Complete Sentences, Please!

List five books with titles that are complete sentences.
Traditionally, a complete sentence has a subject and a verb (many book titles are missing the verb).

Shake Hands with the Devil by Romeo Dallaire
Can You Hear the Nightbird Sing? by Anita R. Badami
Light a Penny Candle by Maeve Binchy
All My Patients are Under the Bed by Louis J. Camuti
River, Cross My Heart by Breena Clarke

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee
The Man Who Knew Too Much by G K Chesterton
The Spy Who Loved Me by Ian Fleming
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown by Charles M. Schulz
The Stainless Steel rat goes to Hell by Harry Harrison
And to think that I Saw It on Mullberry Street by Dr. Seuss
I Am the Doctor by Jon Pertwee

I am a high school teacher, but I'm on vacation, so I am not going to mark you guys!
But...remember...a sentence must be a complete thought...and make sense out of context (and have that pesky "subject and verb").

When Will Jesus Bring the Porkchops?
Wherever You Go, There You Are
What's Gnu?
You Can Be Happy No Matter What
I know what it says, What Does it Mean?

Sorry couldn't get touchstones to work.

and have that pesky "subject and verb").

Sometimes. I think this one qualifies:
Mommy?, by Maurice Sendak

And this one:
Pass the Polenta, by Teresa Lust

The rest:
Whatever You Do, Don't Run, by Peter Allison
The Cat Made Me Buy it!, by Alice Muncaster
Sometimes I Dream in Italian, by Rita Ciresi

Am not sure about Mommy?
Normally it would be dialogue in a context - but as a title?...what do others think?

Pass the Polenta - that's fine; "pass" is the verb.
It's an imperative sentence.

God Is an Englishman R. F. Delderfield
They Sailed Into Oblivion A. A. Hoehling
The President Is a Lot Smarter Than You Think G. B. Trudeau
I Am the Only Running Footman Martha Grimes
Give the Boys a Great Big Hand Ed McBain

I think that "Mommy?" counts. But from #2, "As I Walked Out One Morning" and "The Man Who Knew Too Much" and "The Spy Who Loved Me" are not complete sentences.

From my library:
The Buck Passes Flynn
The Great Brain Does It Again
Joseph Had A Little Overcoat
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
What's The Worst That Could Happen?

>9 mamajoan::mamajoan - yep, slap my hand over the first one you mention but can't get it re the other two. For my self-improvement, do explain. Cheers.

#10 hazelk - "who knew too much" is an adjectival phrase modifying "the man." There is no real verb here ("knew" is part of the adjective phrase) hence it's not a complete sentence. "The man who knew too much" is basically one long noun.

clear as mud? :)

#10

"Who knew too much" just modifies/describes the man, we still need to have him do something, or to say something about him. Same for "the spy who loved me."

"The man knew too much" or "The spy loved me" would be sentences.

Edited to add: Oops, sorry, mamajoan. Didn't know if you were still watching this thread.

Thanks, mamjoan and myshelves:unfortunately I shall be much too inhibited now to contribute again. (Went to an English 'Grammar School' but not taught these things.)

PS (a few minutes later) - a pal explained it better i.e.. subject, verb, object - The Spy Who Knew Too Much Information - if such a novel existed would have been OK.

#13

Oh dear. "Who knew too much information" is still just a phrase modifying/describing the spy.

"The spy who knew too much information was murdered" would be a sentence.

Five Go Down to the Sea by Enid Blyton
Five Go to the Smugglers Top "
Five Go Off in a Caravan "
Five Go to the Mystery Moor "
The Man Who Loved Women by Dorothy Valcarcel

I'm ready for deconstruction again!

#15

:-) The fifth has the same problem. What about the man who loved women? Did he do something? Was something done to him? Was he happy or sad? The only verb is part of the modifier/description, and that doesnt count.

Hmmm. Put it this way. The title really just says "the man." The additional words answer the question "which man?" but we still don't have any action.

Midnight is a Place by Joan Aiken
Are You Happy? by Edward Koren
The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
My Granddaughter has fleas! by Cathy Guisewite
Madam, Will You Talk? by Mary Stewart

hazelk -- Sorry!! Didn't mean to scare you off. But yes, "The man who knew too much information" and "the man who loved women" still suffer from the same problem as "The man who knew too much." There is no verb, hence it's not a complete sentence.

Look at it this way -- suppose it were "The man who was smart." You could rephrase that as "The smart man." Clearly, "the smart man" is not a complete sentence. Well, "the man who knew too much" is the same. You could rephrase it as "the too-much-knowing man" (okay, awkward, but it gets my point across I hope). And "the too-much-knowing man" is not a complete sentence.

"a pal explained it better i.e.. subject, verb, object - The Spy Who Knew Too Much Information"
No, if it were "The Spy Knew Too Much" then it would fit that: The Spy (subject) Knew (verb) Too Much (object)

But once you add "Who", you transform everything after that into an adjective, just like "smart." Now "knew" is not a verb any more but is part of the subject.

