As book lovers, we spend hours feasting on deliciously-crafted sentences, but do we ever consider the individual morsels that make up a tasty word string? I do and I don't. I mean, I like words and wordplay, but I don't spend a lot of time contemplating things like which words are my favorites. Do you? If you do, you'll have no problem with today's TTT prompt: My Top Ten Favorite Words. As for me, I'm going to have to twist things up a bit. When it comes to the books I read, there are definitely words in a title or plot summary that always catch my eye. So, I decided to comb through my Goodreads TBR lists and see which ones show up most often in the 1331 titles there. I realize some of these may be more about title trends than my particular preferences, but it's still kind of interesting. Let's just go with it, shall we?

If you want to join in the TTT fun (and of course you do!), click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl for all the details.

My Top Ten Favorite Words to Find in a Book Title (According to My TBR Lists)  

1. Girl

This one shows up 139 times on my list. I think this one has more to do with title trends then anything else, but still, I do tend to read books with female protagonists.

2. Home/House

One hundred eighteen titles on my list have "home" or "house" in them. Makes sense as I love atmospheric Gothic novels, juicy domestic thrillers, and shivery ghost stories.

3. Mystery

This word mostly shows up in subtitles or the name of a series, but still, you all know that I love me a puzzling mystery. One hundred seven of the titles/subtitles on my list contain this word.

4. Book

Like a lot (maybe most) of you, I enjoy books about books. It's not exactly a shocker, then, that "book" shows up in 83 of the titles on my list. I'm actually surprised it's not more than that.

5. Life

Another word that's not exactly a head-scratcher. Most books deal with life in some way, right? It makes sense that "life" is part of 79 titles on my list. 

6. Murder

No detective is needed to figure out why "murder" appears 71 times on my lists. I'm a mystery lover after all.

7. Story

Like "life," "story" is what reading is all about. I don't care what genre it is, if a book tells a riveting story, I'm in! This word shows up 67 times on my TBR list.

8. Last

There's something mysterious about the word "last," isn't there? It calls to me. Fifty-one times, to be exact.

9. Dead

Again with the murder mysteries. "Dead" comes up 50 times on my list. That's it??

10. Night

"Night" is also a mystical sort of word. It's prominent in the mystery/suspense/thriller genres as well as in a lot of historical fiction. It appears 49 times on my lists.

Edited to add: I was in a hurry when I posted this list, so I forgot to add some of the other most common words I found among my TBR titles: 

There you go ten (ish) words that I dig in a book title. Which titular words always catch your eye? Do you have favorite words? I'd love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.