Book Recommendations Based Upon Your Favorite....

The website The Portalist recently ran an article called "Sci-Fi and Fantasy Recs Based on Your Favorite Foods and Drinks." As I have mentioned before, these sort of lists are flexible and there are really no right or wrong answers. They have been created based upon a reader's favorite character in a movie or TV show, astrological sign, tarot cards, and more. Publishers often send out lists like this as part of their marketing emails or library newsletters. 

Take advantage of these ideas to market your own backlist and promote those titles that can benefit from the spotlight that a book display can provide. Don't worry about using the same titles that are included in the email or newsletter; instead take the idea and apply it to the titles you have in your physical or digital collection. While the themes can promote creativity and provide an interesting and fun task for staff, the real purpose of a book display is as a marketing tool for the books which are in your collection and not receiving promotional help from publishers, TV/movie adaptations, or other media focus. 

Here are some ideas to get you started but don't feel as if you need to follow any of these precisely. Take The Portalist list and change it to favorite coffee drinks or desserts. 

The book to read based on your favourite Taylor Swift song - from Penguin Random House
What To Read Based on Your Favorite Taylor Swift Era - From Penguin Random House
Taylor Swift Song Titles and Lyrics Pop Up in the Names of These 17 Books - From People Magazine

Read Based on Your Zodiac Sign 2024 - from Pima County Public Library
The Best Books to Read This Year, Based on Your Zodiac Sign - from Readers Digest
Which Mystery Subgenre Should You Read Based on Your Zodiac Sign? - from Murder & Mayhem

What to Read Based on Your Fave TV Show - from Kensington Books
19 new books to read in 2022, based on your favorite TV show - from Business Insider
If You Love This is Us, Read This—And Other Book Recommendations Based on Your Favorite TV Shows - from Parade Magazine

10 YA Books to Read Based on Your Favorite Aesthetics- from Drizzle and Hurricane Books
Books to Read Based on Your Favorite Aesthetics - from Hachette Book Group
The books to read based on your aesthetic - from Libby Life

12 Books To Read Based Off Your Favorite Baked Goods - from Epic Reads
20 Desserts Inspired By Literature - from Books, Baking, and Blogging
Ice Cream Book Recommendations - from Arapahoe Libraries

Everyone in Your Library is an Expert In Something!

While you are planning out your library's book displays and lists, don't limit input to certain staff members. Allow anyone who works in your library to contribute to coming up with ideas and selecting titles. There could be things percolating in parts of popular culture that you are not familiar with or have not even heard of. Meanwhile, someone on your facilities team or in your business office may have done a deep dive into that thing and could help you assemble something for your patrons. 

Allowing anyone to contribute an idea or theme for a display or list will also expand the parts of your collection that receive attention while also encouraging staff to share their passions. It can be helpful to know what your co-workers are interested in as you work with the public. This is something that we did when I worked for a bookstore. We knew who was the historical romance readers, who loved poetry, and who was fluent in all kinds of space operas. When a customer asked for help with one of those areas, if that staff member was working, they would jump in to share their passion. 

As you schedule your book displays and lists, include room for a rotating staff display. The name of the staff member doesn't need to be part of their display; you are leveraging their expertise to market your collection. Make certain that you spread out the opportunity equally among different departments and give anyone interested a chance to assemble one. Have guidelines available so that the displays meet the same requirements as any one of your displays as far as avoiding bestsellers and being diverse and inclusive. 

Finally, if someone isn't comfortable or doesn't want to contribute, don't require it. There are plenty of other ways for a staff member to contribute to the success of your library. 

Book Display Basics - Scheduling

 One of the most common questions I get regarding book displays is how long they should stay up before they are changed. My usual answer is no longer than a month because after 30 days, your patrons will likely have seen it and will stop looking at it. As I have mentioned in presentations, you should archive the titles on your website so that patrons can locate titles they viewed but didn't check out. It also allows patrons who are interested in the theme to see the full list of titles that were included. 

To address scheduling more broadly, it's a good idea to outline your book displays at least several months in advance. Create a monthly schedule as part of a larger plan to market your collection which includes what themes for book displays and book lists you will use. Between your programs, major holidays, and local events, you are already scheduling much of what happens at your library each month. Adding book displays to this schedule will allow you to better leverage their ability to market your back list while also helping to promote your services and programs. 

When I worked for Barnes and Noble, each store received a monthly marketing plan which outlined which displays and initiatives were in play for the month. Most libraries create monthly programming calendars; the next step should be add a monthly plan to promote those programs, your existing services and databases, and your backlist. Take book displays seriously and use their ability to put your backlist front and center to increase overall circulation and introduce your patrons to the depth and breadth of your collection. 

