Skip to main content

Story Within a Story

Description: These are books that contain a story within a story or otherwise do something interesting with the narrative structure.

Rank Title Author Added

1

12,731 members

285 reviews

4

7 Members: thorold, jburlinson, roby72, sturlington, Twixi, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

2

by William Shakespeare

31,898 members

286 reviews

4.2

6 Members: aulsmith, jburlinson, sturlington, CGlanovsky, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

3

18,785 members

482 reviews

½ 4.3

6 Members: hipdeep, sturlington, CGlanovsky, ahef1963, Michael.Rimmer, ManWithAnAgenda

4

The Blind Assassin

by Margaret Atwood

16,403 members

381 reviews

3.9

6 Members: thorold, roby72, sturlington, souloftherose, Twixi, ahef1963

5

If on a Winter's Night a Traveler

by Italo Calvino

12,287 members

252 reviews

4.1

6 Members: thorold, jburlinson, roby72, CGlanovsky, Twixi, ahef1963

6

by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

41,214 members

696 reviews

3.8

5 Members: roby72, sturlington, souloftherose, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

7

The Canterbury Tales

by Geoffrey Chaucer

21,505 members

163 reviews

½ 3.7

5 Members: hipdeep, aulsmith, jburlinson, sturlington, ahef1963

8

The Master and Margarita

by Mikhail Bulgakov

19,890 members

456 reviews

4.2

5 Members: roby72, Twixi, ahef1963, Michael.Rimmer, ManWithAnAgenda

9

Tales from the Thousand and One Nights (Penguin Classics)

1,024 members

8 reviews

3.9

5 Members: aulsmith, jburlinson, roby72, sturlington, Twixi

10

25,997 members

615 reviews

3.9

4 Members: roby72, sturlington, Twixi, ahef1963

11

The Name of the Rose

19,252 members

303 reviews

4.2

4 Members: roby72, sturlington, Twixi, ahef1963

12

by David Mitchell

17,288 members

671 reviews

4.1

4 Members: sturlington, souloftherose, CGlanovsky, Twixi

13

The Thirteenth Tale

by Diane Setterfield

16,887 members

904 reviews

4

4 Members: sturlington, souloftherose, Twixi, ahef1963

14

The Brothers Karamazov

by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

28,732 members

315 reviews

½ 4.4

3 Members: aulsmith, jburlinson, roby72

15

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

by Haruki Murakami

17,524 members

365 reviews

4.2

3 Members: roby72, Twixi, ahef1963

16

The French Lieutenant's Woman

6,462 members

108 reviews

3.8

3 Members: roby72, sturlington, ahef1963

17

4,670 members

75 reviews

3.8

3 Members: CGlanovsky, Twixi, ManWithAnAgenda

18

The Book of Illusions

4,163 members

77 reviews

3.9

3 Members: CGlanovsky, Twixi, ahef1963

19

Travels in the Scriptorium

2,015 members

66 reviews

3.2

3 Members: CGlanovsky, Twixi, ManWithAnAgenda

20

Don Quixote [Norton Critical Edition]

by Miguel de Cervantes

555 members

5 reviews

½ 4.3

3 Members: roby72, Twixi, ManWithAnAgenda

21

The Princess Bride

by William Goldman

24,152 members

518 reviews

½ 4.3

2 Members: hipdeep, souloftherose

22

by Jostein Gaarder

18,422 members

280 reviews

3.8

2 Members: Twixi, ahef1963

23

by Cornelia Funke

17,482 members

511 reviews

3.9

2 Members: ahef1963, aspirit

24

House of Leaves

by Mark Z. Danielewski

15,076 members

364 reviews

4.1

2 Members: ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

25

by Stephen King

14,833 members

198 reviews

4

2 Members: sturlington, ahef1963

26

Everything Is Illuminated

by Jonathan Safran Foer

14,025 members

261 reviews

3.9

2 Members: Twixi, ahef1963

27

The Neverending Story

by Michael Ende

11,742 members

221 reviews

4.1

2 Members: souloftherose, aspirit

28

The History of Love

by Nicole Krauss

8,937 members

310 reviews

3.9

2 Members: Twixi, ahef1963

29

by Henry Fielding

7,987 members

96 reviews

3.9

2 Members: jburlinson, ManWithAnAgenda

30

6,349 members

70 reviews

4

2 Members: roby72, ManWithAnAgenda

31

The Sandman: A Game of You

5,946 members

80 reviews

½ 4.3

3 Members: CGlanovsky, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda,sturlington

32

by Anthony Horowitz

3,627 members

227 reviews

3.9

2 Members: sturlington, souloftherose

33

Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night. With Introductory Explanatory Notes on the Manners and Customs of Moslem Men and a Terminal Essay Upon the History of the Nights. 17 Vols.

