What are some title cliches (for lack of better term) that you can't stand? For me, the first one that comes to mind is The (blank's) Wife, or The (blank's) Daughter. Sometimes I swear every other book that comes out these days is some variant of that, especially in historical fiction and women's fiction.
Annoying title trends
- Thread starter Some Lonely Scorpio
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The Noun of Noun and Noun.
eg (all made up), a City of Lies and Death, A Jewel of Ice and Song, that kind of thing.
Someone put together a picture recently of all the current "daughter" books stacked together in a single shelf, inside a store.
eg (all made up), a City of Lies and Death, A Jewel of Ice and Song, that kind of thing.
Someone put together a picture recently of all the current "daughter" books stacked together in a single shelf, inside a store.
I don't know if this is still trendy, but for a while it was popular to use titles like The Xxxxtion of Some Person. For example:
The Indoctrination of John Smith
The Defenestration of Bill Jones
The Evaluation of Mabel Barnes
That kind of thing.
The Indoctrination of John Smith
The Defenestration of Bill Jones
The Evaluation of Mabel Barnes
That kind of thing.
I had no idea that kind of title was so popular. The only one I can think of was The Adoration of Jenna Fox, which was actually pretty good. That's neither here nor there though. 
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The 19th Wife
A Reliable Wife
The Paris Wifebook titles
American Wife
The Tiger’s Wife
The Time Traveler’s Wife
The Shoemaker’s Wife
The Apothecary’s Daughter
The Heretic’s Daughter
The Memory Keeper’s Daughter
The Baker’s Daughter
The Hangman’s Daughter
The Hummingbird’s Daughter
Sister: A Novel
Sisters
The Weird Sisters
The Good Sister
My Sister’s Keeper
All listed REALLY bother me, in order of : "[blank] of [blank] and [blank], then "The [blank]'s Wife" (I HATE IT SO MUCH), then "The [blank]'s Daughter"
I'm really starting to get tired of the entire mention of "shadow" in titles. I see it and I'm already mad. Much less irritated by "This [angst-y adjective] [deep noun]," but it's started to work on my nerves. (This Broken Promise, This Aching Soul, This Tortured Butt)
ETA: "This Daughter of Shadows and Wives"
I'm really starting to get tired of the entire mention of "shadow" in titles. I see it and I'm already mad. Much less irritated by "This [angst-y adjective] [deep noun]," but it's started to work on my nerves. (This Broken Promise, This Aching Soul, This Tortured Butt)
ETA: "This Daughter of Shadows and Wives"
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Robert Ludlum's formula: The Adjective Noun, e.g., The Bourne Identity, The Odessa File, The Heimlich Maneuver . . .
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It seems like I've been griping about "The So-and-So's Wife, The Such and So's Daughter, The Girl Who/With" titles forever. I also hate titles that sound like "The Cutesie-Poo and Funky Noun Society/Club/Sisterhood." *gag*
Also becoming a cliche: covers with the title (usually centered) in a large (typically white), all caps, monospaced, san serif that takes up most of the cover.
Also becoming a cliche: covers with the title (usually centered) in a large (typically white), all caps, monospaced, san serif that takes up most of the cover.
Totally agree with the "noun of noun and noun" irritation. Bothers me so much. I'm starting to see Queen and Princess in a lot of fantasy titles. I think that might just be my annoyance that every fantasy includes royalty these days, though.
OMG, so true what's written on this thread. The mentioned trends have annoyed me as well.
Add to that:
- just generally long titles (à la "The 100-Post Forum Member Who Opened A Window And Ended Up Not Being Funny", preferably then taking up most of the cover in big letters as well, as has been said)
- "All + [long phrase]" i.e. All The Light We Cannot See, All Our Wrong Todays...
- "[Before/Until] + [I/You/We] + [Go/Fall/Leave/Stay]" - just how many contemporary (mostly YA romances) have titles in that vein ?
Add to that:
- just generally long titles (à la "The 100-Post Forum Member Who Opened A Window And Ended Up Not Being Funny", preferably then taking up most of the cover in big letters as well, as has been said)
- "All + [long phrase]" i.e. All The Light We Cannot See, All Our Wrong Todays...
- "[Before/Until] + [I/You/We] + [Go/Fall/Leave/Stay]" - just how many contemporary (mostly YA romances) have titles in that vein ?
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All of them?- "[Before/Until] + [I/You/We] + [Go/Fall]" - just how many contemporary (mostly YA romances) have titles in that vein ?
There is also The Twentieth Wife, which sounds like a sequel to that but is not ...
Long ago my brother was a disk jockey in Dallas, before computers ran everything. One night he ran a sequence of songs just so he could announce "that was 'Get Down and Boogie', 'Jungle Boogie', 'Fried Hockey Boogie', 'Boogie Chillen' ', 'Boogie Oogie Oogie', and, of course 'Boogie Boogie Boogie'".
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the harry potter books come to mind.
(main character) and the (big thing the whole book is about)
(main character) and the (big thing the whole book is about)
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I can only think of the Time Travelers Wife, but it was such a bestseller, it wouldn't be surprising if it is being used a lot right now. Seeing the long list of titles I haven't heard of, though, it does seem to be a thing. I guess I don't read the right kinds of books.
The kinds of titles that have always bugged me are the ones that have nothing to do with the story itself, especially if they mislead as to the type of story it is. I like fantasy, so if (for instance" the word "dragon" is in the title and there are no dragons in the story, well darn.
I wouldn't say this is a thing now, but when I was younger, romances often had titles like "love's adjective noun." Loves Tender Fury, or Loves Dangerous Desires, or Love's Daring Dream etc. My best friend and I had fun making some up, Mad Lib style. I think the best one we came up with was "Love's Gentle Thrusts."
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