The Spy (which spy? the one who knew too much) is still the subject. Now we need a verb to complete the sentence. An object is optional.

"The Spy Who Knew Too Much Died" -- now THAT is a complete sentence. "The Spy Who Knew Too Much Killed Himself" -- that too. (himself is the object)

probably talking in circles now, sorry :(

OK, hopefully these all are complete sentences. I threw in a couple of extras just in case...

Age and Guile Beat Youth, Innocence and a Bad Haircut by P. J. O'Rourke
The Calculating Cat Returns
The Lord God Made Them All by James Herriot
Love is Hell by Matt Groening
Miss Manners Rescues Civilization by Judith Christ
Something Under the Bed is Drooling

Touchstones don't seem to be working at the moment.

Thanks (mamajoan & myshelves) for your patience. Adjectival function using verbs doesn't count. Finally, as Professor Higgins says/sings in 'My Fair Lady' - "By Jove I think she's got it" but yet to be demonstrated in my case.

Anastasia, Ask Your Analyst by Lois Lowry
Anastasia Has The Answers by Lois Lowry
Beware, Princess Elizabeth by Carolyn Meyer
Forever Begins Tomorrow by Bruce Coville
The Lights Go On Again by Kit Pearson

I Am Mordred by Nancy Springer
I Am Morgan Le Fay by Nancy Springer
I Lost my Grandfather's Brain by Bruce Coville
I Was A Sixth Grade Alien by Bruce Coville
On The Bright Side, I'm Now The Girlfriend of A Sex God by Louise Rennison

The Sky Is Falling by Kit Pearson
Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers by Louise Rennison
There's An Alien In My Backpack by Bruce Coville
Turn Homeward, Hannalee by Patricia Beatty
The Chicken Doesn't Skate by Gordan Korman

I hope these are all sentences, I liked this topic so I did three sets of five, which leaves more room for error... ;)

Hiram Walker presents : an easy to learn ... easy to use ... guide to mixing drinks by Hiram Walker
Think before you write by William Gordon Leary
My name is Kathryn by K. C. Findley
Your are not alone by Cheryn Salazar
and at the top of my queue to catalog ...
Light a penny candle by Maeve Binchy

A Man Rides Through by Stephen R. Donaldson
I Came Back To Show You I Could Fly by Robin Klein
Kiss Me While I Sleep by Linda Howard
Night Time Is My Time by Mary Higgins Clark
Who's Afraid Of The Dark? by Sydney Sheldon

Sorry #22, Kira, I think they're all okay except ''then he ate my boy entrancers" - thinking this would be a subordinate (aka dependent) clause, i.e. - "The alien blew up his space ship and then he ate ..."
If the "then" was left off, it would be okay.
Please correct me, anyone, if I'm wrong (about the subordinate clause - in this case it is modifying the principal clause)

My goodness! We'll soon be ready to tackle split infinitives! (Or dare I say to bravely tackle?)

These are sentences:

Now is the Time to Open Your Heart

Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name Here the subject is "you" which is understood in an imperative sentence.

Don't I Know You?

Here They Come

Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight

#25 -- Hmm I see your point (and probably wouldn't start a sentence with 'then' in an essay, for stylistic reasons if not grammatical ones) but I'm not 100% convinced it's not a real sentence, because I think 'then' could be used similarly to 'later', and you could legitimately say: Later he ate my boy entrancers. Or could you? Hmm, thinking about it too long is playing tricks on me. Perhaps you are right.

Edited to add a question: Your example added an 'and'.... could it just say: "The alien blew up his space ship, then he ate"? That seems more awkward, which is what leads me to think it could be corrected by making two distinct sentences OR adding the and to connect the clauses.

Don't think you could say "Later I ate my shoes" any more than you could say "Then I ate my shoes" (as complete sentences, that is).
Out of context, the group of words doesn't make sense. It leaves the reader wondering - what happened before? So....
"At noon I ate my hat. Later I ate my shoes".

"At noon I ate my hat and later I ate my shoes" - "and" is a conjunction joining a subordinate clause to the main clause (the latter can stand on its own as a sentence - the thought is complete and does not leave the reader asking questions of meaning except perhaps - why did this person eat her hat?!)

#27: You could say "The alien blew up his space ship, then he ate. . ." I believe that would be grammatically correct.

#26: LynnB--you read my mind. I was going to do a "List 5" with infinitives (no splits). :)

Now, to the topic:

All's Well That Ends Well by William Shakespeare
The Corpse Had a Familiar Face by Edna Buchanan
Don't Look Back by Karin Fossum
Eva Moves the Furniture by Margot Livesey
Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

Not to hijack this board too much more, (sorry!) but the grammar discussion interests me, especially as this question isn't a very easy one to just look up in a grammar book and get an answer to (they seem to focus on answering whether you can start sentences with because) ... I don't think a sentence needs to explain everything, as long as it is explained within the context of a paragraph. Later (and "then" too?) is an adverb, so it should be able to modify a verb without anything else added. Yes, it leaves the reader wondering after what, but the sentence as a grammatical structure is complete I think. For that matter sentences can be very ambiguous and still correct. "He ate my socks" theoretically leaves one wondering 'who is he' but that should have been answered in a preceding sentence. So in a list of things like: "He ate my socks. He ate my tie. Then he ate my shoes." I think could be complete because the previous sentences make clear what the 'then' refers to.

