Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.
The rules are simple:
Each Tuesday, Jana assigns a new topic. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want. Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post. Add your name to the Linky widget on that day’s post so that everyone can check out other bloggers’ lists. Or if you don’t have a blog, just post your answers as a comment.
This week’s topic is Books I’d Give Different Titles To. Coming up with book titles is a job for experts I reckon, so for my list I’ve highlighted some books published under different titles, whether that’s for reasons of geography, film tie-in, too much similarity with other books or because the original title was rejected.
Links from the book titles will take you to the book description on Goodreads or my review.
Carol by Patricia Highsmith (originally published as The Price of Salt)
Love and Friendship by Jane Austen (originally published as Lady Susan)
Hester and Crow by Katy Moran (originally published as False Lights)
The Floating Theatre by Martha Conway (published in the US as The Underground River)
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (initial title First Impressions)
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (initial title Elinor and Marianne)
The House of the Four Winds by John Buchan (initial title The King-Maker)
One Day in Winter by Shari Low (originally published as One Day in December)
Sick Heart River by John Buchan (published in US as Mountain Meadow)
Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg (published in US as Smilla’s Sense of Snow)
I knew Sense & Sensibility had a diff title originally but I had no idea P&P did too, wild
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I would similarly struggle with the original topic so your approach is clever. Some additional title changes I can think of
Thomas Keneally: Schindler’s List (USA only) /Schlinder’s Ark (rest of the world
Phillip Pullman: Northern Lights but published as The Golden Compass in North America and some other countries
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Thanks, I have to admit inspiration for this week’s topic came late 😀 On balance, I usually prefer the original titles – your examples are a case in point.
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A change of a title changes the whole book for me.
https://readerbuzz.blogspot.com/2019/10/books-id-give-different-titles-to.html
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Changing the title changes the whole book for me.
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I know what you mean. I sometimes wonder what the authors think about title changes…
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What an interesting take on this week’s theme! I never knew that Sense & Sensibility used to be Elinor & Marianne.
Cora | http://www.teapartyprincess.co.uk/
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I think your list demonstrates my point that coming up with book titles is a difficult job and they can be make or break when it comes to attracting readers. Would be interesting to know how much input authors have.
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I think One Day in December is a better, more precise title than One Day in Winter.
My TTT.
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I agree with you. However, I wonder if the change of title came about because there is another book called One Day in December by Josie Silver.
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Poor Jane Austin. So many of hers got changed.
My TTT.
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Thoroughly interesting list! Agatha Christie books often had a US title and an English title, like Ten Little Indians vs. And Then There Were None.
Here’s my TTT list: https://speedyreadercom.wordpress.com/2019/10/22/ttt-books-that-need-a-warning-in-their-title/
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