Writers are human, after all.  We can’t always come up with the perfect title, nor remember to use the delete key when we should. Along these lines, I offer here some info about, and a couple of links to, great lists. One is the annual “Oddest Title of the Year” list and the other is the shortlist for books that should have used the delete key more.

I.  Oddest Title of the Year

For oddest title of the year, 2008, the shortlist below is to be voted on and the winner announced March 27th. The nominees are:

1. Baboon Metaphysics by Dorothy L Cheney and Robert M Seyfarth (University of Chicago Press).

2. Curbside Consultation of the Colon by Brooks D Cash (SLACK Incorporated).

3. The Large Sieve and its Applications by Emmanuel Kowalski (Cambridge University Press).

4. Strip and Knit with Style by Mark Hordyszynski (C&T).

5. Techniques for Corrosion Monitoring by Lietai Yang (Woodhead).  [Note: a friend recently told me that monitoring corrosion is what her husband's job is all about!]

6. The 2009-2014 World Outlook for 60-milligram Containers of Fromage Frais by Professor Philip M Parker (Icon Group International).

The prestigious award was first conceived by The Diagram Group’s Bruce Robertson as a way to avoid boredom at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Run by Horace Bent, the first ever winner was the University of Tokyo Press’ Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude Mice, in 1978. Last year’s winner was If You Want Closure In Your Relationship, Start With Your Legs.

The winner of the 2008 award will be chosen by a public vote at www.thebookseller.com  <http://www.thebookseller.com/> . Why not vote on your favorite?

 

II.  The Delete Key Award for Bad Writing

Check this list out at the One-Minute Book Review blog site (a fun site to subscribe to).  The 2009 finialists include:

1. Why We Suck: A Feel Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid (Viking), by Denis Leary.

2. Death Benefits: How Losing a Parent Can Change an Adult’s Life — For the Better (Basic Books), by Jeanne Safer.

3. The Underneath (Atheneum, ages 8 and up), by Kathi Appelt with drawings by David Small. [Oh! Say it isn't so!!!!]

4. Wolf Totem (Penguin), by Jiang Rong, translated from the Chinese by Howard Goldblatt.

5. Change of Heart (Simon & Schuster/Atria), by Jodi Picoult.

6. Leisureville: Adventures in America’s Retirement Utopias (Atlantic Monthly Press), by Andrew Blechman.

7. Read All About It! (HarperCollins, ages 4–6), a picture book by Laura Bush and Jenna Bush, illustrated by Denise Brunkus.

8. The Host (Little, Brown) by Stephenie Meyer.

9. Bright Shiny Morning (Harper), by James Frey.

10. Audition: A Memoir (Knopf), by Barbara Walters.

The winners of the 2009 Delete Key Awards will be announced March 16 on the One-Minute Book Reviews blog. There you will also find Janice Harayda’s one minute reviews of each of these titles and lots more.

Have fun!

Shutta