Make Your Library The Center of Book Culture In Your Community

On her blog RA For All, Becky Spratford recently posted Listening to Library Users: A Wake-Up Call For Library Marketing via Super Library Marketing with a Bonus Becky Rant . What stood out to me was the fact that readers do not think about libraries as the place to go for book recommendations. This is a huge marketing opportunity for libraries to reach to local readers. Creating a culture of book recommendations and sharing of loved books is something that any library, regardless of size or budget can do. 

I encourage library workers to use expansive versions of book display themes because you don't know what will draw a reader in. People approach books from different and sometimes unexpected angles. To use a few horror titles, Grady Hendrix's How to Sell a Haunted House is also about a relationship between grown siblings and dealing with the death of parents. Cynthia Pelayo's The Shoemaker's Magician is about Chicago film history and parenting a child with special needs. These are in addition to the plot and horror themes in the books. AI will not help a reader find books that they might love beyond the obvious and simple examples. Talking to a library worker just might. 

Becky also emphasizes what I say when I talk about book displays - we should never assume that people know what we do and what we can offer them. Libraries need to tell their communities about their collections, resources, and services. It is something we need to do actively and often. 

Everyone should go to Becky's blog and review her free resources for booktalking and starting conversations. Have her train your staff on readers advisory as a conversation, not a transaction. Reach out to me if you are interested in more information about having me speak to your staff about using book displays and other forms of passive readers advisory. 

I will leave you with this anecdote - after I purchased a book by horror grand master Brian Keene, Amazon recommended self-help author Brene Brown to me. Maybe Alexa was worried about me but more than likely it was just a push for a best seller. A library worker trained in booktalking and conversations about books would not just hand a reader a best seller. A well designed display would not suggest that any best seller will do when you are looking for your next read. 

Unshelve Your Collection By Making Book Club Suggestions

 NPR Books recently released: Can't decide what to read next? Here are 20 recommendations for your book club.

This list consists of 2025 releases that are suggested for book clubs that need some ideas for their next read. This post can be used by your library by using your own backlist suggestions. Have staff check books that haven't been checked out as often as they could be and would make for a great book club suggestion. 

If they are available in your digital collection, include that information on the display as well. It's also a great time to promote your ill and hold services to patrons. We should never assume that everyone knows what services we offer. 

Your social media can also reflect these suggestions to tie your physical displays into your social media. Remember that books are our business and we should be working towards sending out the message that our community should come to librarians for suggestions, not AI. 

Using Best Book Posts to Unshelve Your Collection

There are plenty of "Best Books of 2025" lists online. They can easily be turned into a book display by focusing on the titles in your collection which haven't circulated as well as you would like and that would benefit from some attention. I would also include some read alikes from. your backlist for the most popular titles. 

Include the URL or a QR code to the site on your sign if you use one list. You can also combine them and post a list of various pages you used on your social media or website. You can also keep a list at your public service desk. There are some examples of Best Of lists below but I am certain that you can find many more.

 The Atlantic 10: The Books that Made Us Think the Most This Year

The Guardian: Best Books of 2025

LA Times: Best of 2025 

Goodreads Choice Awards

Library Journal: Best Books of 2025

Booklist Backlist: Best Personal Reading, Listening, and Watching.

AP: 10 Notable Books of 2025

Vulture: The Best Books of 2025

Chicago Tribune: The 10 best books of 2025

The Scientific American Staff’s Favorite Books of 2025

Smithsonian Magazine: The Ten Best Science Books of 2025

Town & Country: The 20 Best Books of 2025

Crime Reads: The Best Debut Crime Novels of 2025

NYT: Our Favorite Hidden Gem Books

Planning to Unshelve 2026

Part of the secret of a solid merchandising plan for your collection, services, and programs is to not wait until right before you need to set up a physical or digital display. Most libraries have some regular programming that reoccurs on a schedule as well as services that remain constant. I advise that libraries set up a monthly schedule for displays. This approach also allows for establishing a rotation to encourage many members of your staff to participate as well as every part of your library. 

