26 - A book with a misleading title

[L Y N N]

I admit this one made me think... I do feel it is rather subjective. But there are possibilities!

I always felt Of Mice and Men was a bit misleading. Perhaps The Grapes of Wrath as well. The Age of Innocence was anything but... Moon Pie was about so much more... Monogamy is about the deceit of "non"-monogamy!
I thought Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line was misleading...

Popsugar lists The Happiest Girl in the World: A Novel by Alena Dillon.

Listopia is here

[Amy J.]

https://www.bustle.com/articles/15963...

[poshpenny]

These will be fun to look for

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian
An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England
Stoner
The Dud Avocado
How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House
Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls

[Meredith!]

I remember picking up Animal Farm as a kid and thinking, "Ooh, a nice story about animals!" and was pretty surprised when it turned out to be dark political satire lol

[Debbie]

When my daughter and I both read Alex, Approximately, we had very little understanding of what the cover had to do with the book. Then we realized the book title is pretty useless, too.

[Theresa]

A Brief History of Seven Killings is anything but brief or restricted to 7 killings...

I think this is one where once you read the book, you will know if title is misleading or not.

[Sofia]

Would Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid fit?

I don't know much about the book besides the fact that it deals with performative activism and racism. For that reason I am assuming that it's a misleading title.

[Jessica]

I am considering A Good Girl's Guide to Murder. It sounds kind of misleading, right?

[Nadine in NY]

Sofia wrote: "Would Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid fit?

I don't know much about the book besides the fact that it deals with performative activism and racism. For that reason I am assuming that it..."


It's kind of a sarcastic title. I thought it referred to the age of the child she was nannying, so it fits, but I guess it's misleading if it makes the book seem happy & light.

[Nadine in NY]

poshpenny wrote: "These will be fun to look for

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian
An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England
Stoner ..."


LOL - Stoner - that's the perfect book for this. It gets recommended ALL THE TIME, but I just don't want to read a book about a stoner. I KNOW that's not what the book is about, I know it's the character's name, but the the title is such a turn-off!!!

[Nadine in NY]

Amy J. wrote: "https://www.bustle.com/articles/15963..."



Great list!!! I keep encouraging my daughter to read Their Eyes Were Watching God - such a great book! one of the few books I have read more than once!! But she won't read it, because she doesn't want to read a book about God or people looking up to God. LOL why won't she trust me when I tell her that's not what this book is??!!

[Angie]

I've been told The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo fits this category.

[Casey]

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I don’t wanna spoil why but god I wish I could read this for the first time again

[Jennifer W]

This category made me think of kids from The Simpsons lying to see the movie of Naked Lunch and they come out and Nelson says, "I can think of 2 things wrong with that title"!

I'm always trying to sneak in a few 1001 books to read before you die, so this might be a good place.

[CrystalIsReading on StoryGraph]

A lot of thrillers would probably qualify for this, things like My Lovely Wife that have titles that sound sweet but are super dark.
I'm going in the opposite direction, though, and planning to read How to Marry Keanu Reeves in 90 Days, which is a romcom about a woman who goes on a road trip to meet Keanu Reeves but ends up in love with the friend who went on the road trip with her. or something like that. it is definitely not directions on how to marry Keanu.

[Patricia]

I have The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins:D

[Joshua]

I'm starting to feel like a lot of books could qualify for this category and it could almost be a gimme category, which helps.

[Nadine in NY]

Jennifer W wrote: "This category made me think of kids from The Simpsons lying to see the movie of Naked Lunch and they come out and Nelson says, "I can think of 2 things wrong with that title"!

I'm alw..."


LOL!!!!

[Nadine in NY]

I just stumbled upon Good Rich People and it looks like it might work here. It's apparently very polarizing, I see one star reviews and five star reviews. Not for everyone, I guess?

[Miranda]

Couple Found Slain: After a Family Murder is barely about the murders referenced in the title, and is really more about what happens after someone is found not criminally responsible due to mental illness (ie pleading "insanity")

I read Down and Dirty Pictures last year and had to explain multiple times that it was about the rise of independent films, not the porn industry.

Fun Home is an emotional graphic memoir about the author's father's suicide.

Geek Love is a misleading title if the only definition of "geek" you know is synonymous with "nerd."

[L Y N N]

Crystal wrote: "A lot of thrillers would probably qualify for this, things like My Lovely Wife that have titles that sound sweet but are super dark.
I'm going in the opposite direction, though, and planning to read How to Marry Keanu Reeves in 90 Days, which is a romcom about a woman who goes on a road trip to meet Keanu Reeves but ends up in love with the friend who went on the road trip with her. or something like that. it is definitely not directions on how to marry Keanu."
DARN! 😂

[L Y N N]

Angie wrote: "I've been told The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo fits this category."
I would agree. I love that book!

[L Y N N]

Theresa wrote: "A Brief History of Seven Killings is anything but brief or restricted to 7 killings...

I think this is one where once you read the book, you will know if title is misleading or not."
I totally agree!

[L Y N N]

Amy J. wrote: "https://www.bustle.com/articles/15963..."
Excellent suggestions! The Art of Racing in the Rain is one of my favorite books ever!

