Top Ten Tuesday: Books With Single-Word Titles

My Top Ten Tuesday is a little later than usual because I have been suffering from the mother of all migraines for about 48 hours now. It seems to be slowly waning, but lordy there was a point there where I was ready to offer my first born in exchange for some relief.

The TTT topic this week is about books with one word titles. Thinking of some was more difficult than I expected, made even worse because a lot of the books I thought of were written by an author I’m still a little upset with. The author in question has several books I really enjoyed that only had one word titles, but after they basically said on Twitter that they don’t want to hear from fans I haven’t been that impressed with them.

I’m sure I’ll get over it, but in the meantime here are my favorite books with one word titles that are written by authors not on my Bad Place list! We’ve got some classics, some more contemporary books, and even a double feature of monsters.

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Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

My favorite book of all time! It’s the perfect blend of creepy and mystery that will keep you guessing right till the end.

Persuasion by Jane Austen

One of the Jane Austen books I’ve enjoyed the most probably because it’s a little different than most her others. Yes, it’s about finding a husband, but it’s also about a woman who is much older than Austen’s usual heroines. She’s independent and don’t need no man, but if a good one comes along then why not?

Dune by Frank Herbert

The first book in the Dune series is one you have to read at some point if you call yourself a science fiction fan. It’s a long one, but it’s ultimately worth the effort. I haven’t read the other books yet, but I hope to soon.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Not only is this one of the most famous horror novels out there, but it’s arguably the first mainstream sci-fi book ever published- and it was written by a woman! Still a major part of our pop-culture today, Frankenstein is definitely up to all the hype.

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Another early horror novel that has continued to be a major influence in modern culture. I mean, he’s probably the best known vampire to have ever been created and is still pretty much everywhere, especially at Halloween.

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

One of the best books of the year when it was released. I was so upset when it didn’t win the Pulitzer for best novel. It was a dramatic, sweeping tale that I became extremely invested in. Plus I learned so much about Korea before and after it split into North and South. If you haven’t read it, you definitely should!

Holes by Louis Sachar

I loved Louis Sachar’s books as a kid, devouring them over and over again when I was in elementary school. This book was released when I was a little bit beyond its target age range, but I still utterly adored it. My mother ended up reading it with me and both of us still bring it up often. The movie adaptation was fantastic too.

Our local theater had a stage production of it recently but unfortunately I wasn’t in town during its brief stint. Guess I’ll just have to watch the movie again!

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

It’s not something I like to talk about here, but I was assaulted not long after moving to my husband’s hometown in NE England and not long after Brexit. Without going into much detail, let’s just say some drunken racists didn’t like hearing my accent as I was walking home with a friend one night.

The recovery was horrific both mentally and physically. One of the worst parts of it was I was terrified to leave the house alone. After several months of self-imposed isolation I decided enough was enough and I wasn’t going to let those **censored** win. It may seem like a small thing, but I managed to get myself to go to our little library and sign up for a card. While there, this book caught my eye and became the first book I ever checked out from our town’s library.

I’d also been struggling with a massive reading slump up to that point, but I ended up reading this book in one sitting. It was the exact bit of sad yet heart-lifting fiction I needed to get me to start feeling like me again.

Beloved by Toni Morrison

The Bluest Eye is the Toni Morrison book I hold dearest, but Beloved is definitely an impressive and profound novel.

Ulysses by James Joyce

For Valentine’s Day a few years back my husband bought me this beautiful vintage copy of Ulysses. Every year I say, “This is the year I will finally read Ulysses!” but so far it appears I’ve been lying. But don’t worry, this year will totally be the year I finally read Ulysses.

Maybe.

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Have you read any of these? Which books made it to your TTT? Let me know in the comments!

If you’d like to take part in this awesome tag, head on over to Artsy Reader Girl to find out more.