Depending upon what works better for your library, you can use a physical planner, set up an online calendar, or even use a spreadsheet or notebook. Starting with January, list the holidays and cultural awareness events that your library will promote, including local and state events. Note any special programs. Decide which regular programs you will promote with a book display. Finally, leave some spots for staff to be creative and develop their own ideas. 

Decide when different displays will be put up and taken down. You will also need to coordinate with your web and social media teams if you want to mirror displays there or save some for digital only. Work with the managers and supervisors in your library to gauge staff interest in participating. Once you have decided who will develop which displays, you can start in on February. 

I would develop a plan for at least the first three months of the year. You can go forward with the rest of the year, with the understanding that your board, county, city, or other stakeholders could make a request. Sometimes there are significant events or pop culture phenomenon which you will want to use to market your collection. As with everything in a library, things change and we should always be ready for surprises. 

Please reach out if you would be interested in training on setting up a merchandising calendar or on book displays and passive readers advisory more broadly. 

 

B & N - Biggest Books Out Now Promo As a Book Display Idea

 This week, Barnes & Noble sent out an email about the biggest new releases. 

"Our biggest new releases have landed. With sweeping history, mind-bending thrillers and even a new Dog Man adventure, here are the best new books to keep on your radar."

While many of these titles have wait lists and need no help from us, you can take a look at the titles included and put up  books that need some more attention. Use a sign that says "While You Wait for ______________" and put up some similar books that could use attention. Add information about how to put books on hold. 

Because we spend so much time deep in libraries, it's easy to forget that not everyone knows all of the services we offer. Especially with the supply issues in wake of Baker and Taylor's closing, patrons need to know both about how your holds list works in addition to knowing what they could read while they wait. 

Book displays are mostly thought about as far as promoting backlist titles but your library could have new adult and youth titles that haven't found their reader yet. Setting up a focus display to promote them can help with that.  Add a sign that says "These Just In..." and give them a boost!

Use links to your eBook collections as well. Pay per use services, available through several eBook services including Hoopla and CloudLibrary, can be leveraged. It could be that your patrons are unaware that they can read/listen to popular titles through your eBook services. I know that they are a heavy expense for libraries but they can fill the gap while we all sort out physical book purchases and processing. 

Book News to Book Display - 2025 Booker Prize Winner

This year's Booker Prize winner is David Szalay's Flesh. There is information about the book, including a reading club guide, on the publisher's website. Clearly, it's literary fiction but book displays should rotate out to cover all aspects of your collection. There are ways you can leverage this news to market your collection both online and in your building. 

David Szalay was interviewed on the Booker Prize website. Link to that on your social media if you decide to double up the display by using it both online and in your building. 

The Goodreads page has a list of books that people who enjoyed Flesh also enjoyed. While these aren't as reliable as recommendations by a librarian, they can certainly be used for a display. There is also a list of authors that readers have also enjoyed. 

If your library subscribes to NoveList, you can use that to find readalikes by title or author as well. The appeal factors listed there can also help you find titles in your collection. Check your collection and use what you have. Putting literary fiction titles that need some love faced out and in the spotlight will help circulate them. 

This NPR article has more information about the award, who else was nominated, and who the judges were. All of that information can be used to see what is in your collection and you can create a display. Use their books that you have in your collection and add a simple sign that has information about the Booker Prize. Pull out previous long list, short list, and winners to complete the display and to fill it in as needed. 

Truthfully, you can always put up a sign about the awards with a list of the long list, short list, and winner. Add a QR code to any titles you have in your eBook collection. Then fill in the display with literary fiction titles that need some attention. It doesn't need to be a complicated research project. If you want to be more specific, you can read a plot summary and some reviews to find more exact matches but it's not necessary. The face outs will do the work for you. 

