Titles That Make You Pick It Up (Or Put It Down)

[Em]

I liked the Fried Green Tomatoes as well, a sweet story (it was a good film too!) I know ths is juvenile, but her name makes me giggle... I have sense of humour of 9 year old boy!

[Angela]

Em wrote: "I liked the Fried Green Tomatoes as well, a sweet story (it was a good film too!) I know ths is juvenile, but her name makes me giggle... I have sense of humour of 9 year old boy!"

Hahaha:)

[Dave]

Angela wrote: "Em wrote: "I liked the Fried Green Tomatoes as well, a sweet story (it was a good film too!) I know ths is juvenile, but her name makes me giggle... I have sense of humour of 9 year old boy!"

Ha..."

Lol - I had a very prim and proper English teacher who refused to let us read this as an A Level text for that very reason :-)

[Elaine]

@ Dave , really? what a very silly woman! lol
@ Angela I've never seen the film no, but will certainly look it up now

[Louise]

I am always drawn to the Brookmyre books, in first for the titles, but now I know his work, anytime I stumble across him in a shop, I find myself foolishly grinning.

friends and I were recently trying to find dates to go see The curious incident ofthe dog in the night time, and after several emails, just shortened it to tciotditnt.
unfortunately I have memory like a sieve, and would wonder what on earth they were talking about.

title and then cover pic made me pick it up, then take it home.

[Kim-Lost-In-A-Book]

Some books that grabbed me with their titles:

Honeymoon with My Brother: A Memoir

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
The Blood of Flowers (this one should have also gone on my cover art list)

Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons
Why Do We Have to Live with Men?
Kiss Me Like A Stranger: My Search for Love and Art
Still Life With Crows
The Lace Reader
Wanderlust
Who Makes Up These Rules, Anyway?

[Susan]

I agree with Louise about the Christopher Brookmyre titles....that's definatly what attracted me to his books.

I especially likeA Big Boy Did It and Ran Away, One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night and All Fun and Games Until Somebody Loses an Eye....great reads too.

[D.E.M.]

Best Served Cold

I liked the 'play on words' here - and the title gave me the story from the get go.

[Angela]

Susan wrote: "I agree with Louise about the Christopher Brookmyre titles....that's definatly what attracted me to his books.

I especially likeA Big Boy Did It and Ran Away, One Fine Day in the Middle of the Ni..."

Attack Of The Unsinkable Rubber Ducks is another that I really enjoyed!

[Bill]

I have to say that I first picked up The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse for the title and then bought it after reading the summary..

[Ken]

Alex wrote: "Backwards (Reddwarf novel) letters are backwards in places. Caught my eye, blurb sold it and the book was amazing."

I was grabbed by Better than Life... but I am a Grant Naylor/Red Dwarf fan anyway.

[Jayne]

The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared is a fantastic title. Luckily I enjoyed the book after buying it just for the title. The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year is also on my list just based on the title - imagine all the books she could get through

[A.L.]

Ken wrote: "Alex wrote: "Backwards (Reddwarf novel) letters are backwards in places. Caught my eye, blurb sold it and the book was amazing."

I was grabbed by Better than Life... but I am a Grant Naylor/Red Dw..."

:) Although the last one wasn't so good.

[Andy]

Just been tempted by The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared, kindle edition currently 20p on amazon.

[Jayne]

Andy wrote: "Just been tempted by The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared, kindle edition currently 20p on amazon."

That's how I got it. I spent my Amazon Christmas voucher on cheap books! I found the book funny and very surreal.

[Lynne - The Book Squirrel]

I have just read The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce which I bought with my Waterstones voucher my son got me for christmas just because of its title and loved it.

I also have Care of Wooden Floors by Will Wiles, because I liked the title too!

[Angela]

Lynne - The Book Squirrel wrote: "I have just read The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce which I bought with my Waterstones voucher my son got me for christmas just because of its title and loved it.

I also have Ca..."

"Harold Fry" is such a good read, isn't it?

[Jennifer]

Like Andy and Jayne I was hooked by the title and 20p price tag of The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared. Really enjoyed it - odd book but definitely well worth a read. Another post-Christmas purchase whose title attracted my attention was Fish Change Direction in Cold Weather - haven't got to that one yet so can't say if it lives up to it's title!

