Favorite Book Title (and how much just the title made you want to read the book)

[Sailor Stone]

I was thinking about two of my favorite books recently (Straight Man, by Richard Russo, and Soldier of the Great War, by Mark Helprin), when it occurred to me that not only was I struck by how great the two books were as I was reading them, but also by how good the titles sounded to me when I first discovered them. I wanted to read them both based only on the titles (and I did!). So does anybody else have a book that they were also drawn to simply by how great the title sounded and that then became a favorite? 

[Kristen.s.walker]

House of Leaves, They Mostly Come Out at Night, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, A Natural History of Dragons, Dragonsinger (hey, you put dragons in the title, I'll at least read the blurb), Sufficiently Advanced Magic...

I'm a sucker for a good title.

[Maggie Ann]

House of Leaves, They Mostly Come Out at Night, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, A Natural History of Dragons, Dragonsinger (hey, you put dragons in the title, I'll at least read the blurb), Sufficiently Advanced Magic...

I'm a sucker for a good title.

I've been suckered in by so many great titles, I don't even want to think about all the disappointments they led to. I'm trying to quit.

[Sailor Stone]

House of Leaves, They Mostly Come Out at Night, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, A Natural History of Dragons, Dragonsinger (hey, you put dragons in the title, I'll at least read the blurb), Sufficiently Advanced Magic...

I'm a sucker for a good title.

Yes, I agree with you on all of these titles. A Natural History of Dragons gets me to looking it up just to see what it's about.

[elleoco]

I can't say there's a favorite for me, but titles sure can attract. I still remember the day years ago when A Stained White Radiance caught my eye in a book store. The title piqued my curiosity, so after reading a bit of it here and there, I bought it. That was the first James Lee Burke novel I read, but not the last, even though IMO nothing in the book ever explained the title. It was just a bit of description, and to this day I can't picture it.

[Sailor Stone]

I can't say there's a favorite for me, but titles sure can attract. I still remember the day years ago when A Stained White Radiance caught my eye in a book store. The title piqued my curiosity, so after reading a bit of it here and there, I bought it. That was the first James Lee Burke novel I read, but not the last, even though IMO nothing in the book ever explained the title. It was just a bit of description, and to this day I can't picture it.

Great title. Without having read or even seen the book cover I’d guess it’s a fall of man theme, like Paradise Lost... am I even close?

[elleoco]

Paradise Lost[/i]... am I even close?

I wouldn't say so. It's one of the Dave Robicheaux mysteries, and IMO pretty much everyone in these books fell long before any of the particular stories (including Dave and his best buddy, who are the good guys, but depending on your attitude toward the end justifies the means law enforcement maybe not all that good). I read it many years ago and can't remember what the descriptive reference was to but do remember being disappointed about it. But it did its job and drew me to investigate and then buy the book.

[Shoe]

I was thinking about two of my favorite books recently (Straight Man, by Richard Russo, and Soldier of the Great War, by Mark Helprin), when it occurred to me that not only was I struck by how great the two books were as I was reading them, but also by how good the titles sounded to me when I first discovered them. I wanted to read them both based only on the titles (and I did!). So does anybody else have a book that they were also drawn to simply by how great the title sounded and that then became a favorite?

Yeah, I've never bought and loved a book due to its cover. I mean, "Pnin"? "Despair"?

Anyway, Jesus. I looked at your shelf and read several of your "Look Insides" and, by golly, second time tonight, I'm rather blown away.  "Bleeding Woman"--I'm ashamed at my own output after reading several pages.

[dgcasey]

One Door Away from Heaven by Dean Koontz
Hal Spacejock: A Robot Named Clunk by Simon Haynes
The Spaceship Next Door by Gene Doucette

Then there's the series by Barry J. Hutchison with titles like:

Space Team
Space Team: The Wrath of Vajazzle
Space Team: The Search for Splurt

How could you NOT want to read those?   

[VanessaC]

Oh, interesting thread!

I don't have a "favourite" book title, but I do remember some titles - but I think it's the combination of the title and cover image that has stayed with me.

When I think about titles that stand out, I'm sure i'm missing loads, but the ones that came to mind were:
Plainsong - Kent Haruf
Snow Falling on Cedars - David Guterson
Killing Floor - Lee Child
A Thousand Acres - Jane Smiley

(Yeah, I have extremely varied taste in reading!)