November Ideas

 It is November and time to transition book displays for the new month. While Thanksgiving is certainly one of the big days of the month, there are plenty of other opportunities to promote your collection in November. With Veterans Day being November 11, it would be a good time to create an interactive display with not only titles related to veterans but also information about library and other local resources for veterans facing issues. You can bring in a partner organization and put a cart of books in the room for patrons to browse. With Pearl Harbor Day on December 7, change the sign and stretch this display out for a little bit longer. 

Every month is dedicated to at least one health issue, disease, or condition. It's not realistic to try to promote all of them with displays, one option is to combine them into one with a sign recognizing them. Add a variety of health books and include bookmarks or flyers with information about local health resources. This would also make for a wonderful social media post promoting your health related resources. November is well known for "No Shave November" which promotes cancer awareness. An easy display, repeatable in any part of your library, is to create a display of random titles with faces on the cover and add a removable moustache to each book. This can be easily filled by any library worker. Spare moustaches and tape can be stored in the workroom. 

Because there are several bear-related holidays in November, one display can be set up with different signs or even all three mentioned on one sign. Any book about bears, with bears in the title, or bears on the cover are fair game. Obviously, this display can be mirrored in your children's area. 

Polar Bear Week (Nov. 2 to Nov. 8)
National American Teddy Bear Day - November 14
Have a Party with Your Bear Day - November 16

D.B. Cooper Day is November 24, the anniversary of the day the mysterious hijacker disappeared with $200,000 in 1971. Set up a display about mysteries, conspiracy theories, and unsolved crimes. Use fiction, non-fiction, and movies. Include any heist books and movies as well. 

Aviation History Month in in November which can create a variety of display ideas related to airplanes. The simplest idea is just books with planes on the cover. There should be history, transportation, and travel books in your non-fiction collection as well as a variety of fiction titles in which flight plays a part. Ask your patrons where they would like to fly to and post the answers either online or on a display in your library. 

Native American Heritage Month is all month. Remember to include fiction, arts, poetry, and cultural books in your displays. One comprehensive display will be easier to maintain than several specific displays. Here are some lists to get you started: 

Recent Works by Indigenous Authors - New York Public Library 
Native American Books for Native American Heritage Month - Powell's Books
Native American Heritage Month - Book Club Reads - Cincinnati Public Library 
Fiction and Non-Fiction Reads for Native American Heritage Month - Goodreads

World Vegan Month is in November. I include a no-turkey display every year and fill it with vegetarian and vegan cookbooks. This display can last all month and is easily filled. I mention creating easily filled displays because there are times when you need those because of staffing or other priorities. November and December are always filled with plenty of staff vacations. Sometimes we need to select the easiest options. 

Available Presentations

 I am able to create a custom presentation to meet anyone's needs but here are the 1 hour (with questions) presentations that I have show to at least one audience 

*Book Display Basics for Every Library Worker

*Book Displays That Do More - Interactive Book Displays with Passive Programming 

*Engaging Patrons With Better Book Displays

*Inclusive Readers Advisory for Any Library Worker

*An Introduction to Passive Readers Advisory

*Love Is In the Air : Marketing Your Romance Collection Using Passive Readers Advisor

*Marketing Your Collection, Services, and Programs with Better Book Displays

*Not Just In October: Marketing Your Horror and Dark Literature Collection with Passive Readers Advisory

* Using Book Displays and More to Market Your Winter Holiday Collection 

In addition to these, I have trained librarian on adult fiction collection development.

I am working on presentations on other genres, including science fiction and fantasy, crime fiction, and cozy fiction. 

Please reach out if you are interested in having me train your staff in passive readers advisory techniques. 

How to Navigate Book Displays When You Have To Be Careful

Some library workers must be careful when creating book displays especially around certain political issues as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion. While I always advocate for sharing, celebrating, and recommending books from diverse author and including as many experiences as possible in the books you put a spotlight on, some libraries exist in an environment where activists, local politicians, or patrons are invested in policing book displays and library collections. What is a library worker to do when they want to bring attention to books by diverse authors or to highlight perspectives that are out of whatever the mainstream is where their library is located? This is a question I get constantly when I present to libraries. It's a real and legitimate concern. 

