Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover

I’m sure you’ve all heard the phrase “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” Have you ever done this? I have to say I am very guilty of it. Having worked in a library for almost ten years (mainly in the children’s section, but more recently in the Acquisitions and Cataloging Department), I see a lot of books. I have walked the aisles of the library as well as book stores, grabbing the books that “speak to me.” How do they speak? I don’t know. Sometimes, it’s a color that catches my eye or an interesting picture, but in that first 30 seconds of having the book in my hand, I decide if I’m even going to turn it over and read the summary. I have taken books home from the library just because I liked the picture on the cover. Do I start to read them? Yes, I do. Have I been disappointed? Sometimes, but most times I have enjoyed the book. This got me thinking about what draws one to a particular shelf or a particular book. I decided to ask my coworkers in the library some questions about their book browsing.

Before I get to what my coworkers thought, I did a little research on where the phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover” comes from. We all know the meaning of the phrase is to not pass judgement on someone or something without evidence to support your opinion. According to Danielle McLeod at The Grammarist, the phrase can be traced to the novel The Mill on the Floss, written by George Eliot in 1860. In the novel, the reference is to a physical book when the character, Mr. Tulliver, uses it when discussing Daniel Defoe’s, The History of the Devil:

• “…and there’s a lot more of ’em, sermons mostly, I think, but they’ve all got the same covers, and I thought they were all o’ one sample, as you may say. But it seems one mustn’t judge by the outside.”

Here is what I wanted to know from my friends and coworkers: When you are looking for a new book to read, what attracts you to one? Do you always go to the same section to look for a new book, or do you rely on book reviews and recommendations from others? Have you ever just grabbed a book off the shelf based on the cover? If so, did it meet your expectations? Would you like to share the title and author of this book?

I’ll start with me. Since joining the Acquisitions and Cataloging Department, I literally touch every single book that comes through the Library System. I process and label them and, because of that, I look at a lot of books. There are many books that I put on my Goodreads account just based on the cover. I tend to grab books off my cart that have bright covers or colored pages and then look at the summary. But I gravitate toward books that are on the “Reader also enjoyed” section of Goodreads. I stumbled upon the book The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides this way. This will show you other books similar to what you just read.

The Mercer County Library System catalog has the same feature. To access it, type the title of a book you enjoyed in the search bar and click enter. Click on the book title

Scroll down to “You might also like” And this will give “Similar Titles”

 

 As I stated above, I found The Silent Patient on Goodreads and loved it. I tend to stay in the same genre when looking for a new book and the books I tend to put on my “To Read” list are all psychological thrillers. I rely heavily on recommendation lists on the MCL catalog and Goodreads for my next read. I brought this book with me on vacation last summer and read it in 3 days. (The book was great, but I was disappointed because I had nothing else to read for the rest of the week!)

Here are how my coworkers responded when asked about their reading. I asked three questions.

1. What attracts them to a book?

2. Where do you go to look for a book (a particular section or just wander about)?

3. What was the last book they read and if they’d recommend it?

1.After reading all the answers I found out that most of my coworkers are attracted to the bright covers and colorful pages to get them to at least pick up the book to read the summary. (Those marketing executives know what they’re doing LOL). I recently found out that Barnes and Noble has an entire section dedicated to special editions with colorful pages and beautiful cover art. They may put the book back after reading the summary, but they did pick it up for at least 30 seconds.

2. Everyone stated that if they do not have a particular book in mind and just want to browse, they head straight to a certain section. They all tend to go to the authors they like and look around there. After they are in the section they like, they look for the eye-catching books. Most of us at the library have long To Be Read booklists and rely on those. A few of us depend heavily on recommendations made from friends.

So, what makes us chose a particular book? Who knows, but in the end, it doesn’t really matter, as long as the book gave us what we were looking for. As you can see by the recommendation list below, the people in the library have diverse reading interests. If you are ever looking for something to read, take a walk around your local library branch. I’m sure you’ll find something you’ll love. Also, take a look at the many displays that have been put out. You might find your next favorite author or series.

3. I asked a few of my coworkers to share with me what was the last book they read and if they would recommend it. Here are their answers.

Pam (me), Acquisitions and Cataloging: The last book I read was The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides and I highly recommend it! As I stated before, I brought it on vacation and couldn’t put it down. I read it in 3 days

 

 

Ellen, Director of MCLS, is a big fan of Joanne Fluke and recommends her books. They are light, cozy mysteries. Below is her latest book Pink Lemonade Cake Murder

 

 

Christine, Head of Youth Services, recently enjoyed The Prince's Guide to Brothers and Rituals by L.R. Weltmann. “It's the second in a series and I enjoyed it very much.  I cried at the end!”

Fun fact - L.R. Weltmann is Lydia from MCLS administration!

 

Lydia from Administration (yes, the same Lydia from the book above) recently finished The Adventures of Amina Al-Sarafi by Shannon Chakraborty. She enjoyed it very much and would recommend.

Caitlin, from Acquisitions and Cataloging, recently read The Women by Kristen Hannah. She absolutely loved it and highly recommends.

Kimberly, from Lawrence Reference, is currently reading Real Clothes, Real Lives: 200 Years of What Women Wore by Kiki Smith. She is in the middle of it but is absolutely loving it. Highly recommends.

Larry, from Acquisitions and Cataloging, recommends Midnight and Blue by Ian Rankin. This book is number 25 in the Inspector Rebus series. “It’s a suspenseful mystery and I would recommend any book in that series.”

Dennis, from Reference in West Windsor, recently read a Star Wars book titled Brotherhood by Mike Chen. “He gave it 4 stars!”

Charlene, from Acquisitions and Cataloging, enjoyed the Agent Pendergast series by Douglas Preston. She is currently reading Angelof Vengeance - book 22 in the series.

Albena, from Lawrence Reference, tends to not read for pure entertainment, but to “find a soulmate in a book.” She prefers to go for books that speak to her. The book she is about to start is Main Street by Sinclair Lewis - a gift from her son.

Joanna from the IT Department is currently reading Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford and enjoying it. “I have always found historical fiction to be a favorite and this explores the experience of a Chinese-American boy in Seattle during the 1940's as he befriends a Japanese girl just as the current events of the time make their friendship increasingly challenging. The novel also flashes to the 1980's when the main character has a son of his own and is trying to build a stronger relationship with him through sharing his past. This is one of the many books that we offer at MCLS through the Book Club in a Bag program which makes it simple to get your book group multiple copies of the same book. They often include inserts from the library staff with background information about the author, or discussion questions to get your group started!”

Pamela Murphy @ Lawrence Branch Acquisitions and Cataloging Department