"House of Leaves"

Why I picked it up:  Mark Danielewski's House of Leaves is an impressive book on first appearance.  Flipping through its 709 pages, one is confronted with hundreds of footnotes, various typography, sidebars, appendices, and colored text.  Initially, it was this unique use of the page that drew me to the book but once I started, I could not put it down.

Why it kept me interested:  The story begins when Johnny Truant discovers a manuscript by a dead hermit known as Zampano.  He decides to edit the manuscript but in doing so, he is drawn deeper into the spiraling fate that befell his predecessor.  His story is contained mainly in the footnotes of the manuscript which is actually a critique of a documentary of the "Navidson Record" by filmmaker Will Navidson.  In the film, Navidson is  moving into a new home with his family but he discovers a closed door that leads to a long dark hallway.  When he goes to examine the outside, he discovers that there is no extension of where the hallway should be.  The house is larger on the inside than on the outside.  A exploring party is formed and as they descend into the darkness, a growling is heard and one by one the party is picked off.  Navidson soon discovers that the hallways shift and move (Danielewski's layout of text to help the reader experience the confinement and confusion of the explorers is fantastic here). 

To whom would I recommend this book?  The book is dense, not just in physical weight but in the amount of footnotes, narration shifts, and fictional referencing so its not for the faint of heart; but I would definitely recommend it for those looking for a good horror book that plays with your mind.  Watching the characters physically and emotionally descend to madness was entertaining enough that I kept on to the very last page.  It is definitely a book that stays with you and I have recommended it several times already.