Tag: booktitles

June 22, 2018

9 Books That Will Make You Do a Double Take

Sometimes when I’m browsing through the shelves of my local bookstore or library, I’ll read a title on a spine that makes me stop and look again just to make sure I read it right. Below are some of the best examples of this that the Internet has to offer. Some are meant to be ironic. Some are completely serious. All are one hundred percent real.

1. Nuclear War: What’s in it for You? by Ground Zero Fund, Inc.

^{Image Via Amazon UK}

What indeed. This book is actually out of date (as you can probably tell by looking at the cover image) since it was written during the Cold War. However, it provides all the basic information a reader could possibly need in order to understand the frightening implications of nuclear weapons.

2. Crafting with Cat Hair: Cute Handicrafts to Make with your Cat by Kaori Tsutaya

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Believe it or not, this book is actually a bestseller on Amazon, and it is about exactly what it sounds like. I guess a lot of people are interested in felting with cat hair; if your cat sheds a lot, I’m sure it’s nice to be able to put all that fur to use.

3. Knitting with Dog Hair: Better a Sweater from a Dog You Know and Love than from a Sheep You’ll Never Meet by Kendall Crolius and Anne Montgomery

^{Image Via Wagging World}

Maybe you are a dog person instead. In that case, don’t worry – there’s a crafting book for you too! Dog hair can also be used to make all kinds of garments and accessories.

4. How Not to Be a Dick: An Everyday Etiquette Guide by Meghan Doherty

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I feel like this should be required reading for the entire human race. It’s illustrated similarly to the original Dick and Jane books, but I’d argue that this book is much more educational. It explains very plainly how to be a decent human being. You really have no excuse to be a dick.

5. Old Tractors and the Men Who Love Them: How to Keep Your Tractors Happy and Your Family Running by Roger Welsch

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The book for when your tractor is your life. This essay collection will help you take care of your tractor and will give you a good laugh.

6. The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Guide to Field Identification by Julian Montegue

^{Image Via BlazePress}

I know what you’re thinking: is there a field guide for carts of western North America? Unfortunately, the answer is no, but this book can easily be adapted for other regions. It is thorough with lots of pictures of its subjects in various habitats and a detailed classification system. Much more interesting than bird watching.

7. Bombproof Your Horse: Teach Your Horse to Be Confident, Obedient, and Safe, No Matter What You Encounter by Rick Pelicano

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Hopefully you never face a situation in which you or your horse would be bombed. If you are anticipating such an occurrence, then you might need a different book. However, if you are anticipating any number of lesser crises that might confuse or scare your horse, then this book will tell you how to train your horse to be more confident and calm no matter what happens.

8. Cooking with Poo by Poo Saiyuud Diwong

^{Image Via eBay}

This is an unfortunate example of what happens when a name just doesn’t sound right to English readers. As you’ll notice, Poo is the name of the author. She runs a cooking school in Bangkok.

9. Are Women Human?: And Other International Dialogues by Catherine A. MacKinnon

^{Image Via BiblioVault}

You might have several ideas as to the subject of this book based on its title. To be clear, it’s actually about human rights and mistreatment of women around the globe, but the title definitely grabs your attention.

Feature Image Via Flickr

November 9, 2017

5 Books With Hilariously Long Titles

Oh how I love an indulgently long title. While a nice snappy one may make for a more visually appealing cover, the long ones are often the funniest. I present to you a list of the longest, most amusing book titles I could find. I hope you enjoy reading them aloud as fast as possible, as much as I did.

1. No Matter How Much You Promise to Cook or Pay the Rent You Blew It Cauze Bill Bailey Ain’t Never Coming Home Again; A Symphonic Novel by Edgardo Vega Yunqué

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Amazon says:

This sweeping drama of intimately connected families–black, white, and Latino–boldly conjures up the ever-shifting cultural mosaic that is America. At its heart is Vidamía Farrell, half Puerto Rican, half Irish, who sets out in search of the father she has never known. Her journey takes her from her affluent suburban home to the Lower East Side of Manhattan, where her father Billy Farrell now lives with his second family. Once a gifted jazz pianist, Billy lost two fingers in the Vietnam War and has since shut himself off from jazz. As Billy’s colorful new family draws her into their fold, so Vidamia determines to draw her father back into the world he left behind.

2. The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, Of York, Mariner: Who lived Eight and Twenty Years, all alone in an un-inhabited Island on the Coast of America, near the Mouth of the Great River of Oroonoque; Having been cast on Shore by Shipwreck, wherein all the Men perished but himself. With An Account how he was at last as strangely deliver’d by Pyrates by Daniel Defoe

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Goodreads says:

Crusoe sets sail from the Queen’s Dock in Hull on a sea voyage in August 1651, against the wishes of his parents, who want him to pursue a career, possibly in law. After a tumultuous journey where his ship is wrecked in a storm, his lust for the sea remains so strong that he sets out to sea again. This journey, too, ends in disaster, as the ship is taken over by Sale pirates and Crusoe is enslaved by a Moor.