Also, totally agree with DGCasey on "The Spaceship Next Door" (and the book is also excellent, if anyone hasn't read it yet!).

[Vijaya]

Oooh, what a fun thread. I like so many of the titles already mentioned. Here are my picks starting age 12: Magnificent Obsession by Lloyd C. Douglas; Adventures in Two Worlds by A. J. Cronin; Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand; Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose; Airman by Eoin Colfer; Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton are all books whose titles attracted me and they remain favorites. As a kid, I loved anything with Secret, Adventure, Cave, Castle in the title.

[Sailor Stone]

I was thinking about two of my favorite books recently (Straight Man, by Richard Russo, and Soldier of the Great War, by Mark Helprin), when it occurred to me that not only was I struck by how great the two books were as I was reading them, but also by how good the titles sounded to me when I first discovered them. I wanted to read them both based only on the titles (and I did!). So does anybody else have a book that they were also drawn to simply by how great the title sounded and that then became a favorite?

Yeah, I've never bought and loved a book due to its cover. I mean, "Pnin"? "Despair"?

Anyway, Jesus. I looked at your shelf and read several of your "Look Insides" and, by golly, second time tonight, I'm rather blown away.  "Bleeding Woman"--I'm ashamed at my own output after reading several pages.

Sorry so long between responses. Been July 4th-ing. Thanks for the compliment. It has taken me many many years to write that trilogy.

Another favorite book that I read because of the title is Night Manager by John LeCarre. And on a side note the mini-series of the same name is excellent as well. I keep waiting for the 2nd season but I don't think it is out yet.

[sandree]

A favorite book and title is One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Love the title of the Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender. I read it but can’t remember if it lived up to the title.

One good thing about getting old - every book is new again!

[okey dokey]

Couldn't resist these 2:

The Skinny Bitch Diet
The White Trash Cook Book

[JRTomlin]

"Lay Your Sleeping Head" and "Howtown" both by Michael Nava.

[Kristen.s.walker]

And I don't know if you want to consider children's books, but I think many of those sell on titles alone. You know exactly what you are getting when you buy The Cat in the Hat, Sheep in a Jeep, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, and Go the F*ck to Sleep. I bet you lots of picture books will succeed or fail just on how catchy their title is.

[Sailor Stone]

And I don't know if you want to consider children's books, but I think many of those sell on titles alone. You know exactly what you are getting when you buy The Cat in the Hat, Sheep in a Jeep, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, and Go the F*ck to Sleep. I bet you lots of picture books will succeed or fail just on how catchy their title is.

I agree. I remember as a Nine year old reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory how intriguing a chocolate factory was to my young mind.  Loved the book as well!

[IW Ferguson]

Titles matter to me, but I don't buy books based on them. For example, I love the title All the Light We Cannot See, but I couldn't even tell you the author or the genre.

Others I like:
The Name of the Wind
Wise Man's Fear
The Sound and the Fury
Their Eyes Were Watching God
The Thief Who Pulled Trouble's Braids

I know I'm forgetting some.

[Royal Editorial (Katie)]

House of Leaves, They Mostly Come Out at Night, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, A Natural History of Dragons, Dragonsinger (hey, you put dragons in the title, I'll at least read the blurb), Sufficiently Advanced Magic...

I'm a sucker for a good title.

Came here to say A Natural History of Dragons! Such a fun series, and a fantastic title for the first book.

[spin52]

I've always liked Kiril Bonfiglioli's books, 'Don't Point That Thing at Me' and 'After You with the Pistol'.

[Tom Wood]

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. I saw mentions of this novel around the interwebs several times before taking the plunge, but the title always caught my eye.

My Goodreads review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2902230915

[Lysmata Debelius]

The Stress of Her Regard.
Between the Strokes of Night.

Those are two that come instantly to mind. I think they are both quotes from some other text?

I also like:

Fire Upon the Deep
The Web Between the Worlds

[Lysmata Debelius]

 Oh, and "Accross the Nightingale Floor"
I read it again recently and didn't like it nearly as much as I did the first time though!

[Lysmata Debelius]

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. I saw mentions of this novel around the interwebs several times before taking the plunge, but the title always caught my eye.

