The Unbearable Lightness of Scones (and other great titles)


Who planned this?
I happen to love train crossings (and drawbridges and all such things), and I love this stupid, illogical train crossing most of all, because it's silly and nutty and makes me laugh. Kind of like the title of the Alexander McCall Smith mystery, The Unbearable Lightness of Scones.
(Okay, that was not an award-winning segue, but give me a break, I'm preparing for a move in 1.5 weeks and my center is barely holding. Things fall apart and nothing is illuminated and one day I'll be dead and I am always, always late and packing is heartbreaking work of staggering discouragement and I think I may be being stalked by a moonshadow.)
So. This was meant to be a post about some of my favorite book (and play and movie) titles.
Some favorite titles of books/plays I've read (and/or plays/movies I've seen):
John Patrick Norman McHennessy: The Boy Who Was Always Late. (A [fabulous] picturebook by John Burningham.)
- The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. (A book of short stories by Sherman Alexie, some of which evolved into the movie Smoke Signals, screenplay by Sherman Alexie and directed by Chris Eyre.)
- Proof. (A play by David Auburn and, later, a movie directed by John Madden.)
- Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. (A play by Tom Stoppard and, later, a movie directed by Tom Stoppard.)
- Things Fall Apart. (A book by Chinua Achebe.)
- The Unbearable Lightness of Being. (A book by Milan Kundera and, later, a movie directed by Philip Kaufman.)
And here are some of my favorites among books/movies I have not read or seen (yet):
The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness. (A book by Elyn R. Saks.)
- Everything Is Illuminated. (A novel by Jonathan Safran Foer and, later, a movie directed by Liev Schreiber.)
- A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. (A book by Dave Eggers.)
- I'm Being Stalked by a Moonshadow. (A book by Doug MacLeod.)
- The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. (A book by Anne Fadiman.)
- The Thing About Life Is That One Day You'll Be Dead. (A book by David Shields.)
- The Unbearable Lightness of Scones. (A book by Alexander McCall Smith.)
What do you think of my titles? What are some of your favorites?
Comments
I Am America (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert
I've always loved the name "Subtle Knife," in reference to both the book and the item for which the book is named (by Phillip Pullman).
LOTS LOTS MORE that I unfortunately can't recall, and definitely already loved some of the ones you listed.
I love the title 'Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List', but that could be because it's a great book. No, it's def because it's a great title.
trisha from brisbane Australia
the daniel x series by james patterson
tsubasa: people with wings by natsuki takaya
bleach by i-dont-remember
the melancholy of haruhi suzumiya by i-dont-remember
the ghostgirl series by tonya hurley
the 13th reality series by james dashner
the seems series by john hulme and michael wexler
the mysterious benedict society series by trenton lee stewart.
please notice that yes i do have an obsession with wings, james patterson, n manga. DONT JUDGE ME!!!!!
I've been reading this book for at least 6 months now. And yet, every time I pick it up, I can remember where things were.
Plot stuff:
Funny thing about running on the beach nude and getting your picture on a magazine cover!
Hmm, titles.... Socrates in Love was a work of art. (IMO) (Written by Kyoichi Katayama.)
House of Dark Shadows, Watcher in the Woods, and Gatekeepers, all by Robert Liparulo.
The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen.
Kino's Journey (Kino no Tabi) by Keiichi Sigsawa
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle.
There are a lot more, but I don't want to make this comment too long! (That, and I can't remember all of them at this moment!)
The Fatal Lozenge: An Alphabet
The Epiplectic Bicycle
The Doleful Domesticity; Another Novel
Dancing Cats and Neglected Murderesses
All of these by Edward Gory. *sigh* I love him. There are many, many more of his I could list.
Also:
Villians By Necessity, Eve Foward
Ballad of the Amored Hen (okay, this one's a wip of mine, but I'm rather fond of the title myself) :)
The Otherworld series (love them all) by Kelley Armstrong
The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong
The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong
The Night World saga by L.J. Smith
Triskellion by Will Peterson
The Mortal Instruments Trilogy by Cassandra Clare
The Inheritance Saga by Christopher Paolini
and the list goes on and on and on...
and yes, I like Urban fantasy/Thriller alot.
Generation Dead and Kiss of Life by Daniel Waters
Kissed by an Angel by Elizabeth Chandler
The Pendragon series by D.J. Machale
RAM
A fun book I liked recently was Lonely Werewolf Girl by Martin Millar.
Seventeen: I'm definetly going to try Socrates in Love by Kyoichi Katayama it looks amazing. Kino no Tabi is my all time favourite anime.
Books I'm looking forward to read:
The brief wondrous life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz.
Train man by Hitori Nakano
I totally agree with a lot of these titles, esp. I Am America (And So Can You!). And the Gory. And A Wrinkle in Time, how did I forget that one? I actually had A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius on my list, and only removed it because the list was getting too long.
This is the second time someone's commented about Oscar Wao recently. I just finished it earlier in the week. It was really, really, really, really, really good. REALLY.
I've always wanted to read Things Fall Apart, but I never really took the time to do so... am I missing out?
Some fun titles:
America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction by Jon Stewart sounds both funny and tragic.
Oh My Goth by Gena Showalter... can't say I'd ever read it, but the title always makes me laugh.
When You Are Engulfed In Flames by David Sedaris.
Fancy White Trash by Marjetta Geerling.
Devil in the Details by Jennifer Traig.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith.
"Grandma's Got It Going On" is part of a poetry slam by Shane Koyczan that I absolutely adore:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f02Q5IFoyKw&feature=related
-jake the girl
And of course A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. Great title and great pen name.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, Mark Haddon
Both of which live up to their titles.
Everything On a Waffle, Polly Horvath (which also lives up to it's title, and is Canadian, to boot!)
Midsummer Night's Dream
By these Ten Bones
Keturah and Lord Death
Dragon Slippers
Inkheart
Wondrous Strange
Cry of the Icemark
I'm not in the mood to go dragging my laptop into my closet/library.
A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L'Engle
The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks (also a fairly hysterical take on vampires)
A Man For All Seasons (a play by Robert Bolt centered around the life of Sir Thomas More and his relationship with Henry VIII)
That is my list for now! Great topic idea, and I also must find those train tracks. ;)
Even if accidental, it was still enjoyable.
ASTRAL DYNAMICS FROM ROBERT BRUCE.
I will try some of your favorite books. English is my second language and still I have a lot of good books to read. I saw your book "Graceling" in Spanish and I think the translation is excellent.
Two titles I've liked recently were:
Dead to Me by Anton Strout (urban fantasy with undead)
and, tangentially
You Are So Undead to Me by Stacey Jay (a YA, also with undead)
Mark Henry also does great title: Happy Hour of the Damned and Road Trip of the Living Dead.
Thanks for all the great suggestions and for bringing your talent to my attention.
Best of luck in your future endeavors!
Gina Browning
http://www.eloquentbooks.com/MoonbeamDreams.html