"He ate my socks later." Looks like a complete sentence to me. "He ate my socks then." Needs context, but I think it is a sentence. I can imagine Hemingway writing "He hit him. Then he kicked him." :-)

I believe that "then", used in this context, is a conjunctive adverb. Just as you can begin a sentence with "however", "therefore", "besides", "later", you can also begin it with "then" (and "and", "but", "yet", etc.). However, I believe that if you start with a conjuctive adverb, you have to put a comma after it. (Just as I did after the "however"). And, you would put a comma after regular conjunctions, wouldn't you?

So, if the sentence were "Then, he ate. . . ", I don't think anyone here would have any doubts that it is a complete sentence, right?

(I understand there are some English teachers here, so forgive and correct me if I'm wrong. It's been so long. . . .)

Grammatically a sentence can be correct but it also needs to make sense to be a true sentence. Grammatically you can say, "The rug waltzes" - i.e. rug is the subject and waltzes is the verb - but it has no real meaning. This falls under semantics.
Grammar provides us with a structure that allows our communication, especially formal communication, to make sense. Sentences uttered in context (i.e. going back to the socks - they must have been referred to at some time earlier in the discourse) are okay if the reader or listener knows what the speaker is referring to. When they are uttered outside of context, they lose their meaning, and therefore, their true value as a "sentence".

Dialogue is different - we don't have to be so precise because we use body language a lot more which helps with meaning.

In the context of this game, I think that Kira's title is a sentence. :-)

Lol in the context of the game I think it's all pretty irrelevent, but fun to discuss :)

Ok. I'm going to try to adhere to proper grammar. : )

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead.
We Need To Talk About Kevin.
One Frog Can Make a Difference.
Bring Me the Head of Willy the Mailboy!
The Eagle has Landed.

Did I pass?

I was right on time
Will you please be quiet, please?
I had a hammer
The sea came in at midnight
Let the dog drive

By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept by Elizabeth Smart
I Heard the Owl Call My Name by Margaret Craven
All Families are Psychotic by Douglas Coupland
You Don't Have to Be Evil to Work Here But it Helps by Tom Holt
Wolves Eat Dogs by Martin Cruz Smith

War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning - Chris Hedges
I'm Not The New Me - Wendy McClure
Love Warps The Mind A Little - John Dufresne
Come, Tell Me How You Live - Agatha Christie
The Water Is Wide - Pat Conroy

I Been in Sorrow's Kitchen and Licked Out All the Pots by Susan Straight
Anybody Can Do Anything by Betty MacDonald
Murder Can Run Your Stockings by Selma Eichler
The Locusts Have No King by Dawn Powell
Miss Julia Stands Her Ground by Ann B. Ross

I'll Go To Bed At Noon - Gerard Woodward
The Journey Is The Destination - Dan Eldon
Shake Hands With The Devil - Romeo Dallaire
Warning, Psychiatry Can Be Hazardous To Your Mental Health -William Glasser
I Never Promised You A Rose Garden - Joanne Greenberg

I Could Tell You Stories - Patricia Hampl
I Dreamed Of Africa - Kuki Gallmann
The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down - Anne Fadiman
Jaguars Ripped My Flesh - Tim Cahill
Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe

It Must've Been Something I Ate - Jeffrey Steingarten
Call Me By Your Name - Andre Aciman
Don't Stop The Carnival - Herman Wouk
Earth Abides - George R. Stewart
My Name Is Red - Orhan Pamuk

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick
This is the Way the World Ends - James Morrow
Rozencrantz and Gildenstern are Dead - Tom Stoppard
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish - Douglas Adams
Flyboy Action Figure Comes with Gasmask - Jim Munroe

Keeping it Real - Justina Robson
Oh, the Glory of It All - Sean Wilsey

There's a Bat in Bunk Five by Paula Danziger
Remember Me to Harold Square by Paula Danziger
The Good Wife Strikes Back by Elizabeth Buchan
You Remind Me of Me by Dan Chaon
Whatever Happened to Janie? by Caroline B. Cooney

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus
Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late!
My Friend is Sad
There is a Bird on Your Head!
Today, I will Fly! all by Mo Willems

Death Comes as the End
I Give you my Word
Who Killed the Great Auk?
Come, See the Place
Mr Britling sees it Through

By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept
Everything is Illuminated
Who Moved My Cheese?
Goodnight Moon
Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret

It Must Have Been Something I Ate by Jeffrey Steingarten
Everything About Me is Fake--and I'm Perfect by Janice Dickinson
Are You Really Going to Eat That? by Robb Walsh
Small is Beautiful by E.F. Schumacher
Is There No Place on Earth for Me? by Susan Sheehan

I Ain't an Athlete, Lady by John Kruk
Enough's Enough by Calvin Trillin
A Mathemetician Reads the Newspaper by John Allen Paulos
We All Lost the Cold War by Richard Lebow
It Ain't Brain Surgery by Larry Dierker

I see now that the baseball guys are fond of "ain't."