My suggestion is to focus on the books. With budget and funding issues, libraries are doing more with fewer resources, including employees. Fighting about the verbage on a sign is not always the best use of anyone's time. For example, a display during Thanksgiving highlighting the Native American experience is completely appropriate. Language on a sign which is intentionally provocative and will draw attention from those who have already made trouble for your library or are poised to do so will create a situation which will draw time, energy, and attention from all the good work that a library does. More importantly, it will draw attention away from the books that you are trying to spotlight. 

I would love to tell everyone to be willing to take on any battle and fight for whichever signage or message that they wish. With the need for most people to maintain employment as well as the likely outcome, I just don't think that is realistic. What would work better is to work books by diverse authors into every display. In the Thanksgiving example above, put books about the Native American experience into any display about Thanksgiving history. Include books by Native American authors in any display of Thanksgiving themed fiction. Set up a display to honor Native American History month, even if you add a sign that says "Great Reads for November."

Ultimately, readers will learn more about the Native American experience by reading books by authors like Stephen Graham Jones than they will from any signage we could put up. Focus on getting books like his in the hands of as many readers as possible. 

Recent Webinars - Using Book Displays and More to Market Your Winter Holiday Collection

I've posted the slides above from my recent PCI Webinars presentation Using Book Displays and More to Market Your Winter Holiday Collection. 

In this presentation I run through ideas for passive readers advisory from Thanksgiving up through Kwanzaa and Yule. Remember to always include some fall/autumn and winter/snow themed displays which can both float before and after a holiday and will be more inclusive to those who don't celebrate holidays at this time. 

Unshelve Your Collection - Body Horror with Book Riot & TOGETHER

 Emily Martin of Book Riot has an article on their site with suggestions for other titles to read for those excited about Together, a body horror film out in theaters. Her list includes three strong titles, including one by Eric LaRocca who is definitely an author your library should have on its shelves.

Body horror is a subgenre which focuses on the mutilation, transformation, mutation, or degradation of the human body. It's often graphic and disturbing with intense descriptions which will unsettle readers.    

Lists like these are great to use as a start for a book display. You can take the theme and then see what books your library owns that might fit. You don't need to limit yourself to the titles on any one list or follow the theme exactly. The object is to help books in your collection find their readers. 

RA for All Horror - New Book Bonus Annotations: Chapter 13: Body Horror

Penguin Random House - Bone-Chilling Body Horror Books 
Goodreads - Body Horror Books
Book Riot - 9 Body Horror Novels by Women about Losing Control
The Guardian - Five of the best body horror novels
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh- Genre Guide – Body Horror

Five for Friday - Best of 2025 (So far...)

 

 There are many "Best of 2025 (so far)" lists that have come out. One way to harness them for your book display efforts is to review the lists and see what you have in your collection but has not gotten the attention from your patrons that it deserves. You can use a book cart near one of your service desks to draw attention to them. 

If you wish, create a passive program by asking patrons to submit their Best of 2025 (so far) entries either in person, through email, or as comments on a social media post. That can become another display down the road. 

There are enough lists out there that you should be able to find some titles that you own and could use more attention. Every library's selections will be different. 

Here are some lists to get you started: 

New York Times Book Review- The Best Books of the Year (So Far)
Book Riot- These Are The Books on the Most “Best Books of 2025 So Far” Lists

eReaders Forum - The Best Books of 2025 (So Far): Top Picks from Major Booksellers
(This has links to several lists)
NPR - Books We Love
Vulture -The Best Books of 2025 (So Far)
The New Yorker - The Best Books of the Year So Far

Book Lists for the Week

An easy way to get a jump start on a display is to take some of the lists that are put online and adapt them to your collection. Just borrow the title and see what fits that you already have on the shelf. Book displays are a marketing device for your collection and not a test.  I am going to try to list a few each week, along with any advice for adapting them. 

For this week, we have -

Booklist remains one of the sites that I check constantly. They feature great reviews and there is a focus on books, readers, and readers advisory. 

