What’s a random book from a random author that you decided to take a chance on that wound up being one of your favorite reads?

When I was a kid, I remember being really into this random sci-fi book called “Brainboy and the Deathmaster” which was similar in some ways to Enders Game/Ready Player One but if I remember correctly it was kids in an orphanage being connected to a pod to play video games.

This came up when I was chatting with some friends and I figured I’d extend the question here since I love the diversity of opinion :)