You cannot live as I have lived and not end up like this by Terence Blacker

Repent, Harlequin! Said the Ticktock man by Harlan Ellison

The Light's On At Signpost by George McDonald Fraser

I think the only one I have in my library is The world is flat by Thomas L. Friedman

My library had more than I thought. I think all of these count. Hope I haven't duplicated anyone else's:-

The Bible is History - Ian Wilson
Bless the Beasts and Children - Glendon Swarthout
Carpe Jugulum - Terry Pratchett
Dance with the Devil - Sherrilyn Kenyon
Demons Don't Dream - Piers Anthony

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff - Richard Carlson
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues - Tom Robbins
Horses Make a Landscape Look More Beautiful - Alice Walker
I Am Becoming My Mother - Lorna Goodison
I Know This Much is True - Wally Lamb

She's Come Undone - Wally Lamb
It's Raining Pigs and Noodles - Jack Prelutsky
Something Big Has Been Here - Jack Prelutsky
Meet Mr. Mulliner - P. G. Wodehouse
Somebody is Going to Die if Lilly Beth Doesn't Catch That Bouquet - Gayden Metcalf

Edited to fix touchstone.

I Came Out of the Eighteenth Century, by John Andrew Rice (read 3 Feb 1979)
The Devil Rides Outside, by John H. Griffin (read 25 Sep 1955)
The Left Hand Is the Dreamer, by Nancy Wilson Ross (read 5 Oct 1957)
In My End Is My Beginning, by Maurice Baring (read 21 Feb 1960)
This is Spain, by Richard Pattee (read 7 Aug 1961)

Here are others:
We Have Always Lived in the Castle, by Shirley Jackson (read 5 Jan 1963)
Late Have I Loved Thee, by Ethel Mannin (read 30 Jul 1963)
A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories, by Flannery O'Connor (read 20 Feb 1966)
The Lamps Went Out in Europe, by Ludwig Reimers translated from the German by Richard and Clara Winston (read 11 Dec 1968)
The President's Plane is Missing, by Robert J. Serling (read 11 Oct 1970)
It Is Never Too Late to Mend: A Matter-of-Fact Romance, by Charles Reade (read 9 Nov 1977)

I am not Jackson Pollock. by John Haskell
Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman
I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee
Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson

I Am A Cat by Soseki Natsume
Consider the Lobster by David Foster Wallace
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
You Can't Take it With You by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman
Spirit Matters by Philip Gabriel

I think the nurses are stealing my clothes by Linda Smith
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
Diner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler
A prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
Where did it all go right by Andrew Collins

Think Like a Dinosaur by James Patrick Kelly
Appreciate Me Now and Avoid the Rush by Ashleigh Brilliant
We Thought You Would Be Prettier by Laurie Notaro
You Shall Know Our Velocity by Dave Eggers
Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo

My best friends girl by Dorothy Koomson
Lucy Sullivan is getting married by Marian Keyes
Me and the Fat Man by Julier Myerson
The Mercy of Thin Air by Ronlyn Domingue
Making cocoa for Kingsley Amis by Wendy Cope

How by Dov Seidman
Where's Waldo? by Martin Handford
Why? by Catherine Ripley
When I Relax I Feel Guilty by Tim Hansel
What Is the What by Dave Eggers

Oh, dear, I feel compelled to re-open the "what is a sentence?" debate. You need a subject and an object. "A prayer for Owen Meany" isn't a sentence. Neither is "My best friend's girl". (Not picking on those who posted these....there are other errors, too).

I Never Danced At The White House - Art Buchwald
I Walked The Line: My Life With Johnny - Vivian Cash
Age Doesn't Matter Unless You're A Cheese - Kathryn Petras
Then We Came To The End: A Novel - Joshua Ferris
Warriors Don't Cry - Melba Pattillo Beals

Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise? by David Feldman
Dogs Think That Everyday is Christmas by Ray Bradbury
Cats Know Best by Colin Eisler
Something Under the Bed is Drooling by Bill Watterson
Due to Lack of Interest, Tomorrow Has Been Cancelled by Irene Kampen
We Open on Venus by Christopher Stasheff
I'm Gonna Get You by Lass Small
I'd Rather Be in Philadelphia by Gillian Roberts
S is for Space by Ray Bradbury
R is for Rocket by Ray Bradbury
I Want to Believe
Trust No One
The Truth is Out there
Betsy was a Junior
Beggars Ride by Nancy Kress
Don't Panic
This Place Has No Atmosphere

I'll Always Have Paris - Art Buchwald
I Chose Capitol Punishment - Art Buchwald
Washington Is Leaking - Art Buchwald
Lighten Up, George - Art Buchwald
The Establishment Is Alive And Well In Washington - Art Buchwald

