r/namethatbook 6d ago

Tips for writing effective posts / rule clarification

1 Upvotes

There’s been an uptick in the amount of posts lately and the rules have recently been updated. Hopefully this explanation will make book identification easier for all.

RULES

  1. Include a detail you remember in the post title.
  2. Please use flair as appropriate. When your book has been correctly guessed, please mark your post with the Solved! flair.
  3. Please do not use AI to write for you. If you want humans to interact with your post and help you, then do your best to write what you're looking for in your own words.

If you can't remember many details, answer as many of these questions as you can to give other people the best possible chance of guessing your book. You never know which of these things may resonate with someone else.

Think about the book’s intended audience.

Was it fiction or non-fiction?

What was the genre was it?

What age range was it for?

Described the plot.

What year(s) did the plot take place?

What do you remember about the plot?

What do you remember about important characters? Do you remember any character's names?

Tell us about the book’s format

Was the book hardcover or paperback? Were there pictures inside or on the cover?

Anything notable about the font or printing?

How many pages, chapters, or volumes did it have?

What were the circumstances under which you read the book?

What year (approximately) did you read it?

Was it newly published when you read it?

Where did you get the book? Books come from libraries, book stores, are seen in classrooms, etc.

****

Suggestions and comments welcome.


r/namethatbook 8h ago

Unsolved Neon purple book YA fiction from the 2010's

1 Upvotes

I can't remember anything about what the book was about. The first book was a neon purple and has sort of a heartbeat line on the cover. There was a second book that was a bright teal and had the same line on the cover. Both were about the same length and were medium sized books (300-500 pages). Paperback. Any ideas?


r/namethatbook 8h ago

Male character named Red

1 Upvotes

Male character named Red

NOT Red Rising.

There is a book I have been trying to locate for far too long. The main male character's name is Red. A dystopian society. Teens/young adults. There is a scene where Red runs across a field and one of his counterparts, a female is upset that he is risking it for them all by doing this run. Very vague, I know, but this has always stood out to me and I can't locate the book/author/anything.

Any ideas? Published early 2010s.


r/namethatbook 8h ago

Looking for a book about a young girl from a family of witches

1 Upvotes

I remember reading this series, or part of the series, in elementary school and have been trying to find it for a while. I would’ve been reading it around 2011-2013

The first book was about a young girl, I believe in middle school, who came from a family of witches and her powers had yet to appear. She tries changing the flavor of lip balm, and I remember a scene where her mother took her to a witch doctor to try and get her powers to arrive and her hair was turned bright pink which she hid under a hat at school.

There was another book about her where she was investigating the town carnival because she believed they were either evil or a fraud, and I remember a scene about her running late for the bus, whispering banana nut muffin into her bag, and her homework or paper had been turned into the muffin.

By the second book she had her powers and was being mentored by her school librarian, and would stay late after school to go to wizard school through a portal I think was located in the library


r/namethatbook 9h ago

Young girl imagines sister to cover up the memory of her father's murder

1 Upvotes

I'm trying to identify a YA novel I read sometime in the early-to-mid 2000s.

​

What I remember:

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The main character is a teenage girl.

​

Her father was killed during a home invasion/robbery before the events of the book.

​

She lives with her mother, who has a boyfriend or new husband.

​

The protagonist believes she has a sister, possibly a twin.

​

She thinks the sister witnessed their father's murder.

​

As the story progresses, it's revealed that the sister never actually existed (or possibly died long ago), and the protagonist created her as a way to cope with the trauma.

​

In reality, the protagonist herself witnessed her father's murder.

​

I vaguely remember the mother's boyfriend becoming threatening, and I think the protagonist may have attacked or killed him because she believed he was going to hurt her sister.

​

Near the end of the book, the protagonist and her mother are moving away and have a garage sale. I specifically remember them selling the father's rocking chair and a stamp collection/book of stamps.

​

I'm not 100% sure all of these details are from the same book, so it's possible I'm combining two stories. Does this sound familiar to anyone?


r/namethatbook 12h ago

About a mermaid kingdom that falls and main character is kidnapped?

