It's Friday linkup time! I'm linking up with the Book Blogger Hop hosted by Coffee Addicted Writer, Book Beginnings of Fridays hosted by Rose City Reader, and the Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice.
This Week's Book Blogger Hop Question:
Do you think a book's title is important?
My Answer:
Somewhat. A good title will make me pull a book of the shelf or look for the summary. A bad title won't prevent me from reading a book though.
The Beginning:
"Miss Maud Silver looked along the crowded platform and felt thankful that she herself was in a through carriage. She was very comfortable settled in her corner, with her back to the engine to avoid smuts and the magazine presented by her niece laid face downwards on the seat beside her."
My thoughts:
Really I'm must glad to be seeing Maude Silver again! This sin't the most compelling of beginnings and I don't really know what a through carriage is but it does give you a little peek into her personality - very orderly and tidy.
My 56 from around 25%
"There was another of those sharply taken breaths. It may have represented a last attempt to curb a driven temper. If it was that, it failed. Alicia said with furious distinctness, "She can't make a job of anything, can she?"
My thoughts:
I'm not anywhere close to this point so I have no idea what's going on but Alicia doesn't sound like a particularly nice person!
So what do you think? Keep reading? Any favorite comfort read authors?
The author is new to me so I am glad you wrote about her. Going to check her out on Open Library.
ReplyDeleteI love her books and do wish she was better known! If you like mysteries giver her a try.
DeleteI do love a mystery series with a detective that intrigues me. The quirky ones, or the ones with special gifts, like being able to get people to talk...I haven't read this series, but now I must check it out!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing...and here's mine: “THE DENIM BLUE SEA”
I love Maude! She's no nonsense but also kind. Definitely worth checking out if you're ever in a mystery mood.
DeleteDoesn't sound like this book is for me, but thanks for sharing. Yes, a title is very important. It's usually the cover that gets me first, then the title.
ReplyDeletesherry @ fundinmentalFriday Memes
Not all books are for everyone so I totally understand! I'm definitely more of a cover fan too!
DeleteI haven't heard of this author, but if enough of us us go looking or her books, maybe someone will do a reprint, like Sourcebooks did with Georgette Heyer's mysteries. Maybe i can get an ebook through my library. Here's my post. http://ebogie.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-burning-wire-book-beginnings-page-56.html
ReplyDeleteThat's be fantastic! Then maybe I can find a few of those I'm missing! I have a few of the Heyer mysteries but haven't read then yet.
DeleteEverything visual pulls you first. The cover, the title. That being said, I have read books with both bad covers and titles, ;-) Click on my name for my Beginning and 56.
ReplyDeleteIf it's an author I know or if I've seen enough reviews the title and cover don't really matter. If I'm wandering shelves I need either a good title or a pretty cover or I probably won't pick it up.
DeleteOoh I hadn't heard of Patricia Wentworth yet, but I really like the sound of both the BB and the F56! Book titles are quite important to me. If they don't grab my attention or do so in the wrong way I probably won't read the book! Thanks for sharing :) I hope you have an amazing weekend!
ReplyDeleteMy Friday post
Juli @ Universe in Words
I love Wentworth. She's delightfully old fashioned in the very best of ways!
DeleteThanks for introducing me to this author. Sounds like a fascinating series that I'd enjoy.
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping by my blog and taking the time to leave a comment.
Sandy @ TEXAS TWANG
She's great if you're ever in the mood for a mystery. There's even a touch of romance in a few of them.
DeleteI love British mysteries but not heard of this author so I am going to look her up. :)
ReplyDeleteStormi
Friday Memes
Oh give her a try! I think you'd enjoy her though her first isn't the best. Any of the others are great though!
DeleteI agree about the title. I need to be grabbed by it and the cover too!
ReplyDeleteI do love a good title!
DeleteOh how I love mystery thrillers set in an early Victorian setting, I always find the mannerisms and etiquette to be ones I greatly long for in our modern day. I've actually heard of Wentworth, only because I have a friend who is a huge enthusiast of classic thrillers; I hope it lives up to your expectations :D
ReplyDeleteI think you'd enjoy Maude Silver. She's so very proper!
DeleteLet me tell ya, Alicia's are rarely nice (myself being the exception). Of course, I'm kidding. I hope you have a lovely weekend!
ReplyDeleteLOL this Alicia didn't sound nice at all!
DeleteOh yes. A good title will definitely get me curious. I've picked up a few just because of title. Bad ones don't really turn me off the read but aren't too inspiring. Same goes for the ones that are titles on like 50 books.
ReplyDeleteI've picked up a few due to a good title or a pretty cover. It's bitten me a few times but I've also found some of my favorite books!
