Library Notes - 14 November 2018

Published on November 14, 2018

Top 10 books

New Fiction

Hide and Seek by Nicole S Goodin

Summer at the Castle Café by Donna Ashcroft

Grace by Paul Lynch

The War Nurses by Lizzie Page

Hunted by Nicole S Goodin

Duel to the Death By J A Jance

The Bishop’s Pawn by Steve Berry

Miss Mary’s Daughter by Diney Costeloe

Improvement by Joan Silber

The Cloister by James Carroll

Judging a book by its cover.

Pam Coleman Community Engagement Librarian

We’ve all heard of judging a book by its cover, meaning we should not let first appearances become how we think of something or someone. Nowadays the saying most often applies to people more than books. But if are talking only about books, we have to honestly ask, does this ring true? Ask yourself, do you judge a book by its cover? What do you notice when you browse for a book?

We are predominantly visual creatures. The wrappers which things come in interest and affect us.

Think about your favourite books and their covers.

The overall colour a publisher chooses for a book can influence the audience. People often associate colours with feelings and perceptions. According to marketing studies, warm colours evoke a social or sensory response which implies it may be an emotional read. For example, yellow or orange colours are often used for mainstream fiction with a positive outcome, while pink and purple denotes women orientated fiction. Serious fiction covers are often in black and white, while black, red and white is for sci-fi, or horror fans. Reference books and other nonfiction tend to use cooler colours such as dark blue or brown. Dark blue conveys a functional message, while brown suggests an air of high quality.

Keep thinking about that favourite book cover. The cover picture helps us deduce what kind of story exists within its pages. Action packed thrillers often have the silhouette of a gun toting character. Epic fantasies tend to have a character in a hooded cloak or a warrior on horseback. A lady in a dress can often signal historic fiction and if there is a gentleman with her, it’s usually a romance. If there is a shirtless dude then it’s a steamy romance!

Light-heartedness aside, the book cover is the first thing which entices us, the reader.

This subject popped into my mind after a cool idea for a book display was shared in our library workroom. All of the book covers were ‘read’ – pun intended. I popped out to browse the shelves and while there are a lot of exceptions to this rule, publishers and authors do pay attention to the psychology behind colour and visual preference.

However beware! It is easy to misjudge a book because of its cover. Judging a book by its cover might mean missing out on a great story. This time we are talking about books and people.