Cover Her Face P.D. James
Rabbit, Run John Updike
Come Fill The Cup by Harlan Ware
Farewell, My Lovely, Raymond Chandler
Go Tell It On the Mountain, by James Baldwin
Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone, by James Baldwin

Why Do I Love These People? by Po Bronson
No One Belongs Here More Than You. by Miranda July
She Flew The Coop by Michael Lee West
My Life Had Stood a Loaded Gun by Theo Padnos
Before You Know Kindness by Chris Bohjalian

Dave Barry Talks Back
Dave Barry is from Mars and Venus
Dave Barry is not Making this Up
Dave Barry Does Japan
Dave Barry is not Taking this Sitting Down

Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway
Your Momma Thinks Square Roots are Vegetables
The Dog is Not a Toy
Have His Carcase
Murder Must Advertise

I Capture the Castle
Atlas shrugged
The Players Come Again
Guards! Guards!
Then Again, Maybe I Won't

The Chick is in the Mail
Did You Say Chicks!?
Carry on, Jeeves
Rest in Pieces
The Serpent Never Sleeps

Bertie Wooster Sees it Through
Death Comes as the End
Wish You Were Here
I Hope your Penis Shrivels Up
They Call me Naughty Lola

Really I should go to bed! Plot it yourself.

Shake Hands Forever Ruth Rendell
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter Carson McCullers
Can I Get There By Candlelight? Jean Slaughter Doty
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden Joanne Greenberg
The Cat In the Hat Comes Back Dr. Seuss

A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You
Come to Me
Love Invents Us
It was on Fire when I Lay Down on It
It was a Dark and Stormy Night

Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack!
All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten
What's a Nice Single Girl Doing with a Double Bed?
Soon I Will Be Invincible
I'm Flying, Jack-- I mean, Roger

Guess Who Didn't Take a Nap? by Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott
If Life is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits? by Erma Bombeck
There's No Place Like Here by Cecelia Ahern
Glass Slippers Give You Blisters by Mary Jane Auch
What's the Opposite of a Best Friend? by A. Bates

I Am Not Esther by Fleur Beale
Don't Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me by Paula Begoun
This Year It Will Be Different by Maeve Binchy
It's Not the End of the World by Judy Blume
Let Me Tell You Everything by Barbara Bottner

Karen Kepplewhite Is the World's Best Kisser and Someone Is Hiding on Alcatraz Island by Eve Bunting
It Came From the Deep by A. G. Cascone
What's So Funny About 9th Grade? by Catherine Clark
Nighttime Is My Time by Mary Higgins Clark

(scratches head) Do these qualify? I was never very good at dissecting sentences. :)

There are some really great attention-getters on here! I Hope Your Penis Shrivels Up?? Fiction, I hope. :D

The shortest complete sentence titles I could find in my reading log were:

Everybody Dies by Lawrence Block
Don't Ask by Donald Westlake
Nobody's Perfect by Donald Westlake
People Die by Kevin Wignall
'Tis by Frank McCourt

Go Down, Moses
Look Homeward, Angel
You Can't Go Home Again
They Were Defeated
What's the Matter With Kansas?

How Big is Big? by Steven Strauss
How Much is a Million? by David M. Schwarz
The Cradle Will Fall by Mary Higgins Clark
Plant This! by Ketzel Levine
Don't Look Back by Amanda Quick

The Trees and Fields Went the Other Way : Evelyn Eaton
I Capture the Castle: Dodie Smith
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter: Carson McCullers
Still Glides the Stream: Flora Thompson
Death Comes tothe Archbishop: Willa Cather
Ride With Me, Maria Montana: Ivan Doig

Add these: "Shadows Move Among Them" Edgar Mittleholzer
"I served the King of England" Bohumil Hrabal
"I Dream a World" Brian Laker
"I Sought My Brother" Counter & Evans
"Earth Abides" George Stewart
"I'm Expecting to Live Quite Soon" Paul West
"Oranges Aren't the Only Fruit" Jeanette Winterson

Is Your Mama a Llama?
And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street
Alexander, Who Used to be rich last Sunday
Polar Bear, Polar Bear What do you Hear?
Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do you See?
They Tore Out My Heart and Stomped That Sucker Flat
Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf?
Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
Wayside School is Falling Down

The grass is always greener over the septic tank.

