What makes a good book title?

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I prefer it to be weird than some generic shit like The Wall or shit like that.
I prefer a japanese isekai title that at least makes you know what it is about rather than a generic one.
But I also really really hate titles that are the name of a character.
 
It should be poetic and invite curiosity.

Some of my favorites:

Pale Fire

Hard to be a God

Gravity Rainbow

Atlas Shrugged

Storm of Steel

Leviathan Wakes

Childhood's End
 
I like titles that stand out, but still hint at what I'm in for.

We Are Legion (We Are Bob) is a good example. It relates to the story and the humorous theme.

The Water Knife works as well. It's interesting as one doesn't normally think of a natural resource as a weapon, but in the book about desperate fighting over natural resources and how they're controlled after climate change, it's a great fit.

I don't like titles that seem to be more of a fad than anything, following a simple format copied endlessly. Some example formats:

The profession's female relation.

A thing of element and element.

I think a good title gives you some insight into the type of book, but should stand out in some way rather than jumping on a bandwagon. It doesn't need to be anime-length, short titles can work fine.
 
As a simple man, I generally enjoy riddles ("what can this possibly refer to?") and alliterations as well as the "The/A/An [noun] of/in [noun]" format.
"The Left Hand of Darkness" is one of the best I've heard I think. Haven't even read the thing, but the title itself is intriguing, somewhat menacing, and has a nice melody to it. Kind of sounds like a religious metaphor.
 
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Saw this one the other day and ended up getting it entirely because of the cover and title. I have no idea what it's about but it's pretty.
 
I like absurd words strung together that are relevant to the story, in my unprofessional opinion.
"The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat"
 
My favorite book title.
Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships
 
If it is a fantasy or science fiction setting, never ever use your gibberish fantasy name garbage in the title. Your donut steal constructed world, your characters, whatever, don't do that shit. Absolutely meaningless to the potential buyer.
 
Esau dijo:
Here are some good book/story titles I like:

A Perfect Day for Bananafish
A Weak Heart
Meek Girl
Franny and Zooey
I am A Cat
Auf Der Marble Klippen
Steppenwolf (wasn't a good book, though)
A Farewell to Arms
The Sound and The Fury
Reynard's Cycle
Consider The Lobster
Mere Christianity
Homage to Catalonia
The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote De A La Mancha
David Copperfield
Infinite Jest
Presiona para expandir...
If you are writing NON-fiction, you can parody famous fiction titles.

There is an economic history of the world called "A Farewell to Alms" that riffs off A Farewell to Arms.
 
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