Awful Library Books

Magic Words and Numbers

May 31, 2023 Holly Unexplained and Just Plain Crazy 6 comments

Magic, Words, and Numbers
Series: A New Library of the Supernatural
Holroyd
1975

Submitter: Things no one will say:
Who cares if this book is old and hideous? The public must have it! It’s full of helpful advice that anybody can follow. Do you need money? Just pluck a hair from a mare’s privates, recite a magical incantation, and make a pact with a talking snake (page 82). Are you worried about your relationship? Rip the tongue out of a live toad and place it on your lover’s heart while she sleeps. Or, better yet, trick her into drinking pulverized wolf gonads (page 83). Is there a dung heap nearby? Use it to unleash the incredible power of common household herbs (82). Or, just bury this book in the manure where it belongs.

Southern Plantation Cooking

May 24, 2023 Holly For the Kids 10 comments

Southern Plantation Cooking
Gunderson
2000

Submitter: I recently came across Southern Plantation Cooking in my high school library’s cookbook section. It’s part of a series that includes titles called Civil War Cooking: The Confederacy, Civil War Cooking: The Union, and Cooking on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. [Read on for more]

Holly: This was published in 2000???

Rap your way to breast health

May 16, 2023 Mary Kelly Health and Safety 12 comments

Coping: A Young Woman’s Guide to Breast Cancer Prevention
Eisenpreis
1996

Do young women need information on breast cancer? Most definitely. This is weed worthy because of the age. Medical and science info is always suspect after 5-10 years. Nearly 30 years is ridiculous.

Also the image for the cover looks really distorted to me. That is the book, not my poor photo editing skills.

However, It is cringe worthy rap included in the second image that takes the cake. Because today’s teens really need a rap to get with the program of breast self exam.

Find a Job

May 3, 2023 Mary Kelly Working 9-5 7 comments

How to Find A Job on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and other Social Networks
Schepp and Schepp
2010

Career books are always going to be my trigger in collection management. Social media leads for jobs isn’t outdated, per se, but this book is now over 10 years old and that already makes the information questionable. The platforms themselves have been changed several times since this was published.

“The pandemic is now becoming a mile marker for collection development. There will be items throughout the range of topics that will render many items obsolete. The large shifts in how the world works has dramatically changed the entire employment landscape from both the employer and employee perspective. “The pandemic is now becoming a mile marker for collection development. There will be items throughout the range of topics that will render many items obsolete. The large shifts in how the world works has dramatically changed the entire employment landscape from both the employer and employee perspective.

Mind and Vision

April 27, 2023 Holly Health and Safety 12 comments

Mind and Vision: A Handbook for the Cure of Imperfect Sight Without Glasses
Agarwal
(7th Ed.) 1978

Submitter: We are a small public library. I found this in the health section. It was added in 2007 and, apparently, not donated but in fact purchased with real money from Amazon for $9.95. There is potentially helpful advice in this book. Unfortunately it also suggests that staring into the sun, with your eyes closed, will cure the need for corrective lenses. It was a shelved in 617.7, near books on LASIK. This book is a wonderful example as to why we need to weed our health sections regularly.

Holly: Well, dang, if I knew that I wouldn’t have spent $600 on bifocals!

Killer Karate

April 17, 2023 Holly Sports, Games, and Exercise 10 comments

The 100 Deadliest Karate Moves
Gambordella
1982

Submitter: While cleaning up the sports and athletic section I found this book tucked behind the other books in the section. It looks like it escaped weeding by cowering behind all the other books. Rest assured this was kicked to the recycling bin.

Holly: I see what you did there, submitter.

The only thing saving this book from being the most boring karate book on earth, with its black and white photos of early-80s collars and short shorts, is its title. Well, that and the impending wardrobe malfunction on the cover.

Meat for Dinner (Again!)

April 11, 2023 Mary Kelly You Ate What? 20 comments

Famous Brands
Meat Cookbook
Brand Name Publishing
1985

I don’t know how many more of these tasty recipes I can manage. They are everywhere on our site. The problem with hanging on to old cookbooks in a regular collection is that the photography or illustrations aren’t really helping the recipes.

Cookbooks and recipes go in and out of fashion. Vintage cookbooks are definitely an interesting collectable, but modern library collections really need to see if these items meet the library mission. If you have space and budget, you can hang onto a few of your oldies but goodies or maybe make a display. Pass your retro collections off to good homes.

Contingency Cannibalism

March 21, 2023 Holly Unexplained and Just Plain Crazy 11 comments

Contingency Cannibalism: Superhardcore Survivalism’s Dirty Little Secret
Takada
1999

Submitter: This was found in the survival and wilderness section of our little library. At first I was surprised by the title, then I was even more surprised when I realized it was misclassified. This probably would have done better in the humor section.

Holly: What the….ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!! Good grief. The summary at WorldCat is priceless.