[Louise]

Jennifer wrote: "Like Andy and Jayne I was hooked by the title and 20p price tag of The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared.

Me too. I haven't got round to reading it yet, but it's sitting on my shelf. Couldn't resist.

Letsee...

Death And The Penguin, War with the Newts, and The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making I was all drawn to by the title and really enjoyed.

The Minotaur Takes A Cigarette Break was ok, but not as good as it's title.

The Sunday Philosophy Club was pure, unadulterated pretentious wank. Couldn't even bring myself to reach the halfway point. Good title though.

[Ian, Moderator]

"pure, unadulterated pretentious wank" lol and would make a good title Louise.

[Nikks]

That would certainly attract attention at the book store ! Lol

[Ian, Moderator]

I think it was in the blurb for The Alchemist lol

[Louise]

I've read most of his books...they're all interestingly to titled and always lacking...not really sure why I've read so many!

[Liz, Moderator]

Ian wrote: ""pure, unadulterated pretentious wank" lol and would make a good title Louise."

Lol! It should sit on the shelves next to A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius......

[Em]

I think Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name was a beautiful, evocative title for the novel by Vendela Vida then, I noticed in the decications that it is taken from a poem by a Sami writer called Marry Alioniedia Somby.

[Michael]

Can I just say that, as an author, the hardest part is trying to choose a good title? I once had to submit three pages of titles before my editor accepted one. My absolute top-winner was "The Boy-Bishop's Glovemaker", which doesn't really scream crime thriller, does it? It's just so hard to think up a new, refreshing, intriguing title that also doesn't lie about what's inside the covers!

[Ian, Moderator]

Sounds more like the adventures of a pederast priest in Victorian times......though that's crime, so maybe it works Michael. Titles are tough. When I worked in magazine publishing, deciding on the title of a new launch was always a really interesting but difficult and much debated/argued point of contention. At least with mags you could relaunch with a new title if it didn't work, but much money would be lost in the process.

[John]

I wish I'd read all your comments before fixing the title of my book. I'm sure I'd have tried something very different. But I am self-published and self edited with too little outside input. A big costly lesson learned. Goodreads will guide me in future. Loved the 100 year old man not only for its title but also for its fun

[Lynne - The Book Squirrel]

John wrote: "I wish I'd read all your comments before fixing the title of my book. I'm sure I'd have tried something very different. But I am self-published and self edited with too little outside input. A big ..."

I laughed so much out loud when reading The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared, I just thought it was hilarious, especially the blowing up of the train!

[Jules]

I have bought for my husbands birthday (on Monday). The title was so whacky we just had to look into it.

[Philip]

Lynne - The Book Squirrel wrote: "John wrote: "I wish I'd read all your comments before fixing the title of my book. I'm sure I'd have tried something very different. But I am self-published and self edited with too little outside ..."

Of course there is another one out now not quite as good imho but The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden still has a nice title

[Liz, Moderator]

I just rediscovered this thread.
A few more good titles: I Capture the Castle and We Have Always Lived in the Castle - it's definitely the word castle...

Carry Fisher thought up some great titles: Postcards from the Edge & Wishful Drinking.

I also like the titles The Edible Woman, A Hanging at Cinder Bottom and The Orchard of Lost Souls. Luckily all those books stood up to their titles.

Our local bookclub chose The Rabbit Back Literature Society a while back - I'm sure it was the title that was the initial attraction, it was certainly in the same vein as The Guernsey Potato etc etc). Unfortunately the general feeling was disappointment, so I wouldn't recommend it.... ;)

[Alicja]

When I picked up a book, ones that I managed to complete in a day or less, where often thrillers in which detectives are trying to find the killers or burglars and they have to look for clues. This genre always leaves you questioning your perception of reality and I find one to be very engaging. In terms of books that have made me want to put them down are ones who do not have a clear structure (such as character jumps or unexplained time jumps) and ones which go into so much detail they do not allow the readers mind to process the story but rather require them to read it exactly as written so that all readers basically see the same thing when they read the book.

[Abigail]

I am a sucker for any book that has “bookshop” or “witch” in the title, plus books that flatter me by using literary quotes/phrases that I recognize. Pathetic.