Very true! I admit that anytime I see one of those typical Self -Help book titles, I immediately skip right over it. This title is a way to bring in new potential readers and show that this is a more people-based approach to happiness.Gunnar Ohberg wrote: ↑21 Jan 2018, 15:55 I will disagree with most of this forum by saying I thought the title was wonderful. It is an engaging title, far better than the blase standards: "How to Get Happy," "Tips for the Soul," "The New YOU," and other such mediocre garbage. "And Then I Met Margaret" does an excellent job conveying the core principle of White's learning methods: people around us help us to change. The book would belong in a motivational section in any bookstore or on any website, and the cover and jacket mention it contains a litany of self-help material, so it would take a willful act of ignorance not to recognize this book as motivational.
Don't get me wrong, I have some issues with this book, but the title is certainly not one of them.
Is the book title misleading?
- RebeccasReading
- Posts: 278
- Joined: 18 Jan 2018, 10:47
- Currently Reading: I, Richard Plantagenet
- Bookshelf Size: 30
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-rebeccasreading.html
- Latest Review: Man of the Sea by Nathan Kippley
Re: Is the book title misleading?
- Ellie Gatillo
- Posts: 998
- Joined: 07 Jul 2016, 02:16
- Favorite Book: <a href="http://forums.onlinebookclub.org/shelve ... 74609">The Devil and Miss Prym</a>
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 1034
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-ellieonline03.html
- Latest Review: Quest for Closure by David B. McKinney
- 2024 Reading Goal: 12
- 2024 Goal Completion: 0%
-
- Posts: 70
- Joined: 24 Nov 2017, 11:50
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 19
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-thelittlelibrary.html
- Latest Review: Oblivion Threshold by J.R. Mabry and B.J. West
- RASchneider
- Posts: 16
- Joined: 19 Jan 2018, 13:01
- Bookshelf Size: 4
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-raschneider.html
- Latest Review: "Sigfried’s Smelly Socks!" by Len Foley
Some may protest, "You say it's a minimal incident because you just don't understand how pivotal it was. It was MAXIMAL!"
Really? Such a key turning point should have been offset before it arrived by counter examples... If Margaret is a turning point, she ought be a turning point from something he talked about a LOT in previous chapters. As it is, the Margaret chapter is just another story in a litany of 21 stories.
- SPasciuti
- Posts: 415
- Joined: 07 Jan 2018, 20:30
- Favorite Book: <a href="http://forums.onlinebookclub.org/shelve ... 46410">The Wendy</a>
- Currently Reading: Cinder
- Bookshelf Size: 34
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-spasciuti.html
- Latest Review: Samuel by Samuel kidstar
I'm just curious, because you said you liked the title--and I definitely agree with your statement that it's better than the other ones you mentioned as examples--but do you think Margaret was the person he should have chosen for the title? I found her story to be so disappointing considering the expectations that choosing her for the title meant and there were a number of better chapters with much better teachers in my opinion. I feel like I would have picked someone more impactful than a little girl asking an inane question, even if it did jog something in the author.Gunnar Ohberg wrote: ↑21 Jan 2018, 15:55 I will disagree with most of this forum by saying I thought the title was wonderful. It is an engaging title, far better than the blase standards: "How to Get Happy," "Tips for the Soul," "The New YOU," and other such mediocre garbage. "And Then I Met Margaret" does an excellent job conveying the core principle of White's learning methods: people around us help us to change. The book would belong in a motivational section in any bookstore or on any website, and the cover and jacket mention it contains a litany of self-help material, so it would take a willful act of ignorance not to recognize this book as motivational.
Don't get me wrong, I have some issues with this book, but the title is certainly not one of them.
And I guess I was just wondering if you agreed with that at all or if you genuinely think Margaret was the best choice?
-
- Posts: 14
- Joined: 21 Dec 2017, 21:39
- Currently Reading: Great Expectations
- Bookshelf Size: 187
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-shree-reads.html
- Latest Review: Sigfried’s Smelly Socks! by Len Foley
Maybe the author could have expressed it in a better way or added some more insight to what he felt after interacting with Margaret, so that the reader's could understand what affected him so deeply. It is a charming book, nonetheless.