You can start with a spreadsheet or form that details what programs, outreach, and initiatives your library will be involved with for the month. Add any holidays, cultural heritage observations, local celebrations, or commemorations. Note any ALA celebrations that you will be observing. That should be a good start to plan your book displays. Include the location for each display as well as which staff member or department will be responsible for setting up that display as well as keeping it full. 

As you work with your monthly schedule, you can make adjustments as necessary to meet your library's needs. 

Recently Read Titles - Our Black Hearts Beat as One by Brian Asman & At Dark, I Become Loathsome by Eric LaRocca

 I recently finished two books, one back list and related to my Brian horror fest and the other an upcoming release. 

Our Black Hearts Beat as One by Brian Asman is a novella about heartbreak. I posted a short review on Goodreads, available here. It's a book with an increasing sense of dread and levels of unease. The plot, from the author's website: 

"Hearts don’t just break, they explode. Destroying everything around them."
Michael Mallory's living the dream as the lead singer of a hot, up-and-coming band, Modern Love. When a sudden breakup shatters his world, he plunges headlong into the city's occult underbelly in a desperate bid to salve his pain. Lost amidst wayward souls and brutish killers, godlings and grotesqueries, Mike's about to learn one incontrovertible 
There's nothing more terrifying than love.

Put this title up on a display with other titles about heartbreak and deep emotions. Because Michael is in a band, fiction about music would also be appropriate. There is also an occult aspect to the book. 

Stoker nominated author Eric LaRocca's next release is At Dark I Become Loathsome. My short review is here on Goodreads. From the publisher's website: 

“If you’re reading this, you’ve likely thought that the world would be a better place without you.”

A single line of text, glowing in the darkness of the internet. Written by Ashley Lutin, who has often thought the same—and worse—in the years since his wife died and his young son disappeared. But the peace of the grave is not for him—it’s for those he can help. Ashley has constructed a peculiar ritual for those whose desire to die is at war with their yearning to live a better life.

Struggling to overcome his own endless grief, one night Ashley finds connection with Jinx—a potential candidate for Ashley’s next ritual—who spins a tale both revolting and fascinating. Thus begins a relationship that traps the two men in an ever-tightening spiral of painful revelations, where long-hidden secrets are dragged, kicking and screaming, into the light.

Only through pain can we find healing. Only through death can we find new life.

As with Our Black Hearts Beat as One, this is horror which is about intense pain and loss. LaRocca's books are a headfirst dive into disturbing ideas and pain. The reader is compelled to go forward even as they can almost feel the emotional trauma of the characters. 

Because LaRocca is a Splatterpunk award winning author, search your collection for other examples of extreme horror and splatterpunk. Bring out the more extreme titles in your collection. I do suggest that you look into adding the Splatterpunk award winners to your collection. They circulate well at my library. 

You can add titles about grief, loss, and surviving loss. Because of the physical transformation, look for books about body modification. 

Book Display Inspiration Using One Book - Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay

 Paul Tremblay, author of The Cabin at the End of the World, has a new book out called Horror Movie. It's a cursed film horror novel centered around "The Thin Kid," the only surviving cast member of a 1993 art house horror film and a modern day remake of that film. A more complete plot summary is available at his website. I reviewed the novel for Library Journal where it received a star. 

Because of the subject matter and setting, this title is a great basis for a book display. There are some great books about cursed films and there are plenty of iconic 1990's horror films that can be paired with the novels. Tremblay also has a Gen-X sensibility that can be drawn into your display. Put up signage about Cursed/Lost films, include a QR code so patrons can put Horror Movie on hold and promote your backlist!

The Lovecraft eZine has a list of five books about cursed films. 
Goodreads has a list of Lost Film & Cursed Movie books.
CrimeReads has an article/list with crime novels about cursed films. Don't worry about skipping around between genres.
Tor Nightfire has their own list of horror books about cursed films. 
Bookriot has a list of Thrillers About Cursed Movies. 
Reactor Mag has their own article about The Best Niche Genre? Creepy Books About F*cked Up Films That F*ck People Up.

Goodreads has a list of Books Set in the Nineties and a list of New Historical Fiction Books Set in the 1990's!
SheReads has their own list of The Best Fiction Set in the 90's. 
Borrow an idea from Penguin Random House and their list of 20 Bestsellers Published in the 1990's.
BookRiot has 9 Books About Coming of Age in the 90's.

