Holly, Author at Awful Library Books

Workbook for Womans Guide to Business cover

Women Do Business

June 28, 2022 Holly Ladies only!, Working 9-5 23 comments

Workbook for a Woman’s Guide to Business and Social Success: A Personal Analysis Record
1983

Submitter: We found this workbook still sitting on the shelf, long after the actual textbook was weeded, 15 years ago! The work book is filled with the classic tropes of the era. Ladies need to be thin, pretty and submissive to make it in the working world. An ‘interesting’ glimpse into the past.

Holly: This. Is. Awful. Sections like “My Cosmetics and How I Will Apply Them,” “My Hair Care and Coiffure Arrangement Analysis,” and “Developing and Attractive Voice” make me want to vomit.

Fast Food Careers

June 22, 2022 Holly Working 9-5 3 comments

Opportunities in Fast Food Careers
Eberts and Gisler
1989

Submitter: I work in an academic library and this “career advice” book was still hanging out on the shelves in mid-2022. I was really surprised to see that there was an entire book dedicated to this topic. There are some chapters about the history of the fast food industry and what franchising entails but the majority of the book is dedicated to becoming the best possible customer servant you can be and climbing the ladder to middle management. The authors dedicate an entire chapter to the necessary educational credentials which is probably one chapter more than what is necessary. Check out the vintage photos!

Holly: High school courses in math, science, business, and computer science are helpful in just about any career, but and the idea that “Most home economics departments are now open to boys as well as girls…” (p.88) is beyond ridiculous in this day and age. It was in 1989 too, actually. The computer science examples miss the point of computerized fast food processes in this day and age, where every fast food restaurant has an app and point of sales systems are pretty complex. And yes, submitter is right that the photos are “vintage.” I’ll tell you one thing: anyone with fast food experience on their resume is worth a look in library service. They may be great at customer service, multitasking, and team work.

Just No Gelatine!

June 2, 2022 Holly You Ate What? 20 comments

The Knox Gelatine Cookbook
Rutledge Books, Inc, Knox Gelatine, Inc
1977

Submitter: Just in time for those summer gelatine/Jello salads – who wouldn’t want calico corn relish, creamy cranberry relish, or a zesty seafood appetizer in gelatine? The pictures just make my…mouth water would not be the right phrase. This one is off to the sale cart.

Holly: That corn thing looks disgusting, and I’ll eat just about anything! What was the obsession with gelatine in the 70s?? Especially paired with weird things like fish.

Mary: Jell-o-type products should only be used with fruit cocktail and maybe some whipping cream, if you want to be fancy. Even reading a recipe of one of these “savories” makes me gag.

Miami Vice Scrapbook

May 13, 2022 Holly Celebrity Gossip and Advice 8 comments

Miami Vice Scrapbook
Friedman
1986

Submitter: In the 1980s, my mom worked for Tiger Beat and Right On! magazines and parlayed into a gig writing books about music and TV stars for Sharon Starbook, which included this illustrious tome.

Holly: It’s alive and well. (Not “well,” exactly, but it’s still out there!) Worldcat lists 19 holding libraries. 19 of you have some weeding to do. I’d love to see some interior shots of this book, though. If anyone wants to send some, I’ll update the post!

Parties Mother Never Gave

April 28, 2022 Holly You Ate What? 5 comments

Parties Mother Never Gave
Drill
1991

Submitter: I found this gem while weeding our cookbook collection. The entire book is not only outdated, but every recipe is a pun or a “fun” play on words. The pictures are all washed out yellow tones, making every meal look completely unappetizing. The book focuses more on ridiculous menus with a list of adjective filled names of dishes than actually detailing the recipes well enough to cook! And then there’s the title..it almost seems like the author has a few family issues that are coming out in their writing.

Holly: I love cookbooks, and I can actually read them cover to cover like a novel and be thoroughly engrossed. My deal breaker for cookbooks is lack of (or bad) photos. The cover is colorful and fun, but is that the last photo in the book? I like the idea of menus, planning and timing tips, and shortcuts, but it needs pictures! And, yeah, odd title.

Wit Knits

April 25, 2022 Holly Craptastic Crafts and Hobbies 42 comments

Wit Knits: Lively And Original Hand Knitting Designs
Hostler and Brandreth
1985

Submitter: While weeding out the craft section I came across this absolutely dated yet lovely gem. John Iman modeling of sweaters? Is the public still being served by this book? Probably not – but it will do well on the sale cart.

Holly: This. Is. Amazing. And by “amazing,” I mean “awful.”

Mary: This is beyond precious. I have never seen so many people happy about wearing sweaters.

Food Stretcher

April 14, 2022 Holly You Ate What? 17 comments

The Family Cookbook
The American Woman’s Food Stretcher Cookbook
Make your Ration Points Go Twice As Far
Culinary Arts Institute
1943

Submitter: This cookbook has been on our shelf since 1943, which is both amazing that it survived public library use and yet dodged the weeding process. I think the only thing that can make a cookbook worse than having no images is one with black and white images like these. Someone will enjoy this one on the for-sale cart.

Holly: “Meat Roly Poly” with pickled peach/olive faces and “Noodle Cottage Cheese Casserole” are on my no thank you list…and I’ll eat just about anything.

Gunshot Wounds

April 12, 2022 Holly Health and Safety 9 comments

Gunshot Wounds: Practical Aspects of Firearms, Ballistics, and Forensic Techniques
Di Maio
1999

Submitter: This book may not be an awful library book for a college or specialty library, in fact it’s a very informative book, but this was found in our little rural public library. I can see internally it was purchased to fulfill a request by a patron many years ago and unsurprisingly it has never circulated. With that said, this book did not meet our collection development policies then, and does not now. (Whispers to self “Is it a policy if no one follows it?”) We should have been able to Inter Library Loan this instead of purchasing a copy. The book is filled with over 400 pages of graphic images of entrance and exit wounds of suicide and homicide victims . I limited what I scanned to leave most of the graphic content out for many reasons.
Lastly there is a 2015 updated edition of this book.

Holly: Thanks for sparing us the gruesome parts. The patron who requested it didn’t even check it out? Oooooh, that irks me when that happens.