Library, flutter your eyelashes for me

[foxfinial]

I want a book about a character researching something -- preferably strange/fantastical in some way -- with lots of quotes from their research materials.

(The Bestiary by Nicholas Christopher tried to be this book, but it has too little researching and far too much My Emo Life, Let Me Tell You Of It.)

Comments

[phoenix]

Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian?

[naraht]

"Possession" by AS Byatt?

[gool_duck]

Bellwether , by Connie Willis, has a person doing research into trends and chaos theory and quoting stuff about trends.
It's strange and light and fun.

Passage by Connie Willis, has research of near-death experiences and the sinking of the Titanic (and the Hindenburg crash). It's more sombre in tone, and has some very sad bits.

(I like Connie Willis' writing.)

[anotherdream]

Johanna Sinisalo's "Not Before Sundown". That's the brit-English title, I think in the States it was published under the title "Troll - A Love Story". It's an alternate present day where trolls are a recognized species of animal, and involves the protagonist researching them, with lots of both real and invented quotes from books and websites and newspapers.

[epporsimuove]

Maybe The Voyage of the Bassett by James C. Christensen? You can see a sample of pages on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1885183585/rambles) to see what the book is like.

[stardancer]

Anything by Michael Crichton, from "Jurassic Park" to "Prey". He deals in futuristic, slightly distopian themes; everything is scientifically researched and some (like "The Lost World") are crammed with that research.