Once is not enough

Even cowgirls get the blues

Our hearts were young & gay

Lie down in darkness

I Am a Camera by John Van Druten and Christopher Isherwood
I Am Not But I Know I AM: Welcome to the Story of God by Louie Giglio
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
I Am Spock by Leonard Nimoy
I Am Not Spock by Leonard Nimoy
I Am Curious Yellow by Vilgot Sjoman

and if people have a problem with that last, then:

I Am the Only Running Footman by Martha Grimes

We Are Our Mothers' Daughters by Cokie Roberts
Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar by Thomas Cathcart
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman
Waltz into Darkness by Cornell Wilding
Casual Day Has Gone too Far by Scott Adams

Before You Know Kindness by Chris Bohjalian

This inactive board needs activity. I submit the above is not a complete sentemce

Elephants Can Remember by Agatha Chrsitie
Dead Men Don't Crochet by Betty Hechtman
We'll Always Have Parrots by Donna Andrews
Ghouls Haunt Just to Have Fun by Victoria Laurie
Never Preach Past Noon by Edie Claire

Why Shoot a Butler? by Georgette Heyer
No Nice Girl Swears by Alice-Leone Motts
The Brontes Went to Woolworth's by Rachel Ferguson
Our Spoons Came From Woolworth's by Barbara Comyns
Open the Door! by Catherine Carswell

The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein
The Prince Kidnaps a Bride by Christina Dodd
I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe
Please Don't Eat The Daisies by Jean Kerr
The Last Camel Died At Noon by Elizabeth Peters

Are you there Vodka? It's me Chelsea by Chelsea Handler
She got up off the Couch by Haven Kimmel
Smile when You're Lying by Chuck Thompson
Daniel isn't Talking by Marti Leimbach
Thank you for Smoking by Christopher Buckley

Wasn't the Grass Greener? by Barbara Holland
There's a Nightmare in my Closet by Mercer Mayer
Frog Goes to Dinner by Mercer Mayer
Meet the Orchestra by Ann Hayes
Stop Dressing Your Six-Year-Old Like a Skank by Celia Rivenbark

can't get the correct touchstone to appear for the last one...

The Great Prince Died* by Bernard Wolfe

Thereʻs a Country in My Cellar by Russell Baker

It Canʻt Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis

The King is Dead by Mary Renault

After Many a Summer Dies the Swan by
Aldous Huxley -- Hmm, Iʻm starting to wonder if death evokes complete sentences?)

*rare use of as past tense in a title, but is in 1st e d. only; it was republished as "Trotsky Dead"

Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney
Never Let Them See You Cry by Edna Buchanan
Do With Me What You Will by Joyce Carol Oates
Father Does Know Best by Lauren Chapin
Where Do Nudists Keep Their Hankies? by Mitchell Symons

I am Asher Lev by Chaim Potok

But isnʻt it Waiting for You*
by Marcus Varro

A Lion is in the Streets
by Adria Locke Langley

Allʻs Well that Ends Well
by William Shakespeare

No Star is Lost by James T. Farrell

*Unfortunately none of this book (1st c. BCE) survived, except the title. But it is a complete sentence.

As to the rarity of the past tense in a title, I don't find it so rare. A famous example:

Brideshead Revisited The Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder, by Evelyn Waugh (read 18 Mar 1947 - re-read 27 Nov 1982)

I'm Just Here for More Food by Alton Brown
Remember Me To Harold Square by Paula Danziger
The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
C is for Corpse by Sue Grafton
Don't Name Your Baby by David Narter

Gather, Darkness by Fritz Leiber

They Asked for a Paper by C.S. Lewis

The Great Prince Died by Bernard Wolfe

This Isnʻt a Picture Iʻm Holding
by Kathy J. Phillips

This is Not a Pipe} by Michel Foucault

The Dark Hills Divide by Patrick Carman
The Celery Stalks at Midnight by James Howe
Assumptions that Affect Our Lives by Christian Overman
We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea by Arthur Ransome
There's an Owl in the Shower by Jean Craighead George

R is for Ricochet by Sue Grafton

Tuesday the Rabbi Saw Red
by Harry Kelerman

I Was Dancing by Edwin OʻConnor

Everything that Rises Must Converge
by Flannery ʻConnor

You are Not the Target
by Laura Archer Huxley

They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky by Alephonsion Deng
Whatever You Do, Don't Run by Peter Allison
When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson
I Thought My Father Was God by Paul Auster
I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron

Something Happened by Joseph Heller
Death Takes a Passage by Sue Henry
My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok
Don Camillo Takes the Devil by the Tail by Giovannino Guareschi
Tomorrow Will be Better by Betty Smith

Don't Judge a Girl by her Cover -- Ally Carter
I'd Tell you I love you, But then I'd have to kill you -- Ally Carter
It's Not Easy Being Mean -- Lisi Harrison
Guess how much I love you
Fast Forward to Normal -- Jane Vogel

I had to cheat on the last one and look at my library account's reading history. :)

Hi Schmerguls:

When I said the past is rare in a title, I didn't mean past participles (a titleparallel to Brideshead Revisited) are rare -- only that a main verb in the past is rare.

One that I listed B.Wolfe's The Great Prince Died had its title changed, in its second editiion to Trotsky Dead, which I took tobe a sign that publishers don't like past tenses.

Garfield Takes the Cake by Jim Davis

You Canʻt Be Neutral on a Moving Train
by Howard Zinn

We Shall Overcome; Songs from the Southern Freedom Movement by Guy Carawan

Rabbit is Rich by John Updike

Lloyd George Knew my Father; a comedy*

* Can ʻt remember the playwrght of this one, but I did see it in London about 1972, w/ Ralph Richardson in the leading role.

