1980s Archives - Awful Library Books

Aids: Principles, practices and politics

HIV/AIDS from the 1980s

February 21, 2022 Mary Kelly Health and Safety 6 comments

AIDS: Principles, Practices, & Politics
Corless and Pittman-Lindeman
1989

This book was published at the height of the AIDS crisis. This is a more academic title, but accessible enough for a general public library purchase. The 1989 publication date should immediately make this book a candidate for weeding. By the early 1990s, this book would have been outdated. Treatments and protocols for preventing transmission were already being updated. By the mid 1990s, even the term AIDS was on the way out and terms like HIV or the more generic sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), were replacing some of the older language.

Friday Fiction: Nothing Hurts But My Heart

September 24, 2021 Mary Kelly Friday Fiction 5 comments

Nothing Hurts But My Heart
Barr
1987

I saw this and immediately picked it up for the perfect 1980s hair and make-up. This is straight out of the Brooke Shields handbook for 1980s beauty. I mean, look at those eyebrows!

Our protagonist is Lisa, who is a high performing gymnast with an eye for the Olympics. However, she is diagnosed with scoliosis and must give up her gymnastics career. She also has to wear a back brace for several years to keep the condition from getting worse. I remember a few students having to wear those back braces. They did look uncomfortable and I can only imagine it was difficult to adjust to the brace and having certain activities limited.

The book is dated, but I liked the fact that there wasn’t a magic solution. The reality for Lisa was no gymnastics and wearing a back brace. There was a lot of discussion about scoliosis, which bordered on excessive. Life doesn’t always go according to plan, but at least there is a cute boy named Jeff from her math class.

Victim of Love

The Cars
Kamin and Goddard
1986

Submitter: This was an excellent book about a local band to purchase for this library. 35 years later, the band split up, reunite under a new name, reunite under the old name, and saw two of the found members die, and all not covered here. Time to Shake It Up and replace!

Holly: This was NOT Just What I Needed. You Might Think so…but you’d be wrong. Weed it. Drive it off a cliff. Give it to My Best Friend’s Girl. Weeding is not Magic, it’s science. Library Science.

Ok, I’m done now.

princess of wales fashion handbook cover

Princess Di Fashion Tips

February 22, 2021 Mary Kelly Be Pretty, Looking Good 10 comments

Princess of Wales
Fashion Handbook
James
1984

The Princess of Wales was an icon of fashion during her short life. I was in college when she married Prince Charles and many of us got up early in the morning to watch the royal wedding. Back in the day, I got the feeling that you could slap the picture of the Princess on any book and it would probably sell millions.

This book was more about her personal fashion sense and had more narrative than I initially expected. I honestly was thinking this was going to be very little text and more a bundle of Diana’s memorable outfits. The designer and fashion types would find this a decent choice, the Princess Di fans would probably be disappointed there wasn’t much in there about her specifically.

Etiquette for Men

July 16, 2020 Mary Kelly Guy Stuff 8 comments

Esquire Etiquette
The Modern Man’s Guide to Good Form
Waggoner and Moloney
1987

Guys, are you frustrated by etiquette rules? Do you need to look suave for the ladies? This is your guide. This book organizes a bunch of topics into easy to digest 1 or 2 pages of advice.

The advice is pretty decent, but extremely basic. It has all the etiquette standards: thank you notes, introductions, table manners, etc. There is also advice about dating, tipping, picking up the check and even gambling. Although there is some discussion of chores, it really is more about making something look clean. The other part of the advice is to get a cleaning lady.

Career Style!

April 30, 2020 Mary Kelly Be Pretty 14 comments

Looks That Work
Wallach
1986

Time for a working wardrobe circa mid 1980s. This book has a few themes for that gal on the go. First, we have role models: Nancy Reagan, Elizabeth Dole, and a few more. It’s all about the grooming!

Second, you need to develop a “capsule concept”. I tried the quiz and failed miserably. Evidently you need to have some kind of “style”. I currently am sporting a “COVID-19 sweatpants” motif. I think it’s working for me.

Always in Style

March 16, 2020 Holly Be Pretty 6 comments

Always in Style with Color Me Beautiful
Pooser
1985

Submitter: Not sure which is more awful … that this book is still available at a library in our system or that one of my patrons requested it.

Holly: I think the “always” in the title is stretching it a bit! This book – this 1985 edition – is available at NINE libraries in Michigan. Whyyyyy?

The lady on the cover doesn’t actually look too bad, but I wonder what horrors await inside this thing? Anyone want to share some internal pics? (We’ll update the post if you do!) Also, I’m generally a fashion “don’t,” so don’t take my word for it that she doesn’t look bad…

Color Yourself

March 5, 2020 Mary Kelly Be Pretty 11 comments

Color Wonderful
Nicholson and Lewis-Crum
1986

This book is your basic 1980s flashback. Note the big hair and the blue eye shadow. One of the chapters is about “gentle” coloring, I am going to go out on a limb and say this doesn’t look too gentle. This particular book was sent to the bindery in the early 1990s. Obviously, we need to preserve those excellent hair and make-up examples from the 1980s.

Having one’s colors done by a “pro” was quite the trend. I never did figure out what season I was. We have posted some examples in the past. We will just add this to the pile.