Monday 2 September 2013

Unusual Book Titles - Love Them or Loathe Them?

This week's book post is a shorter one, but one which I am hoping you will add to. We've all been seduced into buying a book by its cover, but has the same ever been true of its title? I know I have been. So, I thought I'd share a few of mine with you to start us off...

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka - what? Yes, that's what I thought. Taking that at face value you'd have to assume it would have a niche market, but on reading the blurb it went straight in my shopping basket. But it was the title that drew me in, see?



The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon is another odd title which I discovered I had to have. Doesn't scream at you it's about an autistic boy, but it turned out to be and I am a better person for having read it. I dare say Mark Haddon's a few pounds richer too, as it meant my Other Half bought his next book too. As I must add I did with Ms Lewycka - Two Caravans (although I haven't got as far as reading it yet)

 
 


Most recently The One Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson. Hard not to miss that title, although you'd think it wouldn't take a rocket scientist to work out what it was about. But you'd be wrong. A tale spanning several decades, and featuring Mao Tse Tung, several American presidents and Churchill as well as some very unsavoury characters with a several ton surprise to boot. OK, it didn't hurt that it only cost 20p at the time, but now it's £2.99 on Amazon and is at #53 in the chart, plus it has almost 6000 reviews! I would be surprised if many didn't buy it simply because of the title.

On a trip to Washington two years ago, I browsed (rather tiddled I have to add) some of its fine bookshops in a very upmarket area (I was looking for a restaurant at the time). I came across a book called The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barberry. On writing this post, I realised I have no idea if she has any other books and I've just checked Amazon and discovered one called The Gourmet - wow - am I happy (for one who loves their food and their books - straight onto my Goodreads wishlist) . The hedgehog turned out to be metaphorical, but it truly was a wonderful book and I would never have bought it if I hadn't imbibed slightly too much on my trip to DC.



Finally, as I haven't actually downloaded it yet, My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher. I'm going to, though, as it's such a great title. I have no idea what it's about, but the title alone has made my mind up for me.

Well, those are my weird and wonderful titles. What books made you buy them or consider buying them due to their unusual names?
Would love to hear from you. Tune in tomorrow for my book review of newly released Blogger Girl by Meredith Schorr





11 comments:

  1. The two books I bought (in recent memory) for their title alone was The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender and The Coma by Alex Garland. How could anyone overlook a book called The Coma?!

    It really makes me think about my own titles.

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  2. Titles, titles - well, you know how I choose mine!!! Having read about The Man Who...Disappeared, maybe I ought to think again!!!! That's a fabulous title, though, isn't it :)

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  3. I've just finished reading the Tractors book (which I really enjoyed) and I loved the quirky title. You're quite a long way into the story before you realise it's the title of a book her father is writing, and that's a nice touch. I like oblique titles, and Anne Tyler does these well. I love 'A Slipping Down Life' 'The Tin Can Tree' & 'Morgan's Passing'. Brilliant :)

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  4. It's been a while since I've read something with a crazy title (although I read and loved both The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night and The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake) but I know I got into Tom Robbins a while back because of his wild and wacky titles. Still Life With Woodpecker was the one that stands out most to me, but I think that might be because in this fictional world, redheads were alien beings living amongst humans. And I'm a redhead. ;-)

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  5. I am intrigued by these book titles, but at the same time I'm getting a little bit bored with them. It seems that publishers or authors or editors have jumped on this bandwagon and think it will sell if it has a quirky long title. The Girl Who... trilogy was also part of the trend. Having said that, the ones that you mentioned above are all really good books quite aside from their titles. There is an additional problem with such titles: they are hard to remember. For instance, I am sure there was a book published recently with something like 'Cleaning Glue from Floors' or the like in the title - and if I try to search for it, I only get a list of DIY books.

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  6. My Sister Lives on the Mantlepiece is about the aftermath of a terrorist attack and the impact it has on the family of one of the victims, if you want to know. I have to confess though that I did buy The One Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared on the strength of the title and quite enjoyed reading it.

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  7. You are so totally my kindred spirit - when I read that you bought My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher because you "have no idea what it's about, but the title alone has made my mind up for me." I smiled from ear-to-ear because I'VE DONE THAT. Bought a book simply because I appreciate it's cover, it's title, it's premise. I love books and have an impulsive, almost hoarding mentality when it comes to purchasing them. I want to own them. Put them on my shelves and call them my pretties. I love ebooks for their ease of purchase and convenient storage - but nothing makes the book shopper in me happier than holding a book in my arms and I love them for so many reasons. Not just whether or not the story is a match to my reading tastes, but sometimes I love them simply because they've done something good or intriguing in the design or title. There are so many ways to love a book and so many ways to support authors. (P.S. I saw that you're reviewing BLOGGER GIRL by Meredith Schorr tomorrow - I'm coming back to read your review to see what you think - I just posted my review a few days ago...) Cheers!

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  8. I think whatever can make your book stand out (cover, title) is so important these days. Fun post!

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  9. I remember when I first saw the Dog in the Night-time title I knew I had to read the book at once. It's amazing what a creative title can do. Fun post!

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  10. I totally agree that a good cover can go a long way towards someone picking up your book. My boss told me that he bought two books recently based on title alone - "Nervous Laughter" and "Island of the Sequin Love Nun". I know that one title I was intrigued by was "That Time of The Month" - I just knew it was going to humorous. And it was!

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