From the dated to the down-right goofy, we all know that library books can have some of the most outlandish covers ever seen. We know, we know…we’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover. And that’s true! Many amazing books have been saddled with less than appealing covers, and we should give them a fighting chance before writing them off, but for right now, for just this purpose, in this moment, we are going to judge the heck out of some book covers!
Join us in March and April for our first ever Judge a Book by Its Cover bracket. We have selected 16 of our most ridiculous covers for you to compare and vote for the best/worst. Each book featured in the bracket is from our collection and is available for check-out by Chatham community members. You’ll be able to browse them at the Popular Reading display on the first floor of the JKM Library. We encourage you to pick them up and read their synopses! Because, after all, we can’t judge what’s inside by what’s outside, can we? We welcome you to check them out at any time.
Round One will begin on Friday March 6th and last until Tuesday March 17th. Each following round will last about a week, wrapping up on Monday April 6th!
Voting during each round will happen in a number of ways. First, we will have the bracket laid out on our Art Wall on the first floor of the JKM Library. Don’t know where that is? Ask at the Circulation or Reference desks! Each book cover will be posted, and you will be able to vote for you favorite in each matchup by adding a sticker next to the cover you love to hate the most.
We will also be posting each matchup to social media and will encourage folks to vote for their favorites in the comments. Votes will be tallied at the end of each round and added to the votes from the Art Wall. Winners will then move on to the next round, and so on and so forth until we have selected our most gloriously bad book cover!
If you want to play along, you can download a bracket here or pick one up in the library. The book covers are included with the bracket, and they are added below along with the Round One matchup. If you want to share your filled-out brackets with us, post to social media with #BookCoverBracket. We would love to share your perfect bracket!
We hope you enjoy our inaugural Judge a Book by Its Cover bracket and that it inspires you to check out a book you might have discounted before.
ROUND ONE
Matchup 1: Flaubert and Madame Bovary: A Double Portrait vs. The Demon Lover
Matchup 2: A Taste for Death vs. Millennial Women
Matchup 3: Death Notes vs. The Greek Ideal and Its Survival
Matchup 4: Elric at the End of Time vs. Secrets and Surprises
Matchup 5: Startide Rising vs. The Devil Tree
Matchup 6: Dragonseye vs. A Brief Life
Matchup 7: New Worlds for Old vs. Warlock
Matchup 8: The History of the Psychoanalytic Movement vs. Eyeless in Gaza