Spanish Sure Bets for Adult Readers: Summer 2025.

Spanish Sure-Bets for Youth.

Personally, I find lists like this very helpful when I'm helping patrons who want books in Spanish beyond English language bestsellers in translation. 

Essentials: Head over Heels for Heartstopper.
Lists like this are why Booklist is so helpful. From their description "Readers who have read every page of Nick and Charlie’s story and are looking for more will appreciate the following titles, which feature some or all of the characteristics that make Heartstopper such a blockbuster: sweet romance, realistically grounded emotions, and lengthened pacing that lingers on quiet, meaningful moments."  The parts in italics are the sort of features you should look for in books to put on a display like this.  A great book display can be built just on books that have similar vibes to a popular series. 

Top 10 Manga for Adults and Older Teens.
If you don't have these titles or they are checked out and popular in your library, check with the manga fans on staff. They will likely have suggestions.

Once Upon a Book Club has a list for July 30 which was apparently National Paperback Day. If you missed it, don't worry about waiting 12 months. Instead, set up a display of "Paperbacks You Might Have Missed" or "Paperback Titles for Your Staycation" and set up your display. 

Cozy Mystery List Blog is sort of a cheat but it's always one of the most popular resources I mention in trainings. My favorite part of their site is Cozy Mysteries by Theme. There are cozies about almost everything. One idea to pull from the site is to check the mysteries by state and set up a display of cozies from your state. 

San Jose Public Library has a list called Summer Learning: YA Summer Romances.  Again, don't worry about the specific titles. See what you have that could use some attention in your library. Move the display away from your YA collection so that readers who don't know about how great your collection is can discover it!

Summerween is now a thing. The Lineup focuses on backlist titles. They have a list of 8 Books to Get You Into the Summerween Spirit. There are so many of these lists if you search for books for summerween, you will see lists from publishers and blogs as well as lists for adults, teens, and children. The truth is that any suspense or horror book can be on these displays. 

As a contrast to Summerween, you could match it up with a Christmas in July and get some more checkouts from your holiday books. I would call it Winter in July to make it more inclusive and open it up to any cozy winter books. Briar Black has a Christmas in July (But Make it Dark) list that defeats that idea. 

What I have been Reading - The Bear Hunters Daughters by Anneli Jordahl (Harper Via)

 Thanks to the book buzzing superstars at Harper Collins Library Marketing, I read The Bear Hunters Daughters by Swedish author Anneli Jordahl. A mix of a fairy tale and a coming of age novel, the book tells the story of seven sisters who have been raised deep in the woods by their wild father who teaches them to hunt and forage in the woods while eschewing society and its comforts like cell phones and formal education. When the bear hunter dies and his wife dies soon after, the sisters are left with deciding to stay true to the lessons their father taught them or to allow the townfolks to help them, even if it means joining society. 

The book was inspired by  Aleksis Kivi’s classic Finnish novel Seven Brothers (1870) but takes place firmly in the modern era. The language is rich and sensual. Readers will be drawn into the forest with the sisters as their story is the primary focus of the novel. An unnamed narrator tries to write down their story after seeing them in the market but the book clearly belongs to the seven sisters and their distinct personalities and desires. 

It's delightful to read a book with so many relationships between women that have nothing to do with romance or relationships with men. The sisters fight, play, and work together as their differences combined with the harshness of the forest make those differences more distinct. 

It's also about siblings, rivalry, loss, grief, and the myths we grow up believing. I love reading books based upon Scandinavian fairy and folk tales. For read alikes, I would suggest The Witches at the End of the World by Chelsea Iversen (Sourcebooks) or Motheater by Linda H. Codega (Erewhon Books). 

The Swedish cover for the book is amazing so I am sharing it here. 

