I don't think we have to worry about Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. With 6,148,248 ratings on Goodreads, I am sure we can all feel confident that J.K. Rowling did a good job with the book's title.
But what about other books that have not received quite so many reviews on Goodreads? What about Aftermath (3 reviews) by Suzanne Morris? Could it be that the title Aftermath was too bland?
Sometimes book titles are just too short. What about Water (15 reviews) by Carol Lawrence? It's a nonfiction book for children...about...well, water. Not an exciting title, Carol. I think you could have come up with something a bit more intriguing.
Paris (29 reviews) by Heather Reyes? Really? Just Paris?
Dinosaur (18 reviews) by Stephanie Stansbie? C'mon, people, if you can write an entire book about a subject then you can think of a title that is more than just one word.
Sometimes titles just don't sound interesting. Mrs. Noah's Vegetable Ark (20 reviews) by Elena Pasquali? Do you really want to read a book about that?
Floating in a Most Peculiar Way (3 reviews) by David Racine? No, I don't think so.
Signal to Noise (7 reviews) by Clara Sinclair? What is that about?
Darkness Falls (8 reviews) by John M. DelVechio?
The Expectations of Light (12 reviews) by Pattianne Rogers? You are a wonderful poet, Pattianne Rogers. Couldn't you have come up with a better title than that?
Sometimes you know it isn't the title. What title could be more intriguing than Rhonda the Rubber Woman (3 reviews) and yet it only has had three reviews? And If She Weren't My Best Friend, I'd Kill Her (13 reviews)? Sometimes it's pretty obvious that a good title can't help a poor book.
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each Tuesday That Artsy Reader Girl assigns a topic and then post her top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join her and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.
Wow. Even Harry? Lol. These are new to me ones after that one. I struggled with this topic to be honest!
ReplyDeleteHere's my Tuesday Post
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No, I'd keep Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone just as it is, but there are some titles---Water? Paris?---I think could be improved upon.
DeleteA good title can certainly make a difference on whether I pick a book up or not.
ReplyDeleteWater definitely could have used a stronger, more descriptive title.
ReplyDeleteMy TTT.
Goodness, yes.
Deletegreat feature and the books....'shrug'
ReplyDeletesherry @ fundinmental
Yes, true.
ReplyDeleteI would definitely change Sorcerer's Stone back to Philosopher's Stone, American publishers don't need to dumb down for their readers.
ReplyDeleteCora | http://www.teapartyprincess.co.uk/
Philosopher's Stone is much better. Agreed. Though both titles seemed to do well with their target readers.
DeleteThe only thing about the Harry Potter books is that the titles are so long. It's hard to keep them straight for me.
ReplyDeleteMy TTT.
That is true.
DeleteYeah-just Paris makes it tough to get any attention. Great take on the topic this week!
ReplyDeleteWho thinks up the titles, anyway?
DeleteAll right, you win, none of these inspired me to click through to read more about them. Except Floating in a Most Peculiar Way, because that has kind of a ring to it. (although having done so, the summary says "can't relate")
ReplyDeleteEven Amazon couldn't figure that one out.
DeleteLast year one of our state's Battle of the Books titles was The Luck Uglies. The cover looked green and weird, and the title did not appeal. It turned out to be one of our favorites! But I certainly never would have picked it up otherwise.
ReplyDeleteGlad the book was good despite the jarringly bad title.
DeleteSome of those titles just aren't good. It's funny to think how much impact a bad title can have on a book's success.
ReplyDeleteYes, and I didn't even take on copycat titles. Those get completely lost in the book universe.
DeleteOh yeah, totally agree with you, especially on Paris and Water. Those two just seem lazy.
ReplyDeleteI could have found a six-year-old who could have thought of something better than that.
DeleteMost of those one word titles are just so bland and boring. Definitely nothing that makes you want to pick up the book.
ReplyDeleteWOW! What an interesting thought for a post!
ReplyDelete