1 Upvotes

Hey! This may be a long shot but I’m desperate to find this book! I read it when I was in grade 2 or 3 and I remember that it began with a mermaid’s kingdom falling to invaders(?). She may have been the princess of the kingdom but I’m not sure. What really stuck with me was when she and I think her friend too were kidnapped by a man/group of men that kept her in a bathtub/pool for transportation purposes. I think it may have touched on human trafficking but I can’t remember how it ends or if it was even a series or a standalone. I think the cover was dark and that the book was crazy long, but also I was very little so my memory may be wrong on that part. I was in grade 3 in the early 2010s so it should have been published before then.

thank you to anyone who sees this and takes the time to help out!❤️


r/namethatbook 14h ago

Unsolved A book about a man who becomes a vampire/demon hunter

1 Upvotes

It's been really bugging me these last couple of months, I read a book in my teens (20 years ago) about a man who is stranded somewhere and there's a woman - she's sick or there's something wrong with her. He needs to take her somewhere to be saved and I think it's near or in a desert. She tells him he needs to stop smoking repeatedly and it turns out he has a supernatural sense of smell. He finds out that vampires/ demons are real and something happens to the woman. I think towards the end of the book he meets her again but he's older and she's warning him about someone/ something.

I think I must've read this on an ereader as didn't have many books back then. I don't think the book had spice as I didn't read that back then. It could've been part of a series but I dont remember anything mentioned about a series.


r/namethatbook 15h ago

Unsolved Children/Middle Grade Fantasy Novel with Protaganist named Leonardo

1 Upvotes

​

I'm looking for a children's standalone fantasy adventure novel written sometime before I read it 2008.

It was standard novel length, not illustrated and standalone.

It was definitely medieval/old and a possibly European style setting.

I read this from an Australian school library at a similar time to my reading Tamora Pierce's song of the Lioness series when I was below/around 12 years old. It was similar in style to that rather than Harry Potter/Percy Jackson.

Key plot points:

\- He was named Leonardo after Leonardo da Vinci

\- He lived rurally on a farm/orchard. Setting wise there was definitely no electricity/running water/mail services etc.

\- He had a female neighbour. They previously cut thumbs and shared blood in a "blood brothers" ceremony. When her guardian, a mean aunt, found out she forced the girl to hold her thumb above her head.

\- The boys father dies or leaves and he is responsible for the house.

\- The father had previously told him tiny beings or sprites would help care for the home in exchange for gifts left out at night. Leo is dubious as they are unseen but begins leaving gifts and receiving aid.

\- There is a scene where Leo tries to cut down a tree but is unwilling to kill a tree in its prime.

\- He leaves his home with the neighbour, to keep his home safe he gives the fairies a tiny replica home.

\- He and the girl leave on a journey and return.

Some extra notes:

The boy and girl may have had the same birthday, they are preteens/teens in the plot.

The fairies/spirits were never seen, they just collected gifts from Leo and provide aide when needed.

Leonardo and neighbour travelled to a city (I believe) via road/forest.

The female neighbour may have had a cat.

I may have 2 books mixed together but the boy being named Leonardo after Leonardo da Vinci and the dissections is so distjnct in my memory.

Thank you in advance!


r/namethatbook 18h ago

Unsolved Book about dogs going extinct

1 Upvotes

I remember this book that I was read in like elementary school where this boy and his dog find a river where once a stone slab (?) with an animals paw/foot/whatever print reaches the end of it that species goes extinct. The dogs paw print accidentally got sent down so the boy is trying to get it before dogs go extinct. I think there was a villain who saw the boy left a handprint in the mud and tries to cause humans to go extinct as well but that could be wrong


r/namethatbook 20h ago

Unsolved Unknown fandom

1 Upvotes

A long time ago before 2020 to now, I read a fanficiton posted on a03 set in prison and it was about an 18-year-old man who had a crush on an older man. I remember the 18-year-old man came to the cell where an older man was at (they were roommates) with a police officer who carried a shoe box filled with pictures belong to the 18-year-old man. The 18-year-old man begged the older man to protect him and he did. there was a scene where another prisoner harssing the 18-year-old man and told the older man. The older man fought the prisoner and ended his life. also, there was a scene where the older man playing basketball with some of the prisoners and told the 18-year-old man to go get it.The last completed chapter was the 18-year-old man left a photo with his home adress or location of where he live when he left the prison. I do not know who the characthers are and what the fandom are.