For some films, you can use Wikipedia's list of Films Based On Horror Novels.
IMDb has their list of Horror Films of the 1990's 
Entertainment Weekly has curated a list of the The 20 Best 90's Horror Movies. 

Using the NYT Best Books of the 21st Century List

The New York Times Book Review staff along with 503 novelists, nonfiction writers, poets, critics and others created a list of the 100 best books of the 21st century (so far). As you can imagine, this this is very heavily weighted towards "literary" fiction. The most simple way to use it is to simply take the list, see what is in your collection but could use some more attention to boost circulation and put those on a display. You can print out the information for the title that the NYT has online. Include information about where patrons can find the whole list as well as details about which of the titles are in your eBook collection. 

Another way would be to also look at the read alikes they provide and to promote those titles which are in your collection, physical or digital. You can also find your own read alikes for the books. Focus on the titles which could use some help with circulation. If a title is being checked out regularly, you can skip it and move on to those which could use the spotlight. 

Finally, don't forget the lists that were posted from authors' ballots. My experience is that patrons love to get recommendations from famous people. Review the lists and put them on a display with something that indicates which author made the recommendation. Include information about where patrons can find the information online. 

Obviously, NYT does have a paywall which limits the number of articles that one can read without a subscription which does complicate this but if your library provides NYT access to patrons, this is a great way to highlight that access. Promoting databases and eResources is challenging but this is a fun way to do it while promoting your collection. 

August Book Display Ideas

 Back to school starts in August with school supplies and the pending new school year appearing all over. Beyond the usual back to school, 100 days of kindergarten, and other youth materials, don't forget adult and non-traditional students. By setting up a display of adult materials on grammar, writing, basic mathematics, and other related subjects, you can remind your patrons that your library does have these books available. If you have databases with test preparation, writing help, or foreign language help include information on them as well. 

August 6 is Hiroshima Day or the day the City of Hiroshima holds their Peace Memorial Ceremony to remember those lost in the atomic bombing and to pray for world peace. There are plenty of US Government sites with information for patrons. The National Park Service and the Deparment of Energy are among them. Include some memoirs from survivors. Beyond non-fiction titles about the war, the dropping of the bomb, Imperial Japan, post-war Japan, and the aftermath of the bombing, there are plenty of novels about the dropping of the nuclear bombs. Goodreads comes through again with a list. The film Oppenheimer has also generated interest in the subject. Town and Country has a list. 

Congress has designated the second sunday in August as the Spirit of '45 day to honor the sacrifices and achievements of the World War II generation. There is likely plenty of material in your library to fill a display around World War II as a theme. Include books about everyone who participated in the war effort. 

National Lighthouse Day is celebrated on August 7. Beyond non-fiction books about lighthouses, don't forget the cozy mysteries with a lighthouse theme. Visit the site cozy-mystery.com and search for lighthouse. Crime Reads has a list of mysterious lighthouses in fiction. There are also romances and books set in a variety of seaside towns with a lighthouse at least on the cover. 

August 9-16th is Elvis Week. Beyond books about Elvis, his contemporaries, and influences, the King of Rock and Roll has a huge place in popular culture. There are lists of novels with Elvis as a theme or in which he makes an appearance. Don't forget your DVD collection and information about your digital music services.

The Perseid Meteor Shower is August 12 and 13. Astronomy books and books about space can be placed on a display as well as fiction with meteors as a theme or even on the cover. Search broadly and look for comets as well as meteors or anything impacting Earth. Check your DVD collection as well. 

August 26th is Women's Equality Day to commemorate the adoption of the 19th amendment, granting women the vote in the United States in 1920. Beyond titles directly related to the fight for women's suffrage, you could set up displays focusing on mysteries, horror, science fiction, and fantasy written by women. 

Read Comics in Public Day is celebrated on comics legend Jack Kirby's birthday, August 28. Beyond setting up a display with graphic novels, hold an event in your library where patrons can come together to read comics. If possible, partner with a local comic book store. Remember that some of the titles which drew the attention of those who would ban books were graphic novels. 

August 30th is Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's birthday and is celebrated as Frankenstein Day. Beyond her classic novel, you can set up a display with the many books that have built upon her work as well as nonfiction books and biographies about Shelley and her contemporaries. Alachua County Library District (FL) has one of these lists, including youth materials, and so does Pima County Public Library (AZ). Goodreads has a list of Frankenstein books. Arapahoe Libraries (CO) has a list of Frankenstein retellings as does Goodreads. One of my favorite Frankenstein retellings is Eynhallow by Tim McGregor.