Unshelve the Titles That Have Become Lost in the Stacks

 When librarians involved in readers advisory trainings advise library workers to avoid putting bestsellers on a display, there is often a lot of pushback. No one is suggesting that you not buy the most popular authors or those breakout hit titles. What is being suggested is since book displays are a form of marketing for your collection, it makes no sense to waste that space and effort on the titles with long wait lists and a solid fan base. If you have a long list for Rebecca Yarros, you don't need to promote her books. (Other than using them as a source for "read this while you wait for ..." displays.)

Remember that what needs attention at one library will be different at another. There can be genres, authors, and titles that fly off the shelf at one library but languish at another. I can't tell you which titles need attention at your library but whomever runs reports for you can do that. Because it is your collection and your library, you will need to adapt whatever collection marketing ideas to your library. 

Rather than worry about creating something super creative with a snappy sign, start with some reports that list titles which haven't circulated in awhile. Look at what new releases haven't found their reader yet. Make a sign that says NEW! or FICTION! or CHECK US OUT! and put up your display. What gets books checked out is the face out and the creation of a smaller collection on the display.l Someone on staff may find a book they love on that display and can hand sell it to a patron who needs a great read. By investing some attention in in those titles, you will have given them another chance before they are deselected. 

I also suggest that libraries invest in easels for their shelves. At the end of your shelves, put one title on an easel. Titles faced out like that will get attention and will likely find their reader. It's a low effort way to promote your collection that everyone in your library can fill them in when they pass an empty easel. It's not a huge investment but will have a great payoff as far as getting titles in the hands of readers. 

Unshelving the ALA Annual Conference in Philly.

 I will be attending the American Library Association Annual Conference in Philadephia. My hope is to post some content related to what I participate in and learn while I am there. I am participating in two panels. One is The State of RA Today, presented by Booklist. I have the pleasure of presenting with some of the best reader advisory experts around. Susan Maguire from Booklist is also very passionate about books and readers. 

I am also participating in Booklist/LibraryReads annual Read 'n' Rave. Participants have 10 minutes to rave about as many books as they can! It's at 10:30, PCC Room 112AB. This year’s Ravers  besides me include:  Jessica Trotter,  Alene Moroni, Migdalia Jimenez, and Rebecca Vnuk. LibraryReads executive director Rebecca Vnuk is a master at this so I will have to be on my toes!

If you are in attendance, come and say hello!

Using The Bram Stoker Awards and Hoopla Digital

 

The 2024 Bram Stoker Awards were awarded in Stamford, Connecticut on June 14, 2025. While your current collection may not yet have all of the titles awarded a Stoker, if your library has Hoopla Digital, you can create a social media post, online booklist, or book display with QR codes linking to your Hoopla Instant collection. These titles will only be paid for if a patron checks them out. It also gives you a chance to show the depth of your digital collection. 

Create a separate post, list, or display with links to the winning titles you own digitally and physically. The point is that if you have pay-per-use services like Hoopla Digital, you can use awards like the Stokers to promote your collection and provide passive readers advisory even if you don't own everything you would like. 

I listed these in two ways- linking to the titles and linking to a preselected search page with instant and the authors name selected. Some of the winning titles are available via instant checkout and some not. 

Bram Stoker Award Winners

Gwendolyn Kiste

Monika Kim

Robert P. Ottone

Eden Royce

Adam Cesare

Laird Barron

Mercedes M. Yardley

Carol Gyzander

Gou Tanabe

Guests of Honor - 

Paula Guran:

• The Year's Best Dark Horror & Fantasy, Volume 1  (Digital Audiobook)
• The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2017 (eBook)
• Far Out: An Anthology of Recent Queer Science Fiction and Fantasy (eBook)
• Mermaids and Other Mysteries of the Deep (eBook)
• Ex Libris: Stories of Librarians, Libraries, and Lore (eBook)
• Time Travel: Recent Trips (eBook)
• Halloween (eBook)
• Swords Against Darkness (eBook)
• The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2010 (eBook)
• Extreme Zombies (eBook)
• The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2019 (eBook)
• The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2020 (eBook)
• The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2021 (eBook)
• Weird Detectives: Recent Investigations (eBook)
• Once Upon a Time: New Fairy Tales (eBook)
• Zombies: The Recent Dead (eBook)
• Season of Wonder (eBook)
• After the End (eBook)
• Ghosts: Recent Hauntings (eBook)
• Street Magicks (eBook)
• Obsession: Tales of Irresistible Desire (eBook)
• The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Novellas 2015 (eBook)
• The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2015 (eBook)
• The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2016 (eBook)
• The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2014 (eBook)
• The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2013 (eBook)
• The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2018 (eBook)
• Future Games. (eBook)
• The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2011 (eBook)
• Halloween: Magic, Mystery, and the Macabre (eBook)
• The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2012 (eBook)

