Compile a list of titles

compile-list-of-titles.py

# Function to remove articles at the head of titles
def remove_leading_article(title):
  if title.startswith("The "):
    title = title[4:]
  if title.startswith("A "):
    title = title[2:]
  return title

# Get the titles of books, movies, and TV shows
import csv
titles = {}
with open('booksummaries/booksummaries.txt', newline='', encoding='utf-8') as f:
  reader = csv.reader(f, delimiter='\t')
  for row in reader:
    title = row[2]
    title = remove_leading_article(title)
    titles[title.lower()] = True
with open('title.basics.tsv') as f:
  reader = csv.reader(f, delimiter='\t')
  for row in reader:
      title = row[3]
      title = remove_leading_article(title)
      titles[title.lower()] = True
with open('books.csv') as f:
  reader = csv.reader(f)
  for row in reader:
      title = row[1]
      title = title.split('(')[0].strip() # Remove everything after a left paren
      title = remove_leading_article(title)
      titles[title.lower()] = True