What’s In a Name?
A book title is a promise. Which one speaks to you?
If you’ve been following my writing journey—studying cities, walking urban landscapes, and navigating my own memories—you know I’ve been working on a book that braids together the best of European city-building with the intimate, lived experience of moving through city streets, squares, and public spaces. It’s part travelogue, part urban history, part personal excavation. And now I’ve reached a moment where many writers suddenly discover they’re far more opinionated than they realized: the moment of choosing a title.
For a long time, I used the working title The Urban Curious Guide to Europe. But it feels like just that—a working title. I want to go deeper.
I’ve been exploring a dozen possibilities—and I keep shifting them around like chess pieces. One—Stubborn as a Streetlight—makes me laugh every time I read it. It’s one of my favourites because it captures exactly what I believe about cities: that they stand tall through storm and celebration, illuminating the way even when no one is looking. It also describes me more than I’d probably like to admit.
Another title I’m drawn to (a different flavour entirely!) is Streets of Wonder: A Planner’s Journey Through 9,000 Years of European City Building. This one feels like a promise of grand adventure and curiosity at every corner. It hints at the story of how we as humans have continually shaped and reshaped the places where we gather, argue, celebrate, raise families, mourn losses, and dream collectively.
Some titles I’ve brainstormed foreground the emotional arc of the book:
The Tender Logic of Streets — a nod to how cities hold us, teach us, and occasionally make us feel more in a day than we intended to.
The Cities Inside Us — because every walk is also an inward journey.
Shift — for those moments when a single street or city block or playground forces you to see yourself differently.
Others frame the story of city building inside the long sweep of history:
Foundations: What 9,000 Years of Urban History Can Teach Us About Care, Crisis, and Connection
The Weight of Cities, the Lightness of Hope — a title that feels like a deep breath.
Some potential titles lean into the memoir side of my narrative, like Drift: An Urban Planner’s Pilgrimage Through Europe.
Each potential title emphasizes something slightly different—and here’s where you come in.
What title resonates most with you—and why?
Does one feel like the book you’d most want to pick up? Does one suggest a journey you’d want to follow? Or does one evoke a mood, a question, or a promise that stirs your curiosity?
I’d love to hear your thoughts, instincts, gut reactions, and arguments. Naming a book is an act of meaning-making, and I’d love your help shaping what this book will be called as it prepares to step out into the world.
So tell me:
What’s in a name? And which name calls to you?