As to Message #92, I don't think Assumptions that Affect Our Lives by Christian Overman
is a complete sentence, is it? The last four words are merely a descriptive clause modifying "Assumptions"

Oh... oops, let me think of one to replace it...

The Black Stallion Revolts by Walter Farley

The Center Cannot Hold - Elyn R. Saks
The Media Relations Department Of Hizbollah Wishes You A Happy Birthday - Neil MacFarquhar
God Is Not Great - Christopher Hitchens
Farewell, My Subaru - Doug Fine
Comfort Me With Apples - Ruth Reichl

Their eyes were watching God - Zora Neale Hurston
Raise high the roof beam, carpenters - J.D. Salinger
Dress your family in corduroy and denim - David Sedaris
What's for dinner? - James Schuyler
The grass is singing - Doris Lessing

Another five:

He knew he was right - Anthony Trollope
Can you forgive her? - Anthony Trollope
This is not a novel - Jennifer Johnston
The fish can sing - Halldor Laxness
They were counted - Miklos Banffy

And finally:

Books do furnish a room - Anthony Powell
Time will darken it - William Maxwell
They came like swallows - William Maxwell
August is a wicked month - Edna O'Brien
Tender is the night - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Speak up, you Tiny Fool! b y John Glashan

What is Poetry? by Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Thatʻs DOCTOR Sinatra, you Little Bimbo!
by Gary Trudeau

No Villain Need Be by Vardis Fisher

Latin Can be Fun by Georg Capellanus

It struck me in this thread, that there are many very famous authors who never,or only once, used a complete sentence in their titles: Homer, Vergil, Horace, the Greek tragic poets, Aristophanes, Milton, S. Johnson, Fielding, Smollett. Dickens, G. Eliot, Thackeray (Trollope seems to be an exception for this era), Hardy,
Hemingway, et al.
Only once: Shakespeare (Allʻs Well that Ends well), Steinbeck (The Moon is Down), Fitzgerald (Tender is the Night), and Updike (Rabbit is Rich)

Am I forgetting any titles by the above?

I wouldn't start from here by Andrew Mueller
This fish is loaded! by Richard Glyn Jones
Who goes here? by Bob Shaw
We can remember it for you wholesale by Philip K. Dick
Does God play dice? by Ian Stewart

...just my 5p's worth... :-)

Once there was a Giant by Keith Laumer

Too Much is Not Enough by Orson Bean

Who Wrote the Bible?
by Richard Friedman (and many others)*

The Great Prince Died by Bernard Wolfe

He ran all the Way by Robert Nott

*not as co-authors -- their own version

Where is the Bear? by Betty Hubka
1 Is One by Tasha Tudor
We Were Tired of Living in a House by Liesel Moak Skorpen
I'm Mighty! by Kate McMullan
Once I Ate A Pie by Patricia MacLachlan

Kiss Me While I Sleep by Linda Howard
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown
Don't Look Down by Jennifer Crusie
A Modern Priest Looks at His Outdated Church by James J. Kavanaugh
Please Don't Eat the Daisies by Jean Kerr

Yesterday I had the blues by Jeron Ashford Frame
De dingen hebben hun geheim by A. Van den Beukel (means:The Things have their secret)
Jij hebt iets leuks over je by Esther Gerritsen (means: You have something nice in you)
De Kameleon gooit het roer om by H. de Roos (means: The chameleon must change tack)
De goden moeten hun getal hebben by Hubert Lampo (means: (literally) The gods must have their number)

Geef me de ruimte! by Thea Beckman (means: Give me space!)
Keep your mouth shut and wear beige by Kathleen Gilles Seidel
Weet je 't nu, Sietske? by Margo Driebergen (means: Do You Know(understand) Now, Sietske?)
Wat gebeurde er met sergeant Massuro? by Harry Mulisch (means: What had happened to sergeant Massuro?)
De tijd stopt niet voor muizen = Time Stops for No Mouse by Michael Hoeye
Blue and yellow don't make greenby Michael Wilcox

My name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok
Ich bin ein Almeloer! by Herman Finkers (means: I am an Almeloër, (Almelo is a city))
Boven is het stil = The Twin by Gerbrand Bakker (means: it is quiet on the second floor)
Alles is altijd fictie by Daphne Huisden (means: All things are always fiction)
Wit is altijd schoon by Leo Pleysier (means: White is always fine(clear) )

Vroeger was de aarde by Marten Toonder (In the early days the earth was flat)
Titaantjes waren we by A. F. Th. van der Heijden t/m Willem van derToorn (means: We were little Titans)
Perenbomen bloeien wit by Gerbrand Bakker means: Pear trees blossom white)
On attend les enfants by Madeleine Chapsal (means: 'they' (or we) are waiting for the children)

The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny
Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington/Nugi Garimara
Five Little Peppers and how they Grew by Margaret Sidney
I am David by Anne Holm

Jo Returns to the Chalet School
The Chalet School Goes to It
Carola Storms the Chalet School
Joey Goes to the Oberland
The Chalet School Wins the Trick