[Rachel]

I'm thinking of reading Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson. I've never read any of her books and I'm not sure what to expect, so this would be a good time to find out!

[Mary]

Jessica wrote: "I am considering A Good Girl's Guide to Murder. It sounds kind of misleading, right?"

I totally agree this is a misleading title!

[Marie-Eve]

Jessica wrote: "I am considering A Good Girl's Guide to Murder. It sounds kind of misleading, right?"

I'd say it is, yes!
Plus its a really book one!

[Tassara]

i'll be reading The Year of the Flood, which is the second book in Margaret Atwood's MaddAddam trilogy. the "flood" in question is more metaphorical and referred to by characters as a "waterless flood" (according to wikipedia 😉).

if you're trying to read more non-fiction, In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado also works for this as it's a memoir about her experience in an abusive relationship (so... not a dream house).

[Beverly]

Several years ago, I saw the movie of Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth. It was one of the most depressing movies I had ever seen!

[Brittany]

I'm thinking of reading Ghost World by Daniel Clowes. I've seen the movie but never actually read the comic it was based on.

[Ron]

I've been having a hard time with this one especially when it comes to nonfiction.

[Denise]

I'm going to read Ghostwritten for this. Someone in the reviews said it was similar to Cloud Atlas, which I really liked, so hopefully I'll like this one.

Actually, Cloud Atlas works for this prompt too. I don't remember an actual atlas of clouds in the book.

[Jennifer W]

Ron wrote: "I've been having a hard time with this one especially when it comes to nonfiction."

You might have to ignore subtitles.

A Game of Birds and Wolves: The Ingenious Young Women Whose Secret Board Game Helped Win World War II

On the Laps of Gods: The Red Summer of 1919 and the Struggle for Justice That Remade a Nation

Or memoirs or autobiographies might have misleading titles:

Born to Run Bruce Springsteen is not a runner.

Teaching the Cat to Sit: A Memoir

Here's a couple that actually appear to be misleading:

Bury the Chains doesn't appear to be about physically burying anything.

Thunderstruck has nothing to do with thunder.

[Susanne]

A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet is a climate fiction novel that I remember being confused about the title.

For nonfiction, I found the titles of Superior: The Return of Race Science and Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong—And the New Research That's Rewriting the Story by Angela Saini ambigious.

[Susanne]

Oh, and there are so many titles with this "A someone's Guide to something (and something)" pattern that would fit, like The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, or in YA, the whole Montague Siblings series by Mackenzi Lee:

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue
The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy
The Gentleman’s Guide to Getting Lucky
The Nobleman's Guide to Scandal and Shipwrecks

[Nick]

I’m thinking The Library Book by Susan Orleans - would this work?

[Ron]

I'm still having a hard time with this. Especially when it comes to nonfiction books.

If anyone has any suggestions that would be great.

[poshpenny]

Nick wrote: "I’m thinking The Library Book by Susan Orleans - would this work?"

I don't think so. It's about the LA Public Library. You can even check it out from the LA Public Library, which is my old library, as well as my new one in Oregon. I think it does what it says on the tin.

[Drakeryn]

Meredith! wrote: "I remember picking up Animal Farm as a kid and thinking, "Ooh, a nice story about animals!" and was pretty surprised when it turned out to be dark political satire lol"

I also read Animal Farm as a kid, but I finished the book still thinking "ooh, nice story about animals" so the satire was kind of lost on me

in fact I think the back jacket mentioned "biting political satire" and afterwards I was like "huh, I didn't really notice that, still a nice story tho"

[Dana]

The Neverending Story by Michael Ende
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

[Flora]

Found works for this

[Nadine in NY]

Susanne wrote: "A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet is a climate fiction novel that I remember being confused about the title. ..."



Oh that's brilliant! I've got that on my TBR, but the title is off-putting because it's confusing. And I didn't even think of it for this category ...

[Ruth]

Nick wrote: "I’m thinking The Library Book by Susan Orleans - would this work?"
The book is about the library system as a whole, not about a single library book.

[L Y N N]

Sofia wrote: "Would Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid fit?

I don't know much about the book besides the fact that it deals with performative activism and racism. For that reason I am assuming that it..."

I would count it as a misleading title. Just read it a couple of weeks ago...

[L Y N N]

Rachel wrote: "I'm thinking of reading Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson. I've never read any of her books and I'm not sure what to expect, so this would be a good time to find out!"
Oohhh...that's one of hers I have yet to read. I love her writing!

[L Y N N]

Dana wrote: "The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery"
Yes! That one is perfect and I enjoyed it when I read it years ago!

[L Y N N]

Nanette wrote: "Finlay Donovan Is Killing It. I picked this because she isn't actually killing anyone."

Oohhh...I forgot about that one!

[Stephanie]

I Was a Teenage Fairy would probably fit. I picked this up as a preteen expecting something with Disney vibes and got uhhh… not that.

ETA: by which I mean it’s a magical realism exploration of the effects of child abuse.

[Samantha]

Would True Crime Story work? It's actually fiction rather than true crime.

[Cindy]

The Jewel That Was Ours

This is first Inspector Morse book I've read and the end was very unexpected but shouldn't have been