Adam L.G. Nevill: 

• The Reddening (Digital Audiobook)
• Wyrd and Other Derelictions (Digital Audiobook)
• The Ritual (Digital Audiobook)
• Before You Wake: Three Horrors (eBook)

Joyce Carol Oates:

• We Were the Mulvaneys (Digital Audiobook)
• We Were the Mulvaneys (Digital Audiobook)
• Flint Kill Creek (Digital Audiobook)
• Blonde (Digital Audiobook)
• Zombie (eBook)
• Darker Shade of Noir (Digital Audiobook)
• A Widow's Story (Digital Audiobook)
• The Gravedigger's Daughter (eBook)
• Beautiful Days (Digital Audiobook)
• Hazards of Time Travel (Digital Audiobook)
• Bellefleur (Digital Audiobook)
• The Joyce Carol Oates Collection (Digital Audiobook)
• The Falls (Digital Audiobook)
• A Book of American Martyrs (Digital Audiobook)
• The Tattooed Girl (Digital Audiobook)
• Blonde (eBook)
• The Falls (eBook)
• Faithless (eBook)
• The Accursed (eBook)

For more Joyce Carol Oates available with instant checkout, click here!

Tim Waggoner:

• Alien: Prototype (Digital Audiobook)
• Zombie Interupted [Dramatized Adaptation] (Digital Audiobook)
• Disarmed and Dangerous [Dramatized Adaptation] (Digital Audiobook)
• The Midnight Watch [Dramatized Adaptation] (Digital Audiobook)
• Halloween Kills: The Official Movie Novelization (Digital Audiobook)
• Planet Havoc (Digital Audiobook)
• The Mouth of the Dark (Digital Audiobook)
• Dead Streets [Dramatized Adaptation] (Digital Audiobook)
• Meet Matt Richter, Private Eye, Zombie [Dramatized Adaptation]
  (Digital Audiobook)
• Wombreaker [Dramatized Adaptation] (Digital Audiobook)
• Dark War [Dramatized Adaptation] (Digital Audiobook)
• A Shadow Over Heaven's Eye (eBook)
• Playlist of the Damned (eBook)
• The Dark Issue 101 (eBook)
• Deep Like the River (eBook)
• Planet Havoc (eBook)
• Stargate SG-1 Valhalla (eBook)
• Bone Whispers (eBook)
• Gangrel (eBook)
• Love, Death, and Madness: A Collection of Three Award-Nominated Novellas (eBook)
• The Men Upstairs (eBook)
• Broken Shadows (eBook)
• Eat the Night (eBook)
• The Last Mile (eBook)
• A Kiss of Thorns (eBook)
• The Winter Box (eBook)
• Nekropolis: Dark War (eBook)
• Nekropolis: Dead Streets (eBook)
• Nekropolis (eBook)
• A Strange and Savage Garden (eBook)
• The Way of All Flesh (eBook)
• Darkness Wakes (eBook)

Unshelve Your Collection By Crossing Genres

Many authors and readers are not tied to a single genre any longer so don’t keep your book displays tied to a single genre either. Create a display of “books that are successful as in two genres.” Another version of this idea is a display of books from one genre that would appeal to fans of another. While "romantasy" may be the hottest blend of genres right now, there are certainly many more. 

