I have lots of books like that. Many of which I'll pick up at a thirft store or on this site and really, really like it, but I can't talk about it with anyone because they've never read it!!! This probably applies to like, every Raveloft book ever, lol ;) , but what I really had in mind when I started this post was The Fool's Path by Nancy J. Attwell. It is so good, and supposedly the first of a series, but the others haven't appeared yet, and it's been a few years since I read the book. It is a wonderful fresh blend of fairy tales and I've read it so many times, but nobody else I know even knew it existed until I introduced them!

I read a lot of books that I've never met anyone else who knows about them. Some examples are the Dragons in our Midst series by Bryan Davis (I'd never heard of them until I met him), Karen Hancock's Legends of the Guardian-King series (very, very good fantasy series I'm in the middle of), and the Dragon Keeper Chronicles by Donita K. Paul. There are probably a bunch more, but I can't think of them right now.

ETA: Oh, yeah. Also the Pellinor Quartet by Alison Croggon. That's an AMAZING fantasy series. Book four is coming out later this year.

Nakoa's Woman by Gayle Rogers.

But then, when I first joined there was another member long since gone, who had this on her wishlist as she'd worn hers out reading it over and over. 

And from us talking about it, our own Gayle (mimi) read and loved it.  (I do hope I spelled Gayle right! I hate it when folks spell my name Bonny!)

I loved "The Golden Gate" by Vikram Seth.  It's a novel in verse...iambic pentameter, if memory serves.  It's a bit dated now, but it was laugh out loud funny....mostly because of the plot, but occasionally because of the obscure and creative rhymes.  But no one else I know has ever read it.

I also really enjoyed "Tales of the City" , "Further Tales...." etc. by Armistead Maupin.  These are all set in San Francisco and are some of the funniest things I've ever read.  Think Christopher Moore or Carl Hiaason.  They can be pretty dark and satiric.  But they're both hilarious and charming...except when they're dark and over the top.  Well, especially when they're dark and over the top.

Which, of course, brings us to Moore's book "Lamb, or the Gospels according to Biff."

Queen of Dreams and Arranged Marriages by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.  I don't even like short stories and I loved Arranged Marriages.

Footprints in the Soil by Rosemary Emery.  It's the memoirs of a local woman who grew up around here at the turn of the century.

The Balance Thing by Margaret Dumas (and her other two books too!)

I read all of the Maupin books and absolutely loved them!!!

The movie was pretty good too, with Laura Linney and Olivia Dukakis.

Lancelot by Walker Percy

This is an older book and was voted by Time Magazine as one of the top 100 reads but I have never met anyone who has read it.  I just loved it.   Death comes For the Archbishop by Willa Cather.  I even got a copy for my brother about 6 years ago but still haven't talked about it.  Such a shame, great book.

I love Willa Cather!  But Alas, none of my friends(non-PBS that is) have ever heard of her. LOL

The Book of the Lion by Michael Cadnum, a young-adult novel about a boy who becomes a squire and goes on Crusade with Richard the Lionheart. It has a lot of gut-wrenching, visceral detail about what it was like to travel all the way to Palestine in those days and to fight in brutal battles.

I just lent my copy to a friend. There's at least 1 PB copy in the system!

I'll Tell Them I Remember You by William Peter Blatty.  The author of The Exorcist wrote a beautiful biography of his mother's life.  I found this in a thrift store, probably 25 years ago and absolutely fell in love with it, yet I've never run across anyone who has heard of it. 

DEATH COMES FOR THE ARCHBISHOP is one of my mom's favorite books....but I was just kind of "eh" about it. 

My favorite that no one has ever read is called I WHO HAVE NEVER KNOWN MEN by Jacqueline Harpman.  The book was translated from the French, and I found it on a staff recommendation table at Powell's.  Think A HANDMAID'S TALE.  LOVE that book.

Changing Heaven by Jane Urquhart - here's my review:

This is my favorite book of all time because of the moving story, the ties to another of my favorite novels (Wuthering Heights), and the stunning writing.

The eccentric main character is somewhat obsessed with the color white and chooses only to dress in that color - a monochromatic beauty you can almost see through the imagery in Urquhart's writing. Early on in the novel, she meets up with Emily Bronte - yes, that Emily Bronte - and the two connect in a profound way, all the while moving through time, which has ceased to become meaningful to them.

Urquhart also has a parallel story of a Bronte scholar, as smitten with Catherine and Heathcliff as the main character of this book is taken with the color white. The thoughts and actions of each of the characters blend together in a spider web of human connectedness. Highly, highly recommended for those familiar with heavy literary fiction.

The Eight by Katherine Neville

Hallucinating Foucault by Patricia Duncker. I really loved this book, and I lent it to a friend. She never read it, and she doesn't know what happened to it.

One Particular Harbor by Janet Lee James. It is an autobiography written by a woman who discovers that she has M.S., but instead of  feeling sorry for herself, she decides to have a great adventure and moves to Alaska. The book is not all sweetness and light as she honestly describes what takes place as the disease progresses. I went to college with Janet and to be perfectly honest did not care for her, but I do admire the way she has lived her life and how she has handled her illness.

Bonnie, I've read Nakoa's Woman.

Another favorite of mine is Follow the River by James Thom. I started reading it in the early evening and stayed up all night to finish it. No one I've talked to has ever heard of it.

Wendy!!!!!!!

Wendy,

Have you heard of the "One Book, One State" program...(or something like that).  It's a giant book discussion group, where libraries try to get everyone in the state reading the same book.  They do it in Alaska, and we here in West Virginia decided to try it a year or so ago.  The book chosen was "Follow the River"...since a great portion took place right here in our lovely wilderness!    It's an incredible story...

I think my books that no one seems to have read are by Rosemary Sutcliff; I especially love "Sword at Sunset", a novel about King Arthur. 

Betsy, I've read The Eight and I recommend to all my friends - I had my sister read it last year. It's fascinating and so, so entertaining!

Vicki,

How interesting! I've never heard of that program, but I'm certainly glad that Follow the River got the attention that it deserves. I just recently replaced my old copy with a practically new one that I found at the Salvation Army and am looking forward to reading it again.

Bonnie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And I just have to say to everyone that I'm  happy to see the Hidden Gems forum so active.

Wendy

I've also read The Eight and really enjoyed it!  Lots of intrigue and travel and great characters!

Leigh, you left out the turn-of-the-(20th)century lady aeronaut who was the third character in Canadian novelist Jane Urquhart's work, Changing Heaven.    She, plus the ghost of Emily Bronte, and the Canadian woman Bronte scholar, made up a strange trio in that novel which seemed rather surreal to me.  But I was intrigued enough to hunt up another novel of Urquhart's, Away, and I found it also to have a mystic air about it.  I have not yet read The Underpainter.  I might add, here, that there are quite a few first-rate Canadian writers, among them Robertson Davies, Timothy Finley, Jack Hodgins, Rudy Wiebe, Margaret Lawrence, Margaret Atwood, and Alice Munro, to name just a few.

Leigh and Diana - Yes, The Eight is a great page turner.   The lady who runs my favorite UBS thought that perhaps there'd be a sequel, but I haven't heard anything else to that effect. 

"The Golden Gate" by Vikram Seth was a great creative book.  I also loved A Suitable Boy by the same.  I lived in India for 10 years, so much of A Suitable Boy was something I could relate to.  Very well written, and creative.