- pinklover
- Posts: 380
- Joined: 29 Nov 2017, 20:30
- Currently Reading: The Everett Exorcism
- Bookshelf Size: 34
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-pinklover.html
- Latest Review: Becoming the Dragon by Alex Sapegin
I agree on your point. The author picked the right title to catch interest and attention. Our pre- conceived idea of the title marred our thinking of the book upon reading it.ellieonline03 wrote: ↑25 Jan 2018, 04:35 At first glance, the title does insinuate romance. However, if you look closer, it doesn't. Authors have the freedom to pick the title of their books. It's our job as readers to do a quick evaluation if the book would suite our taste.
-
- Posts: 14
- Joined: 25 Jan 2018, 09:47
- Currently Reading: The Last Days of Magic
- Bookshelf Size: 16
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-cshaffer17.html
- Latest Review: "And Then I Met Margaret" by Rob White
- lexi72
- Posts: 1
- Joined: 27 Jan 2018, 18:42
- Bookshelf Size: 0
- P0tt3ry
- Posts: 213
- Joined: 15 Jan 2018, 16:39
- Favorite Book: The Dresden Files
- Currently Reading: The Reel Sisters
- Bookshelf Size: 45
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-p0tt3ry.html
- Latest Review: Ironbark Hill by Jennie Linnane
- Tnadev
- Posts: 4
- Joined: 29 Aug 2017, 16:20
- Bookshelf Size: 11
"And then I Met Margaret" is indeed a fairly suggestive title and the story probably doesn't charge at the title head on.
It is a fine balance between wanting your reader to pick your book up and in some way still not put misleading, or indeed "leading", ideas into their head.
How much is just enough?
- ayoomisope
- Posts: 408
- Joined: 27 Jan 2018, 18:21
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 127
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-ayoomisope.html
- Latest Review: Absolute Truth by Joab Russo
I didn't get that idea from the title either.kandscreeley wrote: ↑01 Jan 2018, 12:46 I don't think it's necessarily indicative of a romance novel. I didn't get that idea from the title at all. I don't think it's a bad title.
- Spirit Wandering
- Posts: 1010
- Joined: 12 Mar 2017, 16:21
- Favorite Book: <a href="http://forums.onlinebookclub.org/shelve ... bastian</a>
- Currently Reading: Apollo's Raven
- Bookshelf Size: 87
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-spirit-wandering.html
- Latest Review: JOURNEY - Becoming the Dream Walker by T.N. Bui
- pinklover
- Posts: 380
- Joined: 29 Nov 2017, 20:30
- Currently Reading: The Everett Exorcism
- Bookshelf Size: 34
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-pinklover.html
- Latest Review: Becoming the Dragon by Alex Sapegin
The title looks romance but it is not. Margaret is just a little girl that gives the best impact on Rob's life. The title is a memoir that makes Rob's life valuable. I just laugh when I found out Margaret is just a little girl.
- Gunnar Ohberg
- Posts: 153
- Joined: 13 Nov 2017, 18:08
- Currently Reading: The Nix
- Bookshelf Size: 48
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-gunnar-ohberg.html
- Latest Review: Lemoncella Cocktail by Rene Natan
I can definitely see your point here. Yes, perhaps there were better teachers, and I can definitely agree that it never seems clear why White chose Margaret over all of the other teachers.SPasciuti wrote: ↑26 Jan 2018, 00:36I'm just curious, because you said you liked the title--and I definitely agree with your statement that it's better than the other ones you mentioned as examples--but do you think Margaret was the person he should have chosen for the title? I found her story to be so disappointing considering the expectations that choosing her for the title meant and there were a number of better chapters with much better teachers in my opinion. I feel like I would have picked someone more impactful than a little girl asking an inane question, even if it did jog something in the author.Gunnar Ohberg wrote: ↑21 Jan 2018, 15:55 I will disagree with most of this forum by saying I thought the title was wonderful. It is an engaging title, far better than the blase standards: "How to Get Happy," "Tips for the Soul," "The New YOU," and other such mediocre garbage. "And Then I Met Margaret" does an excellent job conveying the core principle of White's learning methods: people around us help us to change. The book would belong in a motivational section in any bookstore or on any website, and the cover and jacket mention it contains a litany of self-help material, so it would take a willful act of ignorance not to recognize this book as motivational.
Don't get me wrong, I have some issues with this book, but the title is certainly not one of them.
And I guess I was just wondering if you agreed with that at all or if you genuinely think Margaret was the best choice?