What makes a great book title?
A particularly evocative or unusual image? Wordplay? A clever reference that makes you want to read more?
We can probably all agree that there’s no recipe for the perfect title, but at least at BookPage, we know a great title when we see it. In alphabetical order, here are our favorite book titles of 2010—titles that made us pause and wonder what was inside the book. Titles that made us want to read more.
Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self by Danielle Evans
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin
Dead End Gene Pool by Wendy Burden
Everything Lovely, Effortless, Safe by Jenny Hollowell
Hellhound on His Trail by Hampton Sides*
Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride
I Now Pronounce You Someone Else by Erin McCahan
Life Would Be Perfect if I Lived in that House by Meghan Daum
Lives Like Loaded Guns by Lyndall Gordon**
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
Weeping Under Water Looks A Lot Like Laughter by Michael J. White
Where the God of Love Hangs Out by Amy Bloom
Interestingly, each of our favorite titles has at least four words. I’d love to hear someone’s favorite short title—anyone have a nomination? What were your favorite book titles of 2010?
Also on The Book Case: Browse our Best of 2010 coverage.
And just for fun, check out the hilarious Better Book Titles blog.
*Title taken from the Robert Johnson song, “Hellhound On My Trail”
**Title taken from the Emily Dickinson poem, “My Life had stood a Loaded Gun”
Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny was one of my favorites.
I loved Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell and The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton.
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Resurrection of the Romanovs by Greg King and Penny Wilson. The best in non-fiction writing!
Just finished reading “The Good Daughters” by Joyce Maynard. It’s the first book I’ve ever read by her and I want to read more of her! I really enjoyed the story and for once I found the ending to be satisfying.
“Full Dark, No Stars”! Stephen King at his best
One of the first books I finished this year was Letter to My Daughter by George Bishop and it is still lingering with me today. Excellent, excellent, excellent. I also loved The Passage, and can’t wait for the sequel.
I have Life Would Be Perfect… on my shelf, thanks for reminding me it existed. Hoping to pick it up soon!
Without a doubt, ROOM was my favorite of the year.
“To The End Of The Land” by David Grossman was a fascinating read!
The Elegance of the Hedgehog is my favorite read of 2010, although it was published a few years ago.
Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk. How could you top a title like that? Just the thought of it brings a smile to my face everytime.
Nightfall by Nelson DeMille. Compelling, serious, humorous, intriguing, insightful, can it be true? A real page turner.
BEFORE YOU SUFFOCATE YOUR OWN FOOL SELF ~ The title is borrowed from “The Bridge Poem,” by Donna Kate Rushin.
I AM THE AUTHOR OF ,”LIFE LOVE AND DEATH,” AND FARTHER ALONG, MORE ON LIFE LOVE AND DEATH,”ABOUT MY MOTHER’S UNTHINKABLE AND HORRIBLE LIFE SHE LIVED FROM THE DAY SHE WAS BORN UNTIL THE DAY SHE DIED. HER MOTHER WAS HALF CHEROKEE , AND IN THE EARLY 1900′S THAT WAS NOT EXCEPTED. FRAN MY MOM IN THE BOOKS WAS ONLY 10 YEARS OLD WHEN HER MOTHER DIED AT THE AGE OF 33, LEAVING FRAN MY MOM 10 YEARS OLD, A YOUNGER BROTHER, 6 YEARS, AND A 12 YEAR OLD BROTHER TO MAKE IT THE BEST WAY THEY COULD . THE STEPFATHER PUT THEM OUT THE DAY AFTER THEIR MOTHER’S FURNERAL. THE 12 YEAR OLD COULD GET OUT AND FIND WORK, BUT FRAN AND LAWSON , HER LITTLE BROTHER HAD TO GO FROM HOUSE TO HOUSE BEGGING PEOPLE TO LET HER WORK DOING CHORES ,COOKING AND CLEANING, FOR A PLACE FOR HER AND HER LITTLE BROTHER TO SLEEP. SHE HAD A WORSE CHILDHOOD THAN ANYONE COULD IMAGINE. EVERYONE WHO READS THE BOOK, MEN AND WOMEN, SAY’STHAT THEY DIDN’T WANT TO PUT THE BOOK DOWN , AND STILL WANTED WANTED KEEP ON READING, AND COULDN’T HELP BUT CRY THROUGH PARTS OF IT. A MUST READ TWO BOOKS, STARTING WITH ,”LIFE LOVE AND DEATH,” AND THEN ,” FARTHER ALONG, MORE ON LIFE LOVE AND DEATH.” THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU ALL. MARY F. TUCKER