by Richard F. Burton

2 members

3 Members: CGlanovsky, Twixi, bluepiano,sturlington

34

by Markus Zusak

43,694 members

2,107 reviews

½ 4.4

2 Members: Twixi, ahef1963,sturlington

35

by Richard Adams

24,267 members

467 reviews

4.2

Member: ManWithAnAgenda

36

by Louis Sachar

22,684 members

941 reviews

4.1

2 Members: ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda,sturlington

37

by Elizabeth Kostova

21,141 members

750 reviews

½ 3.7

2 Members: Twixi, ahef1963,sturlington

38

Metamorphoses [in translation]

12,842 members

99 reviews

4.1

Member: CGlanovsky

39

by Cornelia Funke

10,732 members

169 reviews

4

Member: ahef1963

40

Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture

by Douglas Coupland

5,292 members

60 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: ManWithAnAgenda

41

The Travels of Marco Polo

5,028 members

56 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: jburlinson

42

3,111 members

51 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: CGlanovsky

43

3,065 members

82 reviews

3.8

Member: Osbaldistone

44

The Manuscript Found in Saragossa

1,548 members

31 reviews

4.1

Member: roby72

45

by Kim Stanley Robinson

1,088 members

22 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: aulsmith

46

by Kim Stanley Robinson

656 members

15 reviews

3.8

Member: aulsmith

47

The Ring and the Book

by Robert Browning

533 members

4 reviews

4

Member: jburlinson

48

by Alex Landragin

479 members

18 reviews

3.8

Member: ManWithAnAgenda

49

Il Pentamerone: The Tale of Tales

by Giambattista Basile

414 members

6 reviews

3.9

Member: ManWithAnAgenda

50

The Arabian Nightmare

by Robert Irwin

382 members

5 reviews

3.8

Member: Michael.Rimmer

51

A Girl is A Body of Water

by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi

356 members

19 reviews

4

Member: ManWithAnAgenda

52

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi (Novel) Vol. 2

by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

297 members

4 reviews

½ 4.5

Member: aspirit

53

Bracebridge Hall

by Washington Irving

146 members

4 reviews

½ 3.4

Member: jburlinson

54

Architect of Ruins

by Herbert Rosendorfer

127 members

1 review

3.9

Member: bluepiano

55

The Infinite Future

74 members

5 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: ManWithAnAgenda

56

The Breath of Night

by Michael Arditti

28 members

2 reviews

3.8

Member: aulsmith

57

The Power of Sympathy

by William Hill Brown

11 members

2

Member: jburlinson

58

by Bolesław Prus

Member: jburlinson

59

51,495 members

456 reviews

4

Member: jburlinson,sturlington

60

Moby-Dick: A Longman Critical Edition

by Herman Melville

128 members

5 reviews

4.2

2 Members: roby72, Twixi,sturlington ,ManWithAnAgenda

61

by Daniel Clowes

1,025 members

12 reviews

½ 3.6

About This List

Started: sturlington
November 2013
Type: Unnumbered

Related Lists

Books I Own But Haven't Read

I Can't Finish This Book

Best Domestic Fiction

Books Bought & Received as Gifts in 2014

Women's Stories

Allie's List of Books I Want To Read

Current Discussions

None

Related Tags

adventure (2,877) classic (7,241) classics (9,982) drama (2,315) England (2,219) fantasy (13,062) fiction (55,841) graphic novel (3,283) historical fiction (5,965) history (2,766) horror (5,616) literature (9,330) mystery (4,368) mythology (3,252) novel (8,367) own (2,846) philosophy (4,649) poetry (6,627) read (6,978) science fiction (3,846) to-read (24,060) unread (2,870) William Shakespeare (2,356) WWII (3,981) young adult (3,043)

Verdana Standard Verdana Small The Lorax System Standard System Large Georgia Large Text Atkinson

This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.