Judging Books by Their Titles
I don’t care what the old adage says. I judge books by their covers. The only times I buy books whose covers don’t tickle my fancy are when they have been recommended by someone with whom I share similar tastes in books (tastes that tend toward the off-beat and the downright weird).
But more importantly, I judge books by their titles. What are titles for if not for grabbing potential readers by the collar and screaming, “READ ME!”?
In my case, the likelihood of my buying a book is directly proportional to the strangeness of its title. If book titles were people, I would be most effectively grabbed by that freak skulking at the back of the classroom or that woman dressed like Helena Bonham Carter on drugs.
See below the titles of the last five books I’ve enjoyed:
- The Wind-up Bird Chronicle
- The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters
- The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy (a well-chosen gift from the same someone I mentioned above)
- Life of Pi
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
So now I ask you, are there any strangely titled books that you could recommend to me? I’ve just got back in the swing of reading, and I want to keep my momentum.
I predict a book shopping spree in my very near future.
I go by the synopsis. Does this make me mad or just sensible?
I remember reading your blogs before pa
way back! 
and i found you again thru someone’s site! 
wala lang, natuwa lang ako! hehehe!
where in singapore are you working?
hey!! Personally, I like covers, too… but I never buy books nowadays unless I need them. So it really depends on what I’m feeling at the moment.
Some interesting titles I heard about lately (have no idea what these books are about, though):
Eats Shoots and Leaves (Ito ba ay ‘kumain, bumaril, tapos umalis?’ Or ‘kumakain ng shoots at dahon’? Cute, isn’t it?)
The Monk who Sold his Ferrari
I’m afraid I can’t really think of any books with weird titles for you
I haven’t been reading as much as I would like to lately, and when I was last on a reading spur it was because I wanted to read all the classics 
That said, I’m saving “War and Peace” for… well, la la la, someday. I think.
I think I too judge books by their covers. I don’t know if I would judge one by it’s title, unless the title was signifigantly lame or cheesy. Then I would probably steer away from it, and look for something more interesting. But I think covers are definitely meant to draw people in, and unless there’s that visual aspect of it to get your attention (the title can make up for that of course), then I think it’s hard to get really interested in a book you’ve never heard of before, with a plain cover. If the book has been recommended to me however, then I couldn’t care less what it looks like
Good luck with finding something
Hi! I just got to your site through my friend’s link list and I found it cool, so I look around often.
Anyway, here are some interesting books I’ve already read, (and they have one-word titles):
Thr3e (by Ted Dekker)
– fiction, and it’s really spelled with a number 3
Next (by Michael Crichton)
– fiction, and same author of Jurassic Park
iCon (by Jeffrey Young and William Simon)
– nonfiction about Steve Jobs, the Apple guy
I’ve read those! Good taste
No suggestions for you, though. I’m afraid of suggesting books to people
I’ve never read this book before but I saw it on my sister’s collections – “On the Bright Side, I’m Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God”. Nice huh?!