Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

Well, I work with a pun-master so I'm pretty much over puns ;) Hopefully you all can find some good ones!

Listopia link: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

This year I read a book called The Quiche of Death. Lots of cozy mysteries have puns in the title.

The Flavia de Luce books will work for this, I've read the first two so
A Red Herring Without Mustard is up next.

For people who like graphic novels, Check, Please!, Book 2: Sticks and Scones by Ngozi Ukazu is coming out in April 2020. It was listed as one of the 25 best comics of the 2010's by the A.V. Club.

Also written by a WOC, so Book 1 (Check, Please! Book 1: # Hockey) could count under that category. AND it also has over 4 stars on Goodreads, AND it won an Ignatz in 2019.

Catcher in the Wry

Pretty much all cozy mysteries have puns for titles. You can just wander the mystery section of the local bookstore and pick a title that appeals to you, or use this website to find one both with a pun for a title and on a topic you would enjoy: https://www.cozy-mystery.com/

Nancy wrote: "The Flavia de Luce books will work for this, I've read the first two so
A Red Herring Without Mustard is up next."

I was thinking the same thing ;)

I found a list of them if that helps anyone
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...

Ok, this might be so bad it's good...but...

...

RaPUNzel

:p

I was thinking Frankly in Love by David Yoon could work because the main character's name is Frank Li and it is about high school romance.

Nancy wrote: "The Flavia de Luce books will work for this, I've read the first two so
A Red Herring Without Mustard is up next."

These are best enjoyed on audio as the writing fluctuates throughout the series if you count audiobooks for this. :)

I am not sure if every title works as a pun, but this one you have listed absolutely does. I am in the middle of the last one.

Found this one on my TBR list. The Cereal Murders So as of now, it will be the front runner. LOL

I think Be Frank With Me would work here and it's brilliant.

I'm considering Red, White & Royal Blue for this prompt. What do you think?

It's not precisely what I think of as a pun, but then neither are some of the books I've found on "punny titles" lists. Maybe I just don't "get" them? If switching out a word in a common phrase counts as a pun (Books Can Be Deceiving), then adding a word to a common phrase to transform its meaning would too?

Might go with The Fifth Elephant for this.

Jessica wrote: "I was thinking Frankly in Love by David Yoon could work because the main character's name is Frank Li and it is about high school romance."

I am considering this one too.

Jenn wrote: "Ok, this might be so bad it's good...but...

...

RaPUNzel

:p"
TOTALLY PUNNY!!! lol

yesss

I was thinking of reading some comic books or a novelization about the PUNisher, so...

Jillian wrote: "I was considering using this one too, and I had the same concern. According to dictionary.com a pun is "the humorous use of a word or phrase so as to emphasize or suggest its different meanings or applications..." which I think fits with the title, so I'm going to go for it."

That's at least 3 people who agree (us, plus a friend who is not doing the challenge, but is a connoisseur of puns). I'm going to use it too.

I think I'm going to go with Heartburn by Nora Ephron (also has a pink cover...). It's a romance, so I'm thinking the heartburn refers to both food and love lol.

Heather wrote: "Jillian wrote: "I was considering using this one too, and I had the same concern. According to dictionary.com a pun is "the humorous use of a word or phrase so as to emphasize or suggest its differ..."

Since you all agree, I think I'll use this one too. It's been on my list!

Tequila Mockingbird: Cocktails with a Literary Twist sounds like a good sell to me. Cocktails and lit!

I think I will read Cat Out of Hell.
(After looking at the cozy mysteries list, there are a ton more cat books I want to read.)

For those who read comics, all the Squirrel Girl collections usually have a name that is a pun on squirrel/girl. I highly recommend the series!
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 1: Squirrel Power
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 2: Squirrel You Know It's True
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 3: Squirrel, You Really Got Me Now
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 4: I Kissed a Squirrel and I Liked It

Jessica wrote: "I was thinking Frankly in Love by David Yoon could work because the main character's name is Frank Li and it is about high school romance."

I think I'm going to read this one as well, as it's already on my TBR.

Ooh the Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery Series by Tamar Myers has puns in all the titles AND has more than twenty books. My favorite title in there is "The Crepes of Wrath."

Robyn wrote: "Ooh the Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery Series by Tamar Myers has puns in all the titles AND has more than twenty books. My favorite title in there is "The Crepes of Wrath.""

Yes, it does and they are funny. Well, I laughed the most at the first one I read which I think was The Crepes of Wrath, but am not sure (it wasn't book 1). After a few books I was too used to the humour but I'm thinking about reading one of the later ones in the series for this because the jokes will be fresher for me again.

Would Murakami's 1Q84 work here? The title comes up as a "multilingual pun on 1984." I need a reason to read that book, or else I never will, tbh.

I found one on my TBR! I can't believe it. It's even available at my library.

License to Quill

Does anyone think any of the following would count?

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Seek
A Study in Scarlet Women
The Spaceship Next Door

If I can find it, I plan to read The Dragon with the Girl Tattoo by Adam Roberts.

All the Dog Man books by Pilkey are literary puns: A tale of two kitties, Lord of the fleas etc.

Sarah MacLean's Rules of Scoundrels series are all punny titles. The first (which I'm planning to read for this) is A Rogue by Any Other Name.