All by Elinor M Brent-Dyer

Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris
Love Warps The Mind A Little - John Dufresne
Pity The Billionaire - Thomas Frank
What's The Matter With Kansas? - Thomas Frank
Who Will Run The Frog Hospital? - Lorrie Moore

Leave the Grave Green by Deborah Crombie
Ask Again Later by Jill Davis
A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton
Heroes Are My Weakness by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
What Do You Do After You Say Hello? by Eric Berne

See You Later Alligator by William F. Buckley
Switch on the Night by Ray Bradbury
Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? by Dr. Seuss
I Sing the Body Electric by Ray Bradbury
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick

The Time Machine did it
by

Shakespeare never did this
by Charles Bukowski

You are not the Target
by Laura Archera Huxley

I Wonder who first Made Ice Cream
by Tracy Hill

The Chameleon Wore Chartreuse
Death Comes to Pemberley
Where'd You Go, Bernadette?
A Stick is an Excellent Thing
Al Capone Does My Shirts

The Ministry Of Guidance Invites You To Not Stay - Hooman Majd
Visit Sunny Chernobyl - Andrew Blackwell
I'm Your Man - Leonard Cohen
Jaguars Ripped My Flesh - Tim Cahill
If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name - Heather Lende

How did you Get this Number?
by Sloane Crosley

When did Wild Poodles Roam the Earth?
by David Feldman

There is a Place where you are Not Alone
by Hugh Prather

Here comes the Sun by Tom Holt

They almost always Come Home
by Cynthia Ruchti

I Am the Cheese by Robert Cormier
Amber Brown Is Not a Crayon by Paula Danziger
All Men Are Enemies by Richard Aldington
This Book Will Save Your Life by A.M Homes
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

This is not a Pipe by Michel Foucault

How did we Find out about Atoms?
by Isaac Asimov

This is not a Test by Courtney Summers

Resist Much; Obey Little
by James Hepworth

Sir Lancelot, where are you?
by Kate McMullan

We Are In a Book by Mo Willems
A Big Guy Took My Ball! by Mo Willems
Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon by Marjorie Kellogg
Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She? by Molly Ivins
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

1. Today we Choose Faces
by Roger Zelazny

2. "Dualism dwells in Early Kerouac Novel"*
by David Dulin

3. The Sea is my Brother
by Jack Kerouac

4. This is my God by Herman Wouk

5. Ask me anything about Baseball
by Louis Phillips

*(2) is an article reviewing (3).

My Friend is Sad by Mo Willems
Heaven is For Real by Todd Burpo
Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki
Justin Morgan Had a Horse by Marguerite Henry
What Do You Do With a Kangaroo? by Mercer Mayer

Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life by Karen Rauch Carter

We Shall Not Be Moved by Joan Dash

Stop the Next War Now by Jodie Evans

Do Not Go Naked Into Your Next Presentation by Ron Hoff

Eat Your Poison, Dear by James Howe

I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella
Tell Me Lies by Jennifer Crusie
No Nice Girl Swears by Alice Leone Moats
We Have Always Lived in the castle by Shirley Jackson
Sherwood Walks Home by James Flora
Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae

The Dream Begins: how Hawai'i Shaped
Obama

Alles is altijd Fictie / * Everything is
always Fiction
by Daphne Huisden

Dance with the Devil by Sherilyn Kenyon

Understanding: all Success is
Attained by it by Shane Wall

Who and Where in the World are
the Baptists? . . . by Denton Lotz

*not guaranteeing that there is
any English edition.

Here Lies Arthur by Philip Reeve
Chicks Unravel Time by Deborah Stanish and L.M. Myles
Go Saddle the Sea by Joan Aiken
Nigella Bites by Nigella Lawson
A Girl is a Half-formed Thing by Eimear McBride

"How It All Began" by Penelope Lively
"Subways Are For Sleeping" by Edmond G. Love
"Fly Away Peter" by David Malouf

Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger by Louis Sachar
Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? by Dr. Seuss
The Pigeon Needs a Bath by Mo Willems
Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham

What Could Possibly Go Wrong? by Jodi Taylor
This Land is Your Land by Woody Guthrie
We Are All In the Dumps With Jack and Guy by Maurice Sendak
Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie
Git Along, Little Dogies by John I. White

What would Jane Austen do?
by Laurie Brown

Think and Act anew by Larry Snyder

He ran all the Way by Robert Nott

""If this was degrees, everything would
be south of here." - - title of an LT thread

"Finland proposes: basic income for all."
- - title of an LT thread

A Hero Ain't Nothing But a Sandwich by Alice Childress
We Are in a Book! by Mo Willems
Here Lies the Librarian by Richard Peck
Junie B. Jones Has a Peep in Her Pocket by Barbara Park
It's Like This, Cat by Emily Neville

A Big Boy Did It and Ran Away by Christopher Brookmyre
And the Ass Saw the Angel by Nick Cave
Do the Creepy Thing by Graham Joyce
What's A Girl Gotta Do? by Sparkle Hayter
Please Don't Call Me Human by Wang Shuo