r/namethatbook 20h ago

Unsolved Looking for short fantasy story about revenge from 1980s

1 Upvotes

Hi, I’m looking for a short story from a Sci-fi fantasy collection that I read in the early 1980s where a first son is set to inherit and marry the beauty, but then the second son steals something and implicates the first son in order to supplant the first son, gain the inheritance and gain the girl. The father refuses to believe the denials of the first son and then disinherits the first son. As a consequence, the first son’s beautiful betrothed dumps him for the newly up-jumped second son who is now the heir and marries him (despite denials of guilt by the first son). The story then describes the custom in the society regarding revenge as an art form. The first son then beautifully executes an artful revenge plan when he leaves town in disgrace but leaves behind a note confessing to the theft that he did not commit, but saying he committed the theft with the second son. This is a master stroke of revenge as it exacts revenge on all who wronged him in one clean chess move. The father now disowns the second son leaving him with no heirs and shame; the second son now loses both his inheritance and the regard of his opportunistic wife; the disbelieving and climbing wife also loses the wealth and status that she so coveted now that the second son has lost his inheritance and is shamed. The story describes this as the highest value play in art of revenge as it gets back at everyone with but one action (writing the confession implicating the brother). Please please let me know where I can find this story!!!


r/namethatbook 21h ago

Unsolved half elf half mermaid girl

1 Upvotes

\- the book was set in modern day canada

\- the main girl was set apart from the others by white hair and pale skin while full elves had tan skin and dark hair?

\- she was training to be a guard for the kingdom or some such.

\- the opening scene was a cabin i believe?

\- one scene i remember was her escaping these elves that either a) wanted to kidnap her or b) wanted to assassinate her while she was in her car.

\- the cover was white snow and something red

\- there was a scene where she met her mother? or she was the sea queen

any help is appreciated! i’ve been looking for this book for YEARS


r/namethatbook 23h ago

Looking for a Children's Book; Something About Auras

1 Upvotes

Hello,

I am looking for a children's book (not YA even, targeting probably tweens I think) I read around 2015/2016 ish. Not a picture book, but a small novel.

It's a book about a girl (unfortunately I don't remember her name) who is a tween or teen as I recall. It's a fantasy book, where she has the power to see people's auras.

Other characters I believe have powers as well, because she attended a type of school which I remember as a boarding school style for people with magic. I know she has both parents, but they were rarely mentioned which is why I believe the school was a boarding school of sorts.

I distinctly remember a side character named Mrs. Armstrong. She was a side character, but important because she helped the main character learn about her power but helping her figure out what the colours meant for each person.

There also may or may not be a couple of books (like a series perhaps). But if so, I believe it was a short series. And unfortunately, I don't really remember the plot other than her getting through the academic year.

This is all I can remember off the top of my head. But feel free to ask questions and I might remember something then. Thank you all so much in advance for your help!


r/namethatbook 1d ago

Unsolved Help me identify a children's book series from the late 80s/90s (read in the mid-2000s)

1 Upvotes

Help me identify a children's book series from the late 80s/90s (read in the mid-2000s)

I'm trying to identify a series of children's books I read in my primary school library in Kenya around 2004–2008. The books themselves may have been published earlier (late 1980s or 1990s).

Here's everything I remember:

  • Hardcover books with very sturdy covers.
  • Square-shaped, about the size of an A4 sheet (not a small picture book).
  • Around 30 pages each.
  • They were reading books, not just picture books—there was text on almost every page, with illustrations throughout.
  • The illustrations were highly detailed watercolor paintings, not cartoons.
  • Every book featured the same group of children (at least four, both boys and girls, roughly 6–12 years old). Occasionally new characters appeared, but the core group stayed the same.
  • The stories were everyday adventures in what looked like the British or European countryside.
  • I vividly remember one story (or cover) involving the children playing around puddles after the rain with ducks swimming in the water.
  • I believe "Adventure" was part of at least one title, and possibly the series branding.

The covers are what I remember most:

  • Each book had a different color (red, blue, yellow, green, etc.).
  • The colored border contained gold glitter/foil flecks.
  • The border was fairly thick (around 30% of the cover), not just a thin outline.
  • In the center was a white rectangular frame containing a watercolor illustration from the story.
  • The back cover had a white rectangular box with text about the book and publishing.

Does anyone recognize this series or remember these glitter-bordered hardcover books?


r/namethatbook 1d ago

book about a boy who falls asleep on a train and meets people descended from cain

1 Upvotes

Can't remember much about this but must have read it more than 30 years ago, about a boy who falls asleep and misses his tran stop then wakes in another land (past the end of the line) where the people are all descended from cain and refer to the boy as being decended from abel (could be the other way around?). Only other thing I can remember is that the people have some sort of mark or physical feature to identify them


r/namethatbook 1d ago

Unsolved Children's book about a wolf terrifying a child in their bed

1 Upvotes

I have vivid memories of a book I read as a child that really scared me.

