reacting to YOUR favourite book titles of all time

[eliajanella]

"I Have No Mouth But I Must Scream" is one of my favorites. It just exudes a dreadful, hopeless, and uneasy feeling.

[small_and_dangerous]

“As Long As The Lemon Trees Grow” not only feels super pretty to me, but when I first came across the book the title struck me as hopeful. It really reflects the ongoing rebellion in Syria and how so many Syrians today, even the refugees, are holding out hope that one day their country will be free and they can return home again. It’s exquisite.

[myeon]

My favorite title so far that I've encountered is Even Ducks Get Liver Cancer by Wilfredo Liangco, a Filipino writer. It is a book consisting of a collection of essays about his experiences in the medical field. I think this title is very witty and I need to get a copy soon. Another one is Some Days You Can't Save Them All by Ronnie E. Baticulon. Another Filipino writer who wrote essays on his experiences in the medical field as well.

[monikanazer]

"The unbearable lightness of being" hits me different.

[miri_b]

"drive your plough over the bones of the dead" by Olga Tokarczuk is a stunning title! Also love "the girl who slept with god" (Val Brelinski)

[mackenziebrynnrap]

I'm always very drawn to long/full sentence book titles myself:

-This Is How You Lose The Time War
-I'm Thinking of Ending Things
-The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In A Ship Of Her Own Making
-Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone
-Pretty much all of Fredrick Backman's titles
-The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender

For sure there's more but that's all I got right now

[alessandratelles]

"The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake" made me buy the book without knowing absolutely anything about it. With that title, it was bound to be a great book. And it was.

...
If you need more, in short, it's about a 9 year old that can taste the emotions of a person through tasting the food they made.

[sarazannoli]

My favourite title of all time has to be "Death will come and it shall have your eyes" by Cesare Pavese. It never fails to make me stop. It sounds so heartbreaking and yet so beautiful and tender I just love it

[Abby-jchp]

"Tell Me How to Be" is a favorite title of mine. It fits so well given the book follows a mother and son figuring out how to be in the world as they grapple with hidden secrets, and it takes on a second meaning. The son is a songwriter and the line "tell me how to be" is part of the chorus in a song he writes and is repeated throughout the book as the song plays in his mind during different events. An all-time favorite book of mine!

[abbles.bubbles]

I love "Silence of the Girls, " "To Kill a Mockingbird, " and "Songs of Experience and Innocence." They all seem basic or stale at first but as you read those books and do your own research there's so many levels to such simple titles

[evanelio]

I'll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson is my favourite book of all time and the way this phrase is used in the book and explored throughout its themes is absolutely beautiful. It will always hold a special place in my heart <3

[Koffeinkaos]

“Play the Piano Drunk Like a Percussion Instrument Until the Fingers Begin to Bleed a Bit” by Charles Bukowski is such a perf title for a Bukowski book it just feels like a gut punch and heartbreak at the same time.

[HMarie.]

‘On earth we’re briefly gorgeous’ and ‘night sky with exit wounds’ are truly stunning titles.
I also love titles that get better after reading the book (I felt that way about ‘solo dance’ by Li Kotomi. The title wasn’t special at first, but after reading and sobbing my way through the book, I thought it was perfectly chosen).

Some more titles for your consideration:
-Human Acts by Han Kang (it’s very simple, but I don’t think there could have been a more poignant title for what this book entails. I like it even more than the original Korean title 소년이 온다, which translates as “the boy is coming/here comes the boy”)
-I want to eat your pancreas/Let me eat your pancreas by Yoru Sumino (it just an eye catcher! And while it sounds a bit weird, if you’ve read the book, I think it’s actually really beautiful)
-At a distance, spring is green by Ji Nyoong (this is a webtoon, not a book, but it’s one of my favorite titles ever. Since it a story about the struggles of young adults who are in the “spring” of their life, the ways you can interpret the title both as “it’s not just green, it’s even more colorful” and “when you get closer, you stop seeing the green and see the remnants of winter” are beautiful to me)
-I have the right to destroy myself by Kim Youngha (devastating book with a brilliant title to match it)

[esuimcm]

I've been raving about the German title of Convenience Store Woman to all my friends, I think it's so clever! To explain the pun a bit further: "Ladenhüter" is a composite word that consists of Laden (store) and -hüter As a compound word though it has taken on the specific meaning of "a product that never gets bought, so sits in the store forever". Ladenhüterin (with an "in" at the end) is the female version of that, but that form of the word doesn't technically exist in the sense of referring to a product that doesn't sell, because that would always be grammatically masculine. When talking about "Hüter" as a human in the original sense though, adding "in" to make it "Hüterin" is the regular way to say female guardian/custodian/etc. so this makes it clear that it's a variation/play on the term and referring to a woman who quite literally is a "Hüterin" of the "Laden" (but also doesn't leave).

[PokhrajRoy.]

Jack is a connoisseur of great book titles so I’d trust him to give us recommendations.

[valkyrie_cain]

"The Knife of Never Letting Go" by Patrick Ness was one that drew me in just from the title. And then the book and its sequels are excellent as well

[speshuul]

“To sleep in a sea of stars” it just sounds so beautiful and sci-fi and I hope that’s what heaven is??
And omg
“The improbable life of Ricky bird” it sounds so whimsical and full of like childhood wonder and the cover is SO colourful but the book is so incredibly HEARTBREAKING! One of the few books that has made me sob for like half of it 😭 it’s beautifully written and hopeful but so so sad

[nrt]

The Dutch title for Lord of the Rings is 'In de ban van de ring', which literally means obsessed with/captivated by/under the influence of the ring, but the power of the title for me lies in the way 'in de ban van' is more obsessive and dark than any of these translations, it carries this darkness that intrigues and sounds real nice too. And the Dutch title for The Very Hungry Caterpillar is Rupsje Nooitgenoeg (Caterpillar Neverenough), which became a semi-proverb :)

[henrywayne]

And Every Morning...is my favourite novella of all time, and Backman, oh how that man writes breaks my heart all the damn time.

[cosmic.elixir]

every single Fredrik Backman book title is just top tier and dare I say painful, that's why they are chef's kiss (or is it a writer's kiss?🤭, I'll see myself out..)