# Great book titles....that made you pick up the book. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 10, 2005, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-book-titles-that-made-you-pick-up-the-book/330381 "2005-11-10T12:55:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-book-titles-that-made-you-pick-up-the-book/330381/1 "2005-11-10T12:55:58Z")
Not necessarily good books, per se, but clever or witty titles. [Knitting with dog hair: better a sweater from a dog that you know and love than a sheep you will never meet.](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312152906/104-4051534-8223913?v=glance&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance) HAH! ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-book-titles-that-made-you-pick-up-the-book/330381/2 "2005-11-10T13:10:30Z")
“Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy”. I knew nothing of the radio show, never heard of the story before I saw the book on the shelf. But the title totally engaged me. Sue Grafton’s alphabetical mystery series also made me pick it up, but that wasn’t a specific title, it was seeing the whole binch of them together as a series. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-book-titles-that-made-you-pick-up-the-book/330381/3 "2005-11-10T13:35:56Z")
**Sewer, Gas & Electric: The Public Works Trilogy** by Mark Ruff ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-book-titles-that-made-you-pick-up-the-book/330381/4 "2005-11-10T14:07:55Z")
Diary of a Dead Man. Turned out to be posthumously published diaries of a Civil War POW who died in internment. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-book-titles-that-made-you-pick-up-the-book/330381/5 "2005-11-10T14:16:58Z")
My Cousin, My Gastroenterologist by Mark Leyner. An Underachiever’s Diary by Benjamin Anastas. Lipstick Jihad by Azadeh Moaveni. and about a zillion others over the years… ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Goob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@Mr.Goob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Goob)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-book-titles-that-made-you-pick-up-the-book/330381/6 "2005-11-10T15:55:18Z")
Microserfs by Douglas Coupland. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-book-titles-that-made-you-pick-up-the-book/330381/7 "2005-11-10T16:10:52Z")
An Armful of Warm Girl by Spackman. It was okay, but I love the title. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-book-titles-that-made-you-pick-up-the-book/330381/8 "2005-11-10T16:52:37Z")
Ooooh, \*\* lipstick jihad \*\*sounds worthy of a pickup! another one I saw today was Badger Knitting. or Knitting for young badgers. (Something like that.) The author’s last name is Badger. (What a cool last name.) ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-book-titles-that-made-you-pick-up-the-book/330381/9 "2005-11-10T17:21:42Z")
[Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0380978407/) ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-book-titles-that-made-you-pick-up-the-book/330381/10 "2005-11-10T17:35:52Z")
“The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break” Saw it in the library and read it in a week… which is really fast for me. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-book-titles-that-made-you-pick-up-the-book/330381/11 "2005-11-10T17:54:25Z")
The Satanic Bible. Wasn’t as good as it sounds. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-book-titles-that-made-you-pick-up-the-book/330381/12 "2005-11-10T18:48:59Z")
[**Marley & Me: Life and Love With the World’s Worst Dog**](http://www.marleyandme.com/images/home_book.jpg) I thought I’d had the world’s worst dog. I didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Amaranta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Amaranta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amaranta)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-book-titles-that-made-you-pick-up-the-book/330381/13 "2005-11-10T18:52:47Z")
Assassination Vacation, by Sarah Vowell. And it turned out to be an awesome book. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-book-titles-that-made-you-pick-up-the-book/330381/14 "2005-11-10T19:03:38Z")
_Golfing for Cats_ had a swastika on the cover and was supposed to pander to the three major interests of the book buing public, but I was not fooled. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-book-titles-that-made-you-pick-up-the-book/330381/15 "2005-11-10T20:51:52Z")
I bought **Geek Love** for the title, and **The Beans of Egypt, Maine**. Both good reads. Cover art draws me in more often than titles. How could a horror fan not be attracted to the cover of [The Good House](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743449002/002-0845179-1409631?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&v=glance) by Tananarive Due. (Good book too.) ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-book-titles-that-made-you-pick-up-the-book/330381/16 "2005-11-10T21:12:07Z")
[69 things to do with a dead princess.](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1841953814/002-2397802-4300056?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&v=glance) great title, but not much of a read. ---
**Author:** ![susan\_foster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@susan\_foster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan_foster)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-book-titles-that-made-you-pick-up-the-book/330381/17 "2005-11-10T22:51:10Z")
[The Best Thing That Can Happen to a Croissant](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1841957151/102-0410180-9717738?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&v=glance) [Autobiography of a Fat Bride: True Tales of a Pretend Adulthood](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/037576092X/102-0410180-9717738?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&v=glance) Susan ---
**Author:** ![Reloy3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c68b51/32.png) [@Reloy3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reloy3)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-book-titles-that-made-you-pick-up-the-book/330381/18 "2005-11-10T23:20:20Z")
The Man Who Ate the 747 by Ben Sherwood - and I enjoyed the book. ---
**Author:** ![ryobserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@ryobserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryobserver)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-book-titles-that-made-you-pick-up-the-book/330381/19 "2005-11-10T23:46:11Z")
\*\*They Came and Ate Us - Armageddon II: The B-Movie \*\* by Robert Rankin. Not that great, but it led me to the book it was a sequel to, **Armageddon: The Musical** , which was a hoot. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-book-titles-that-made-you-pick-up-the-book/330381/20 "2005-11-10T23:48:39Z")
> [@koeeoaddi](#): > > [**Marley & Me: Life and Love With the World’s Worst Dog**](http://www.marleyandme.com/images/home_book.jpg) I’m not sure how to feel about this. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-book-titles-that-made-you-pick-up-the-book/330381.md?page=2)