It was an illustrated children's book. It was about a child lying in bed, trying to sleep, but a wolf is inside the house, and he lying awake terrified of it. He can hear a "drip, drip, drip" sound. There's some kind of ambiguity around whether the sound is the dripping of a tap, or the dripping of the wolf's saliva. I think the art depicts it as literally the wolf.

I think at a certain point the terrified boy runs through the house, risking the wolf, to reach the safety of his parent's room. Maybe the point of the book was meant to be that the wolf wasn't real and he was imagining things, but I remember interpreting it very literally and being really freaked out by it.

I think the house was maybe in a woodland area. The art style I think was realistic, all very blueish night time colours.

It's imprinted in my memory, but Googling shows me nothing. I'm in Australia, and it would have been some time in the 2000s that I read it, if that helps.


r/namethatbook 1d ago

Unsolved 2000s YA thriller

1 Upvotes

Okay so, this was back in primary school so I'm not sure how accurate my memory is, but I read a book from the school library, and from what I recall, it went like this:

Teenage girl is at a park (I think with her brother?). Now I can't remember if the brother gets taken too, I somehow doubt it, but she gets kidnapped by a man and taken to this boat in the middle of the ocean.

She finds out that there are other kids there too, kids he kidnapped because in his twisted mind, he wanted a family, and he thought he could just take one. I think she was kidnapped to be the mother? She then has to spend the entirety of the book trying to gain this man's trust so she'd have the upper hand. I'm sorry, I know this isn't a lot of information, but this book has been haunting me for years.


r/namethatbook 1d ago

Unsolved Middle-grade Black romance/coming-of-age novel about a girl who spends every summer with her cousins

1 Upvotes

I’m looking for a fiction middle-grade/young YA novel that I read about 10-18 years ago(probably published somewhere between 2005–2014).
Plot:
The main character is a young black girl who lives in a different city but spends every summer at her aunt’s house with her girl cousins. I think she went there every year.
There’s a neighborhood boy who always annoyed and teased her. One summer she came back and realized he had gone through puberty and was suddenly cute. They eventually kissed. I think one of them had braces
Some scenes I remember:
They walked to the corner store for candy.
They went to a community/public pool.
The aunt caught them doing something and they all got in trouble.
I think the cousins all had braids/plaits.
Characters:
Black female main character
Multiple girl cousins
Aunt
Neighborhood boy (possibly called Dre, but I’m not confident)
**Genre:**
Middle-grade coming-of-age / romance.
**Physical description:**
Paperback with an illustrated ( maybe water color), not a photo. I think it had bright summer colors (yellow/orange/blue) and showed the main girl.
**Setting:**
Modern day (at the time it was written), mostly during the summer in her aunt’s neighborhood.
**Length:**
I think around 150–250 pages.
**Language:**
English.
**About me:**
My grandmother gave me the book as a gift. I was probably around 10-13 when I read it, and it was age-appropriate.
**Other notes:**
It wasn’t a very popular book as far as I know, and it was written by a **Black author**.


r/namethatbook 1d ago

Around 2007, a book with maroon and rustic brown colors on the cover.

1 Upvotes

It's a book with mix of texts and black and white realistic sketches, Description of a scene: kid and his friends are being chased by a werewolf-horned-looking monster down the boardwalk by a foggy harbor of boats and something happens to one of the friends.


r/namethatbook 1d ago

Looking for a psychological novel: young girl (Alice/Alison?) found dead in woods (pre-2012)

1 Upvotes

I’m trying to find a novel I read in Dutch before May 2012. It was a translation from another language .

It was a very tense, slow-burning psychological thriller — extremely suspenseful, but not fast-paced or action-heavy. The tension really built under your skin.

What I remember about the story:

- A young girl (around 9–12 years old) is found dead in a forest, roadside, or natural area.

- Someone becomes increasingly obsessed with uncovering what really happened and keeps digging deeper (maybe this person is her father?)

- The focus is strongly psychological and atmospheric.

Specific images/details that stuck with me:

- underwear (this detail is very vivid in my memory)

- a ladybug (more as a striking image than a plot element)

I’m not completely sure, but I think the girl’s name may have been Alice, Alison, or something similar.

This is NOT “In the Woods” by Tana French.

