Looking for something to read? Here are five books that use unconventional ways -- including e-mail, cartoons, poetry, and changing type size and style -- to tell their stories:
Marrying George Clooney by Amy Ferris (Seal Press, $16.95). This memoir about a woman who finds herself through the changes of menopause has an atypical design feature: The size and style of the type varies to highlight the narrator's notable life moments.
Life's That Way by Jim Beaver (Putnam, $24.95). In this account of a husband's journey through his wife's illness and death, Beaver chronicles his loss in the form of a nightly e-mail.
The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (Pantheon, $24.95). Sony Pictures made an animated film of Satrapi's tale about growing up in Iran. The 2007 movie mirrored the format of the book, in which she portrayed herself as a cartoon character.
Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal (Three Rivers Press, $13). In "Encyclopedia," Rosenthal alphabetizes the facts and feelings of her life story, sharing thoughts on topics ranging from "anxious, things that make me" and "cream rinse" to "Van Gogh prints."
Blue Suburbia by Laurie Lico Albanese (Harper Perennial, $12.95). Albanese's book about breaking free from her parents to build her own life is written in a form closer to poetry than prose.
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