I found this ebook in my kindle Library:

Granny's Got a Gun sounds funny :-)

If you like romances then Penny Reid has a whole series of beard puns (Truth or Beard, Grin and Beard It, Beard Science etc.) which I naturally read this year *rolls eyes*

I came across this series called Pampered Pets Mystery, here's couple of books:

Downton Tabby
Raiders of the Lost Bark
The Girl with the Dachshund Tattoo
Desperate Housedogs

Jessica wrote: "Would Murakami's 1Q84 work here? The title comes up as a "multilingual pun on 1984." I need a reason to read that book, or else I never will, tbh."

I feel like that makes a lot of sense! I've always thought of it in that way and I also need a good reason to actually read it.

Hannah wrote: "Jessica wrote: "Would Murakami's 1Q84 work here? The title comes up as a "multilingual pun on 1984." I need a reason to read that book, or else I never will, tbh."

I feel like that makes a lot of ..."

I agree with both of you.

"I found one on my TBR! I can't believe it. It's even available at my library.

License to Quill

Does anyone think any of the following would count?"

That is a brilliant choice!

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Seek - Not in my opinion. Dr. Jekyll and Miss Terhide - that would be a pun.

A Study in Scarlet Women - It sounds more like a Before and After (such as Ugly Betty Boop) on Wheel of Fortune.

The Spaceship Next Door - I don't think so. If you wanted a pun on The Boy Next Door, you could have The Goy or Koi or Poi Next Door.

But that's JMHO. Maybe other people will think differently.

Katie wrote: "I think I will reread Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn for this. I've been wanting to reread it anyway, and I think it works."

OMG, I just got that, after seeing that title for years.

Lauconn wrote: "Sarah MacLean's Rules of Scoundrels series are all punny titles. The first (which I'm planning to read for this) is A Rogue by Any Other Name."

So then does Let Sleeping Rogues Lie work also? I really struggle with puns, it seems like they are supposed to be funny but sometimes are just a play on words? A lot of the examples seem to be just switching out a rhyming word, so I guess this one is dog - rogue...

To me a pun is playing on words with multiple meanings or words that sound similar, so just a funny title doesn't work for me.

I do have Unconventional on my TBR, it's set at a con, so the pun would be along the lines of "some might say people who attend conventions, are unconventional, haha". Think bad dad joke level!

For those who aren't looking for a cozy mystery or the like, I highly recommend The Pun Also Rises: How the Humble Pun Revolutionized Language, Changed History, and Made Wordplay More Than Some Antics by John Pollack. It delves into puns throughout history, how the brain responds when it hears a pun, and the general controversy over whether or not puns should be counted as "funny." All that, and it's written by a champion punner! If you're interested in language at all, it's a really interesting and fun read.

How about some of the Andy Carpenter series books by David Rosenfelt? If you are a dog lover these are a lot of fun!
Dachshund through the Snow, Deck the Hounds, Outfoxed, etc.!

I mean like a huge swath of your cozy mystery books. I read a couple of the Molly MacRae Last Wool and Testament books this year (hobby and then they had a ghost so...) but they are all puns.

No idea what I'll read but when scrolling through my library's recent acquisitions list I came across this beauty: A Case of Syrah, Syrah. Don't know if that is what I'll read but I thought was was particularly groan worthy and totally is on the list of possibles!

Thank you for mentioning cozy mysteries. It made me think of Rita Mae Brown and she has a few, including the one I hadn't read yet.

Katie wrote: "I think I will reread Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn for this. I've been wanting to reread it anyway, and I think it works."

Thank you for reminding me about this book!! It's been on my TBR for years.

@Monica- thank you for your input! I’ve never really understood puns or punning... I was just trying to open my options up a bit (I’m really not a cozy mystery kind of person). I’ll go with License to Quill. It does sound like fun.

Do you think Love with a Chance of Drowning works for this?

I don't think so. A pun is a play on words. One word or several words sound either exactly like or very much like another word or several words. Here are some examples of puns:

Why is tennis such a noisy sport? Because every player is always raising a racket. (Racket means noise, and it's also something tennis players play with.)

Why were the Dark Ages called the Dark Ages? Because there were so many knights. (Knights sounds like nights.)

In the movie "Animal Crackers," Groucho Marx's character discussed having shot an elephant while on safari. He said, "Then we tried to get the tusks out, but they were embedded too tightly. Of course, in Alabama, the Tuscaloosa." Tuscaloosa is in Alabama, and it sounds very much like "tusks are looser."

In your case, I have no idea which word in the title Love with a Chance of Drowning is supposed to sound like or very much like another word so as to be funny. Now, if there were a book called Tennis with Love or Tennis without Love, those titles would be puns, because love means love, and it's also a tennis term (meaning zero).

Frogli wrote: "If you like romances then Penny Reid has a whole series of beard puns (Truth or Beard, Grin and Beard It, Beard Science etc.) which I naturally read ..."

Great idea!! I'm currently reading Beard with Me, I'll wait until closer to the end of December to start Beard Necessities.

Rhoda wrote: "Frogli wrote: "If you like romances then Penny Reid has a whole series of beard puns (Truth or Beard, Grin and Beard It, Beard Science etc.) which I ..."

I'm also going to read some of these for this category! I'm not a big romance reader, but they sound fun (and I have a weakness for men with beards!)