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| Photo credit: cheri228 on Flickr |
There was once a time when I loved single-word titles. They were snappy, cool and easy to remember, and in my head, basically the bomb. Some of my favorites included Saint and the sequel Sinner by Ted Dekker.
But over time, I’ve come to realize that I’ve been gravitating more and more to longer, more evocative titles. I’ve realized I really love titles that create interesting images, titles that intrigue and echo elements of the book in an interesting and haunting way.
Some of my favorite titles include:
- The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
- Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor
- Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
- Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke
- The Wicked We Have Done by Sarah Harian
- Let the Storm Break by Shannon Messenger
Interestingly, I haven’t actually read any of those books (yet!), but I’ve found their titles to be particularly memorable.
But now I want to hear from you: what are some of your favorite titles and why?
Twitter-sized bite:
What are some of your favorite book titles? Join the discussion at @Ava_Jae's blog. (Click to tweet)
7 comments:
One world titles are the plague of the library world. As the reserve-placer, it was especially fun when the Stephenie Meyer books hit. Some of my favorite titles? (and I know there are more I can't think of immediately, of course):
The Unbearable Lightness of Being, by Milan Kundera (LOVE this book)
Lulu Meets God and Doubts Him, by Danielle Ganek (unfortunately, the book did not live up to the title)
American Gods, by Neil Gaiman (One of my favorite books)
That's interesting—why do one-word titles make reserving books more difficult?
The Unbearable Lightness of Being—I like that! Very interesting title. I can definitely see why it'd make your list. (Not to say that I don't like the others, but that one really stood out to me). :)
I like Sinner, Under the Never Sky and The Unbearable Lightness of Being too. In terms of titles (because I haven't read all of these yet), I also like The Art of Falling, Divergent, Dark Parties, Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, Mockingjay, Glimpse, Unbreathable, A Rush of Wings, and Hush, Hush. And there are probably many, many more.
Ooohhh, I like The Art of Falling, Dark Parties, A Rush of Wings and Hush, Hush, too. You're right, there are loads of great ones out there. :)
Laini Taylor just has the best titles, ok? I love that one too. So fabulous.
Inkheart is an interesting choice. You're right—it's short, but it fits really well.
I also agree about The Mortal Instruments. It works really well with the series.
I prefer titles that do not spoil anything from the plot. One does not simply call his novel "How lady Ashburton was murdered, and how Lord Harrington solved the mistery", or "The heroic death of captain McLane".
The "Harry Potter" books were pretty damn fine at this, but my all-time favourite is Umberto Eco's "The name of the rose" which is only a reference to the rational thinking of the protagonist.
I also prefer catchy titles with easy spelling and pronounciation, for library/bookstore search reasons. And of course, nobody would say "My favourite book is 'Das Schlittschuhlaufermädchen', I love it!" in public.
I can't say I've come across many titles that spoiled the plot, but I agree that those would not be preferable. Also, I've learned, that when choosing a title, it's best to stick to words that are easy to pronounce, largely for the reasons you mentioned.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
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