DeleteI haven't heard of this author before but the snippets have me curious.
ReplyDeleteA title is usually the first thing to catch my attention so if it doesn't grab the cover had better catch my eye or I'll skip right over the book.
She's fun. Very old fashioned and yet kind of scarily efficient! A good title can definitely hook me but a bad one won't necessarily keep me from reading
DeleteI'm adding this one to my TBR list. I've been reading classic British mysteries by authors I've missed in between other reads. I've got my first Marsh and Woodhouse books in the queue right now.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting my blog. Have a lovely weekend.
I haven't read Woodhouse yet but I like Marsh. She can be a little inconsistent but when she's good she's fantastic!
DeleteI would like to be in the carriage, participating in a conversation with a former governess. Sounds interesting and I think perhaps I would want to learn more about Maude Silver. Very nice post!
ReplyDeleteI think Miss Silver would give you some interesting conversation!
DeleteSame with book titles! :) I've never heard of Patricia Wentworth to be honest. But the synopsis sounds interesting. :)
ReplyDeleteShe's not particularly well known even with mystery readers. I love her books though!
DeleteThis sounds interesting. I hope you enjoy it!
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend!
Amanda
Thanks! I'm looking forward to curling up with this one!
DeleteA good title can get my attention, just as a good cover can - but unless I also like the blurb and the reviews, I'm not likely to read the book. I've put Patricia Wentworth on my "someday" list, since you like her so much and I do love British classic mysteries. My comfort reads in the mystery department: Sayers, Laurie R. King, Ngaio Marsh, Agatha Christie, Catherine Aird, and some Dick Francis and a few by Josephine Tey. Oh, and Nancy Atherton (mostly the early ones.)
ReplyDeleteOther than Dick Francis and Nancy Atherton our comfort reads are very similar. I really want to try Atherton. When you're ready to give Wentworth a try let me know. I'll send some recommendations your way.
DeleteI will!
DeleteI believe a through carriage is the passenger compartment with seats and windows, some folks didn't or couldn't afford the comfort of those cars.
ReplyDeleteAh that makes sense. I think train terms were so common at the time that no explanation was needed but now it's basically unknown.
DeleteAlicia doesn't sound like a person I would want to be around.. lol
ReplyDeleteHappy weekend!
No she definitely doesn't sound very nice!
DeleteI'm underwhelmed. I recommend a mystery series I just started reading by C. J. Sansom, whose sleuth is a hunchback lawyer in the time of Cromwell and Henry VIII. I also highly recommend the Longmire series by Craig Johnson and the Joe Pickett series by C.J. Box, both set in Wyoming.
ReplyDeleteIt isn't her strongest opening but she's not really a wild ride kind of author. I'll have to check out your mentions. I'm definitely intrigued by the two set in Wyoming.
DeletePatricia Wentworth! I read a few of her books back when I was in my early twenties (I was like you back then, wanting to lay my hands on every Christie I could get). I haven't read her since. I really must remedy that!
ReplyDeleteHi Katherine,
ReplyDeleteIt looks as though this is one of those books which was given two different titles, depending on which side of the Atlantic you were buying. 'In The Balance' was also known as 'Danger Point', so publishers were even making life difficult for us readers back in 1941!
I use a site called Fantastic Fiction, to look up books and authors, as you can get to see the books in chronological order and with all the cover art in display in one place. Patricia Wentworth's page is definitely something of a 'mish mash', with a really random array of cover art, which isn't particularly pleasing to the eye..
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/w/patricia-wentworth/
Your cover is much better and from time to time I do enjoy a trip down memory lane, when English was both spoken and written correctly and precisely and books were so much more descriptive.
A nice find and thanks for sharing :)
Yvonne
Covers pull me in from the first and then the title gets scrutinized. :)
ReplyDeleteI like covers and titles that tell about the book.
Nice answer.
I hope you are having a good day.
Happy Hopping!!
Elizabeth
Silver's Reviews
My Blog Hop Answer
I liked the point you made about not being discouraged by reading a book with a bad title. When you think about it, it is no different than judging a book by its cover.
ReplyDeleteI will have to look out for Patricia Wentworth. She is a new author to me and your short description has me intrigued.
Historical fiction mystery series seem to be catching on! This sounds amazing!
ReplyDeleteI quite often wonder what a books title is referring to and it's nice to know when you find that meaning in the book it all seems to make sense if you know what I mean.
ReplyDeleteHave a great week!
I love a good catchy book title, but, like you, a bad one won't necessarily turn me away from a book. I don't think I have ever read anything by Patricia Wentworth before. The one you feature here does sound good.
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