Book titles are an interesting phenomenon. Some are strictly utilitarian–they are literally descriptive in some way, like Robert B. Parker’s The Godwulf Manuscript or Looking for Rachel Wallace or Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Others are all or part of a phrase or sentence drawn straight out of the book. For instance, Alan Paton’s Cry, the Beloved Country is taken from an important passage in which the narrator is summing up the problem of oppression in South Africa under Apartheid. Still others are named for the main character(s) or an important place in the text, such as Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer, Elizabeth Stout’s Olive Kitteridge, Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers, or John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row. Closely connected with that would be books with places as part of the title, such as Tom Clancy’s Cardinal of the Kremlin. But regardless of which of these categories a title falls under, there’s an obvious directly observable reason behind the title.

Many other titles, on the other hand, are more figurative, expressing some emotional note that runs through the story, or that comes from some other work to which the author wishes to connect the book. Shakespeare is, I feel, the most common source for book names. There’s Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury, Huxley’s Brave New World, and Richard Matheson’s What Dreams May Come, to name just a few. Or they could be inspired by a univerally known text, such as the Bible. Examples of this are Steinbeck’s East of Eden, Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom, and Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon.

The last category (I should say this isn’t intended to be an exhaustive study. It is just a quick rundown of categories I’ve encountered repeatedly.) is titles that either come directly from or are inspired by song titles or lyrics. There are so many of these, I could spend the rest of this post just naming them and not put a dent in the list. There are Night Shift by Stephen King, She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb, Eleanor Rigby by Douglas Coupland, and Coat of Many Colors by Dolly Parton. That last one is kind of a cheat as well as a hybrid. It’s a book by Dolly Parton based on a song also by Dolly Parton and also loosely inspired by a story from the Bible. In truth, it’s more inspired by the phrase “coat of many colors” than it actually is by the biblical story of Joseph.

The reason I chose to write about songs last is because I have used lines from songs for titles of three of my books. Kisses and Lies is from the song, “Kissing a Fool” by George Michael, though I prefer the Michael Buble version. Dawn of Grace is from the Josh Groban version of “Silent Night.” The actual line from the song is, “…dawn of redeeming grace”, but in Groban’s version, he leaves redeeming out in one verse.

But that’s only two. What’s the third? Funny you should ask. I’m excited to announce the title of my newest novel, which is being edited and revised as we speak. It comes from, interestingly enough, on another Christmas carol, “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear.” In the fourth verse, you’ll find these words:

And ye, beneath life’s crushing load,
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps and slow,
Look now! for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing; –
Oh, rest beside the weary road
And hear the angels sing!

As I searched for a title, one line from that verse popped out at me. The story revolves around the main character trudging through life trying to cope with his wife having left him. There were a couple of choices I looked at. First I considered Beneath LIfe’s Crushing Load, but it seemed to negative, too final, so I rejected it and considered Rest Beside the Weary Road. That didn’t work either, though for the opposite reason. There’s no rest from the sadness for this character once his beloved leaves. So that led me to With Painful Steps and Slow, which has at least a tiny kernel of hope in that it depicts movement, albeit movement that is slow and torturous. So there it is, the title of my new book: With Painful Steps and Slow. I hope you agree it’s appropriate once you finally get to read it.