Monday 31 July 2017

Oddest Book Title Time Again...

Like me, you may have thought the annual Diagram Prize for the Oddest Book Title of the Year wasn't taking place this year.

Usually it's in the spring, and the chosen titles get coverage in the national press as well as on The Bookseller website.

As it's been run later this year it could have easily been missed.

So here's the contenders- and the result below that.


  • The Commuter Pig Keeper: A Comprehensive Guide to Keeping Pigs when Time is your Most Precious Commodity by Michaela Giles.

  •  Renniks Australian Pre-Decimal & Decimal Coin Errors.

  • Nipples on my Knee by Graham and Debra Robertson.

  • An Ape’s View of Human Evolution by Peter Andrews.

  • Love Your Lady Landscape: Trust Your Gut, Care for “Down There” and Reclaim Your Fierce and Feminine SHE by Lisa Lister.

Now none of those titles really grabs me, but as I missed the shortlist announcement I haven't really considered how odd they are!

The Pig one, and the Lady Landscape seem the most bizarre...

Anyway with many of the previous winners having something to do with animals - "The Joy of Chickens (1980), The Big Book of Lesbian Horse Stories (2003) and Goblinproofing One’s Chicken Coop (2012)"; it really does suggest any vaguely odd title with an animal in will score highly.

So this year's winner was of course The Commuter Pig Keeper... with 40% of the votes. 

Runners-up were Renniks Australian Coins title with 32.7%, and Nipples on... with 13.9%.

Disappointingly the Lady Landscape title only received 2.8% of the vote. It was certainly odd, but perhaps the title could have done with a bit more work to improve its lucidity.

You may or may not want to read more, but if you do then follow this link over to the Bookseller website, or even better read the amusing views of diarist and administrator of the Diagram Prize, Horace Bent.

Odd titles just aren't as odd as they once were...

the winner...




image from Pixabay.




14 comments:

Julia Thorley said...

'The Pig and the Lady Landscape' sounds as though it should be a book in its own right, Carol!

Maria said...

Wasn't aware such a competition existed Carol - Had I of been judge I would of chosen; Nipples on my Knee because it's a bizarre title.

Seaview said...

All very weird! :)

Carolb said...

Mixing book titles does sometimes create much better results! :D

Carolb said...

Apparently the Nipples one was an early favourite, but usually one of the other titles scoops it.

Usually the prize runs during February/March time, but for some reason it was late this year, and hasn't received as much publicity as it usually does.

I always do a blog post on the Diagram Prize each year. :-)

Carolb said...

The titles this year are not too odd when compared to some in the past shortlists, Marion. :D

liz young said...

Seemingly nobody wrote a book just to win the title of oddest title :)

Carolb said...

Probably not Lizy. But if it has a slightly strange title to start with it helps. ;)

Wendy's Writing said...

The pig would have got my vote!

Teresa Ashby said...

I would have voted for Nipples on my Knee!

Angela Barton said...

It does make you wonder if people come up with odd titles to grab attention, whereas they usually only make readers chuckle before moving on to the next book!

Carolb said...

It's grown on me. :D

Carolb said...

That is an odd book title so does fit the award ideal, Teresa. :-)

Carolb said...

I suspect it's a little of both, Angela. It probably gets the book a few more sales than it would have done without the publicity, so the author and publisher will both be happy. :-)