My Goodreads review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2902230915

Tom, have you read the second in that series? "A close and common orbit" I think it's called? I loved it even more than the first one.

[Tom Wood]

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. I saw mentions of this novel around the interwebs several times before taking the plunge, but the title always caught my eye.

My Goodreads review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2902230915

Tom, have you read the second in that series? "A close and common orbit" I think it's called? I loved it even more than the first one.

Based on your recommendation, I'll start it later today!

This had better be good! 

[Tom Wood]

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. I saw mentions of this novel around the interwebs several times before taking the plunge, but the title always caught my eye.

My Goodreads review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2902230915

Tom, have you read the second in that series? "A close and common orbit" I think it's called? I loved it even more than the first one.

Based on your recommendation, I'll start it later today!

This had better be good! 

It was! Thank you!

My Goodreads copied to Amazon review here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R18ML8H8H8QS17

Because you recommended that story, I dove into The Babylon Eye. Wow, this is a really cool story world! It reminds me of Valerian & Lauraline and the City of a Thousand Planets. (They screwed up by leaving Lauraline out of the title, IMO.) I'm having a lot of fun. A review full of stars is coming your way!

[Lysmata Debelius]

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. I saw mentions of this novel around the interwebs several times before taking the plunge, but the title always caught my eye.

My Goodreads review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2902230915

Tom, have you read the second in that series? "A close and common orbit" I think it's called? I loved it even more than the first one.

Based on your recommendation, I'll start it later today!

This had better be good! 

It was! Thank you!

My Goodreads copied to Amazon review here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R18ML8H8H8QS17

Because you recommended that story, I dove into The Babylon Eye. Wow, this is a really cool story world! It reminds me of Valerian & Lauraline and the City of a Thousand Planets. (They screwed up by leaving Lauraline out of the title, IMO.) I'm having a lot of fun. A review full of stars is coming your way!

Well, hey, that's excellent thanks! 

[TinkSaid]

Excellent topic - I'm going to plump for:

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - the title caught my eye across a crowded library shelf.
I don't know what I expected (some sort of updated Screwtape Letters, maybe?) but it wasn't the gossipy, colourful, funny, scandalous story of larger than life characters, who thoroughly entertained with their outrageous antics.

Just went to check the spelling of John Berendt, and only just discovered this is non fiction & now want to read it again.

 

[Sailor Stone]

Excellent topic - I'm going to plump for:

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - the title caught my eye across a crowded library shelf.
I don't know what I expected (some sort of updated Screwtape Letters, maybe?) but it wasn't the gossipy, colourful, funny, scandalous story of larger than life characters, who thoroughly entertained with their outrageous antics.

Just went to check the spelling of John Berendt, and only just discovered this is non fiction & now want to read it again.

Excellent title and book both. Savannah is an eclectic town as well. Great place to spend a weekend.

[Simon Haynes]

The Wasp Factory.  I read that one years ago and it's stuck with me ever since.

[Shane]

Through a Glass Darkly (ok, that's a movie, but still)

[fleurina]

I Capture the Castle -- love the title and the opening line:
'I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.'

[Sailor Stone]

I Capture the Castle -- love the title and the opening line:
'I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.'

That’s a great first line for sure...which leads me to thinking that great first lines should be another thread unto itself.
Here’s one of my favorites:
From Mark Helprin’s book, Refiner’s Fire, “It was one of those perfectly blue, wild days in Haifa when the winds from Central Asia and the eastern deserts come roaring into the city like a flight of old propeller planes.”

[TinkSaid]

I Capture the Castle -- love the title and the opening line:
'I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.'

That’s a great first line for sure...which leads me to thinking that great first lines should be another thread unto itself.
Here’s one of my favorites:
From Mark Helprin’s book, Refiner’s Fire, “It was one of those perfectly blue, wild days in Haifa when the winds from Central Asia and the eastern deserts come roaring into the city like a flight of old propeller planes.”

Great stuff!

Here's one of my favourite first lines:

"It was Friday the thirteenth and yesterday's snowstorm lingered in the streets like a leftover curse."
Falling Angel, William Hjortsberg.

The book's best described as crime noir with a strong supernatural theme, so that line really sets the tone.

[Alice Sabo]

My most recent favorite is "A key, an Egg, an Unfortunate Remark" Fun urban fantasy by Harry Connelly.