3. And to My Nephew Albert I Leave the Island What I Won Off Fatty Hagan in a Poker Game by David Forrest

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Amazon says:

Foul Rock is a tiny speck only seventy meters wide and one hundred and forty meters long, just off the coast of England. When he first sets foot on his inheritance, Albert quickly realises that there is absolutely nothing there, nothing except for the frequent presence of Victoria, a very attractive young girl in search of a suntan. Just as the two are getting to know each other better, a Russian trawler (spy ship) runs aground on the Island. The other side of the Island is soon occupied by the United States Marines and Victoria and Albert find themselves caught up in a precarious and hilarious Cold War stand off.

4. The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders Who was born in Newgate, and during a life of continu’d Variety for Threescore Years, besides her Childhood, was Twelve Years a Whore, five times a Wife (whereof once to her brother) Twelve Years a Thief, Eight Years a Transported Felon in Virginia, at last grew Rich, liv’d Honest and died a Penitent by Daniel Defoe

^{Image Via Amazon.com}

Amazon says:

Moll Flanders is a novel by Daniel Defoe. It purports to be the true account of the life of the eponymous Moll, detailing her exploits from birth until old age. Moll’s mother is a convict in Newgate Prison in London who is given a reprieve by “pleading her belly,” a reference to the custom of staying the executions of pregnant criminals.

5. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party by M.T Anderson

^{Image Via Amazon}

Amazon says:

It sounds like a fairy tale. He is a boy dressed in silks and white wigs and given the finest of classical educations. Raised by a group of rational philosophers known only by numbers, the boy and his mother — a princess in exile from a faraway land — are the only persons in their household assigned names.

Only after he dares to open a forbidden door does he learn the hideous nature of their experiments — and his own chilling role in them. Set against the disquiet of Revolutionary Boston, M. T. Anderson’s extraordinary novel takes place at a time when American Patriots rioted and battled to win liberty while African slaves were entreated to risk their lives for a freedom they would never claim. The first of two parts, this deeply provocative novel reimagines the past as an eerie place that has startling resonance for readers today.

Featured Image Via Book Riot

September 30, 2015

10 Classic Books That Almost Had Different Titles

Book titles are important: along with the cover, they’re one of the first things we notice when we pick up a novel. We’ve grown so used to some famous book titles that we barely think about them anymore. Of course The Great Gatsby is called The Great Gatsby; why wouldn’t it be?

But the truth is, it almost wasn’t. And F. Scott Fitzgerald isn’t the only literary figure who switched up a famous title at the last minute. Here are 10 incredible examples of famous book titles that were almost completely different.

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

Which number followed the “Catch-” in Catch-22 was debated by Heller and his publisher for a while. Heller considered 11 and 18 first, but they were discarded to avoid confusion with the film Ocean’s Eleven (the original 1960 version) and Leon Uris’ Mila 18, respectively. 22 was eventually picked simply because it was 11 (Heller’s original choice) doubled.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

We gave this one away in the introduction, but how crazy is it that Fitzgerald’s greatest work was almost called something else? In fact, Fitzgerald was considering several different titles, including Among Ash-Heaps and Millionaires; Gold-Hatted Gatsby; On the Road to West Egg; Trimalchio in West Egg; Under the Red, White, and Blue; and our personal favorite, The High-Bouncing Lover.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

Rowling’s debut already had a title in the United Kingdom, of course, where it was known as Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. But her publisher, convinced that an American audience wouldn’t know what the Philosopher’s Stone was, wanted to change the title to something more accessible. According to Philip W. Errington’s book on Rowling’s work, the publisher wanted Harry Potter and the School of Magic. That was lame, and Rowling knew it: she insisted on something more specific, and the “Sorcerer’s Stone” was born.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Harper Lee made a lot of changes as she worked on her famous novel (the recently published Go Set a Watchman is essentially a very early permutation of the work.) At some point, her working title was Atticus. It changed to To Kill a Mockingbird as Lee expanded the novel and made it less about Atticus Finch.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

John Steinbeck wasn’t originally going to call his brief classic Of Mice and Men. Instead, he was going to go with Something That Happened. Maybe he thought the original title gave away too much of the plot?

1984 by George Orwell

Orwell’s original title was The Last Man in Europe, but his publisher thought 1984 was catchier. Orwell was a serial title changer: he also dropped the subtitle from his classic Animal Farm, which was originally going to be Animal Farm: A Fairy Story. He also considered A Satire and A Contemporary Satire as titles for Animal Farm, both of which seem rather obvious.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Jane Austen’s original title for Pride and Prejudice was First Impressions. Not bad, but it doesn’t quite have the melodic ring that the famous chosen title has. Plus, it doesn’t pair nearly as neatly with Sense and Sensibility.

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

Have you read Twilight? No, not that Twilight. We’re talking about William Faulkner’s greatest novel, The Sound and the Fury, which was originally supposed to be called Twilight. Really!

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

Hemingway’s original title for The Sun Also Rises was Fiesta. That would certainly have given the cover a bit of a different tone! We can see why Fiesta would have been appropriate, but we think everyone’s glad that Hemingway stepped it up a bit in the title department.

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Tolstoy’s magnum opus is a powerful volume, but we don’t think it would have been quite as powerful if Tolstoy had gone with the original idea for the title. Tolstoy’s original title translated to “All’s Well That Ends Well,” which doesn’t quite do justice to his epic novel. The chosen title, War and Peace, was a real upgrade.