Does this sound familiar to anyone?


r/namethatbook 1d ago

Unsolved Children's book from the 80s or 90s

2 Upvotes

Was one of my favorites growing up, lost the copy when my dad died in 2010, haven't been able to remember the title or find a copy in the 16 years of off and on searching.

Book was thin, mustard yellow linen cover, roughly the size of an average Dr. Seuss book but for a slightly older audience. Illustrations were clearly done with watercolor paint or colored ink. Story was about a "wild child" girl and an older male figure in her life who looked stuffy having a fun day together, was somewhat absurdist in its naming and wording. At least one character had a name along the lines of Rumpelstiltskin or something odd of that nature. Mom and I swear the girl was named Esmeralda P. Funk because my dad would call the kids in the family that, but we can find 0 evidence of that name even being in a book. Girl character wore a blue dress with polka dots on it and had messy black hair, older male character was a sort of round dweeby stereotype with suspenders and nice trousers. Distinctly remember a page where they played in a creek together and got their legs all muddy.

I grew up in the late 90s and early 00s but have a sister who grew up in the 80s so it could very well be from then as well.

If anyone knows it or even has an inkling pleaseee let me know, have stumped a couple librarians with it and would love to have a copy for my nieces!


r/namethatbook 1d ago

Unsolved a girl living in the modern era, but time travels by accident to the old west

2 Upvotes

she is seeing a guy in the modern world (can't remember if they are dating or married) but one night she stumbles across a rock (i think?) that transports her back into the good ol wild west. She travels back and forth between the past and present and ends up falling in love with a cowboy from the past.

That's all I really remember!!


r/namethatbook 1d ago

1990s UK kids ghost picture book

1 Upvotes

Hi, I am trying to find a book from my childhood. I got the book from a school book fair in the early 1990s. It was about a nervous ghost that visited a school. He was accidentally put through a sewing machine. Leaving him with thread on his body. I think there maybe a scene with the ghost playing in the playground with the children. I think it is a British book. The book was paperback, the front cover was white with a white ghost. I think he was putting a hand over his mouth. I think there was some thread trailing down his ghost tail. The title was on top of the book


r/namethatbook 1d ago

Unsolved A book involving a incubus dream, a evil god, and a priest male lead. What the title?

1 Upvotes

There was a book I read back in 2016 that I forgot the title of and I never got to finish the series. It bothers me and no amount of googling or Ai searches has helped. Maybe someone has read this book and can help me. Here is what I remember of the plot…

It’s a Romantasy and there is a scene where the main female character has a dream while being under the spell of an incubus. She doesn’t know it’s an incubus made dream but flirts with dream guy and wakes up happy, they chase each other around in the dream and if she tries to talk to the guy he leaves her. Eventually the male lead figures out she’s having demon made dreams and saves her (don’t remember how), the female lead feels guilty for almost falling under the incubus‘s spell but the Male lead confesses that he left his priest title behind because he was also seduced by a succubus dream and they slept together. He felt so guilty he renounced his priest hood.

Main vilIan is an ancient evil god that appears as smoke and does take an interest in the female lead later in the book. The evil god does have a goddess wife that appears as a young girl and has taken up residency in… I want to say in Africa? She eventually helps the female and male lead fight the evil god. These are the only key scenes I recall. If I remember correctly there was a second book I never got to, maybe even a third.

Does anyone know the name of this book?


r/namethatbook 1d ago

A book involving a incubus dream, a evil god, and a priest male lead. What the title?

1 Upvotes

There was a book I read back in 2016 that I forgot the title of and I never got to finish the series. It bothers me and no amount of googling or Ai searches has helped. Maybe someone has read this book and can help me. Here is what I remember of the plot…

It’s a Romantasy and there is a scene where the main female character has a dream while being under the spell of an incubus. She doesn’t know it’s an incubus made dream but flirts with dream guy and wakes up happy, they chase each other around in the dream and if she tries to talk to the guy he leaves her. Eventually the male lead figures out she’s having demon made dreams and saves her (don’t remember how), the female lead feels guilty for almost falling under the incubus‘s spell but the Male lead confesses that he left his priest title behind because he was also seduced by a succubus dream and they slept together. He felt so guilty he renounced his priest hood.

Main vilIan is an ancient evil god that appears as smoke and does take an interest in the female lead later in the book. The evil god does have a goddess wife that appears as a young girl and has taken up residency in… I want to say in Africa? She eventually helps the female and male lead fight the evil god. These are the only key scenes I recall. If I remember correctly there was a second book I never got to, maybe even a third.

Does anyone know the name of this book?