Passively Recommending Books

  The Portalist recently curated a list of 25 Must Read Space Operas . Diving into a subgenre like this is another way to showcase your collections' backlist in a book display or book list. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction defines a space opera as: "colorful action-adventure stories of interplanetary or interstellar conflict." (This page also includes the names of many of the authors who have worked in the subgenre.) These are not books with hard science throughout and may instead include more fanciful ideas of technology. These sprawling, epic adventures can be humorous or have romantic subplots. Goodreads has lists of titles as well a definition and related subgenres. Reactor has tagged their related articles and lists with space opera as well.  There are a lot of series that would fit into this sort of display or list. There is also ample opportunities to promote diverse books and authors within this subgenre.  You can include a definition on signage as well as l

  I've mentioned before that you can use ideas from the emails publishers and other vendors send you to create your own book displays or lists. Simon and Schuster recently sent me an email with a link to the following list: Anti-New Year's Resolution Reads . The idea behind the list is to promote books  "i f you’re done with setting life goals, check out these books filled with  excess, desire, and obsession." This is such a fun idea.  I am not a fan of New Year, New You displays. This would be a fun alternative. The publisher clearly is promoting  their own titles but you can look at the backlist in your library's collection and curate a display from what you own that could use a little more attention and promotion.  There are links to some lists below to get you started. Don't forget to look at your non-fiction especially cookbooks and biographies of those who lived with " excess, desire, and obsession." Also remember that people can become obsesse

You don't have to come up with new ideas every time you change out a book display or create a book list. Use the headlines from all of the marketing emails publishers send you as a jumping off point. Just take the basic idea and use what you have in your collection that is not moving and go from there.  As an example, Off the Shelf from Simon & Schuster offered these list ideas:  12 Addictive Reads You Can Finish in a Single Flight:  6 Upcoming Releases Everyone Will Be Talking About This Year 11 Books That Are Guaranteed Page Turners For the first one, you can add audiobooks or links to your eAudiobook collection. The theme could be a car trip or a single evening/weekend. If you decide to go with upcoming releases, the library's holds/reserve list can be promoted. Add cover images from those titles you want to promote and include a QR code to your catalog where patrons can place a hold. Upcoming titles does not mean those titles that are guaranteed to be a bestseller. Wo

  I read fairly broadly every year but my December LibFaves are always horror focused. While EarlyWord has changed to a spreadsheet for this year (see their website for details), I thought I would curate my list here of what were my favorite horror reads in 2023. Are they the best of the year? I don't know! That's someone else's list. Also, a few people do have more than one entry. I couldn't decide and it's my list.  They aren't in any order.  Bad Cree by Jessica Johns (Doubleday): A story filled with complex female relationships as Mackenzie, a young Cree woman,  tries to deal with her sister Sabrina's death. Eventually, her intense dreams, filled with violence, drive her home to Alberta where she and her family must face their guilt and grief. This is coming of age horror and grief horror. I love a story with a core of female relationships not built around the men in their lives. With this debut, Jessica Johns shows great promise.  Chapman Chapbooks #1-3 

  One great idea for a January book display or a monthly series is to pick one or more of the many reading challenges that are out there and set up a display with suggestions for patrons to complete them. Avoid those bestsellers and easy options. Take a look at your stacks and pick books that need a spotlight.  If you rotate out the display monthly, you have an entire year of displays already planned.  You can create your own reading challenge, using prompts and suggests from your local community. But there are plenty of challenges already made.  Some of the options are:  BookRiot's Read Harder Challenge 2024  - this one includes a broad array of challenges and includes diverse authors and subjects  PopSugar's 2024 Challenge is based upon 50 reading prompts.  The Massachusetts Center for the Book has a 12 Books in 12 Months Challenge The Louisville (CO) Public Library has a reading challenge with lists of suggestions from their staff.  NoveList has a 2024 Reading Challenge

This is an easy way to harness pop culture to move your backlist. There are no right answers as to what books fans of a certain show might like because what draws people to a television show or movie is different. Use your collection and involve staff, any staff, who are fans of that show or movie. If the first one you choose makes it difficult to find enough items, add a second one and create your own version of the Barbie/Oppenheimer mashup “Barbenheimer.”  An alternative way to harness excitement about a show or movie is to come up with a display highlighting titles that characters from the show would like. Again, there are no right answers. You can allow patrons to suggest titles if you wish for it to be a passive program as well.  You can also use the setting or time period from a particular show as the basis for a book display. Expand it to include other books and movies that take place in the same location as well as travel and non-fiction about that place. An easy example would

What everyone wants to do in January is a “New Year, New You” display. The fact is that individuals don’t need to craft new versions of themselves every year. Instead, encourage your patrons to – • Learn something new: Set up titles about learning a language, a skill, a craft. Look for basic history books about lesser-known events or places.  • Cook something new: Baking and cooking books that haven’t gotten enough attention.  • Meet someone new: Character centered fiction that hasn’t circulated recently.  • Visit someplace new: Travel books and books from your local collection. Look for titles that haven’t been checked out in the last six months.  You can expand these as you need to fit your collection. For example, it’s also a great time to try a new genre or start a new-to-you series. Pair these displays with your programs and services.  Don’t forget to include youth and young adult materials in your displays. Move those titles to areas outside of the designated youth and yo