Your signage can reference "Try romance and..." while including romance/science fiction, romance/mystery, and even romance/horror blends. "Love in Space" could include romance and science fiction. Mystery and horror could have a sign that says "The Dark Side of Crime." Don't forget westerns, historical, and inspirational fiction as well. The titles and subtitles of online book lists can also inspire you. 

I'll include some lists below to get you started but remember to focus on what you have in your collection which could use some attention rather than trying to create a perfect display. 

Murder & Mayhem - 10 Romance Mystery Books to Fall in Love With
Crime Reads - 7 Spectacular Books that Mix Mystery with Romance 
Book Riot - 44 Mystery Romance Novels to Read Right Now

Book Riot - Love & Other Epic Adventures: Science Fiction Romance Books
Goodreads - Science Fiction Romance

Romance.io - Most popular science fiction romance books

Goodreads - Mystery Horror Books

Novel Suspects - Thrillers Brimming With Mystery and Horror
Crime Reads - 20 Essential Crime and Horror Crossovers

Also, genre blending was the topic of the first panel I ever moderated at the Horror Writers Association's StokerCon! I will be in Connecticut for StokerCon this weekend. I hope to post pictures and updates both here and on my social media accounts. Then it's on to ALA Annual in Philly. 

Review - Acquired Taste by Clay McLeod Chapman

 *These are some note from my review which will appear in an upcoming issue of Library Journal. 

Strange addictions, the darker side of family, ghosts, and baby carrots scramble through this gathering of Clay McLeod Chapman's previously published stories. It's a Five Hour Energy shot of Chapman which will delight existing fans while also allowing the curious to taste what travelling through his longer works is like. Readers will do a double take at the start of these stories and will end up with the same sense at the end. 

He finds horrors beyond belief in ordinary places while also showing us a sense of humanity and grasp of human emotion that helps to balance these disturbing and gruesome stories. In some cases, you will think you know what is happening and will be terrified as you discover how wrong you are as Chapman leaves you trapped in a horrifying place along with his characters. 

Standout include the Shortwave Chapman Chapbook reprints Baby Carrots and Knockoffs as well as the novella Stay On The Line, the latter demonstrating where desperation for connection and those we have lost can lead. There is body horror in Debridement and Sweetmeat which takes Trick or Treating and somehow makes it more unsettling than anyone could imagine. Department store Santas become a conduit for heartbreak and fear in Psychic Santa as Chapman mixes the ghosts of children with a seedy, rundown department store at Christmas. 

This collection is a treat for existing fans as well as those who have enjoyed stories by authors like Eric LaRocca. It would also be an onramp for bizarro authors like Michael Allen Rose. 

Five SFF Books That Feel Like Studio Ghibli Films - Book Display Idea from Reactor Mag

 

There is nothing wrong with grabbing the headline from articles and shifting them into a book display to help market your collection. Every library has titles on their shelves which are waiting to find their reader. Reactor Mag recently featured a list of young adult titles which would have appeal to fans of Studio Ghibli and the works of Hayao Miyazaki. This would be a great way to move some of your science fiction and fantasy titles which could benefit from some exposure. Moving the display away from your young adult collection will also help patrons who don't frequent that area discover something new about your library. Add any DVDs of Studio Ghibli films you have to help draw attention to the display.

Invite staff or patrons to recommend books and movies by adding a box and some paper for them to write their suggestions. After vetting the answers (know your patrons - this may not be necessary in your library), you can post them on or near the display which would add an interactive feature to the display. 

Below I've included some lists to get you started. There are many of these online which could mean that fans of Studio Ghibli are always looking for things which remind them of their favorite works. There are also a lot of people who discovered their works when they were children and still love them as adults. 

Five SFF Books That Feel Like Studio Ghibli Films  - Reactor Mag
Books for Studio Ghibli Fans - Penguin Random House
Books that feel like Studio Ghibli - Goodreads
Books that feel like Ghibli studios - Reddit
Books to Read if You Love Studio Ghibli - Book Riot
Books for Studio Ghibli Fans - Boston Public Library