Posted by Suzanne Lilly
Twitter @suzannelilly
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| Monkey at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. Image by DEQ on Flickr. |
What book titles attract your interest? Is it the plain and mundane, or is it the alarming and disarming? Be it a good title, a bad title, a funny title, or a scary title, the ones that step out from the pack are the ones we remember.
Last week, I posted five quirky and unusual romance quotes. Now we’re moving on to quirky and unusual book titles. I agonize over the titles of my books and stories. You'll see from this list that perhaps not everyone spends a great deal of time choosing that all important TITLE.
One of my favorite book catalogs comes from a family owned company that specializes in remaindered and out of print items. When I went through the newest catalog this week, the entries entertained me through two glasses of tea and a full hour of lounging about pretending to do research. Here are the top five plus another four titles I discovered for your reading pleasure, all in this one catalog.
- The Cartoon Guide to Calculus. Perhaps now those stuffy high school math teachers will let the kids read comic books in class.
- Stupid on the Road. I drive on I-80 everyday. Do I really need to buy a book to see this?
- Complete Ancient Greek: Teach Yourself. But who will you speak it with?
- Teach Yourself Electricity. Comes with a free, do-it-yourself last will and testament.
- The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Lawsuits. An alternate title for this might be, How to Get Yourself Thrown Out of Court.
- Turtles: an Extraordinary Natural History. It starts out slow. Don’t try to rush through it.
- The Utterly, Completely, and Totally Useless Fact-O-Pedia: A Startling Collection of Over 1,000 Things You’ll Never Need to Know! I’m startled to think anyone spent money to buy this book.
- Uglier Than a Monkey’s Armpit. ‘Nuff said.
- I'm Not Hanging Noodles on Your Ears. Could those be a monkey's ears?
Clearly, I've been struggling too hard to come up with unique titles for my Honey Creek Books. Next time, I might just pick up this catalog, close my eyes, and point.
Here's an example of a really, really good novel title that makes you want to pick up the book and read it right away.
What’s the best, worst, or strangest book title you’ve ever come across?
Lol I do have 4 different books with the title Hunter's Moon. Some titles are just populair I guess.
ReplyDeleteAhaha, these titles are awesomely bad! I honestly can't think of any book titles I've seen that outdo those. But now I'm going to be on the lookout...
ReplyDeleteHi Aurian! You're right, some titles are done over and over again.
ReplyDeleteHi Ashley! I just had a really good time laughing while I was reading that catalog. Let me know if you find some good ones.
Sooo funny. I especially like your commentary. Here's a bad book title for a book I'll never write: Please Stop Licking My Computer and Other Things We Say to Our Pets.
ReplyDeleteHahaha! Actually, Vicki, that would make a really funny book. Does your dog like the way your computer tastes? I never had an pet lick my computer, but I once had a cat who would paw at the cursor as it moved on the screen while I typed. I chatted online with someone once who had baby chicks tapping on the keyboard.
ReplyDeleteThe screen would say, "b*7sn0."
I'd type, "What?"
She'd type, "Those darn chicks!"
One little update...Tuere Morton posted four really funny titles over at my Teacherwriter blog if you're hungry for more funnies.
ReplyDeletehttp://teacherwriter.net/2012/04/27/book-titles-the-best-of-the-worst/