Health and Safety Archives - Awful Library Books

Rap your way to breast health

May 16, 2023 Mary Kelly Health and Safety 11 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.

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!

Fructose: A Magic Formula

January 4, 2023 Mary Kelly Health and Safety 11 comments

Diet Away Your Stress, Tension, and Anxiety
The Fructose Diet Book
Palm
1976

Well folks, this is the miracle diet you have been waiting for!

Dr Palm’s theory is that a fructose regimen can improve the function of the nervous system. Benefits include decrease of demand for alcohol in alcoholics and eliminate cravings for food among those who overeat. In addition, he continues with claims to improve symptoms in psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, lessons the “premenstrual tension” and improves the management of diabetes.

Sounds like fructose is magic.

I think you can safely weed this one.

Brain Balance

July 21, 2022 Holly Health and Safety 44 comments

Autism: The Scientific Truth About Preventing, Diagnosing, and Treating Autism Spectrum Disorders – and What Parents Can Do Now
Melillo
2012

Submitter: People with autism have a hard enough time in life without being abused, threatened or discriminated against, and are invisible in mainstream society, so books, websites, etc. that spout hate, stereotypes and misrepresentations of autism harm the self-worth of already vulnerable people. The content of this book is no exception. (Click through to read more!)

Holly: Dr. Melillo’s Brain Balance Achievement Centers have definitely been criticized. Take a look at the external links on that Wikipedia page; especially the NPR piece.

Let’s Get Physical!

July 5, 2022 Mary Kelly Health and Safety, Sports, Games, and Exercise 9 comments

Sexual Fitness
Complete Vitality
Time Life Books
1988

Feeling sluggish and want to get back into a high intensity bedroom “workout”? This is the book for you. Grab your partner and bring on the sexy. Exercise and general fitness is essential for a healthy sex life. Getting in shape with your partner has the added benefit of getting those sexy times started.

We also have lots of options in workout gear. Ladies, break out the tights and leotards for a sleek look. Sexy exercise also includes lots of touching, so evidently the expected “workout” attire is a lace camisole.

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.

Old Timey Health Info

March 1, 2022 Mary Kelly Health and Safety 16 comments

Consumer Health
Byer
1971

I snagged this little book from a public library and it is still in circulation as of this writing. It covers basics of medical services, treatment costs, and some basic consumer information about hospitals and insurance. It doesn’t look like a textbook, but it sure reads like one. Also the cover is less than interesting, which adds to the textbook feel. There are many passages about costs and treatments that no longer apply.

This book was probably one of the projects out of the consumer activism of the 1960s and 1970s. Ralph Nader was one of the big players during this time with his book Unsafe at any speed which targeted auto safety.

DIY Bazooka

February 28, 2022 Holly Health and Safety 19 comments

Bazooka : How to Build Your Own
Lewis
1993

Submitter: This explosive title came in a box of donations. “Simple Follow this procedure step by step, and before you know it you’ll be blasting away like Rambo on a good day” I think this is the same imagination that has been taking place in our bathrooms lately. Easy to say this went to recycling bin.

Holly: The good news is that WorldCat doesn’t show any library holdings for this book. The better news is that its subject heading:

Bazookas — Design and construction — Amateurs’ manuals

only matches this one title in WorldCat. Apparently no one else cashed in on the lucrative publishing industry of DIY bazooka manuals.

I know we’re Awful “Library” Books, but indulge me in this one anyway. It’s too good to pass up. And by good I mean awful.