Summer Reading is upon us! Well almost for us anyway lol (Sign ups are open and then on June 2nd it begins!) And Almost every year since I started at the library I’ve been sharing some book recs and display ideas that match the summer reading theme that CSLP has made for the US branches. (It may be different for your library if your library system makes up their own!)
I think my most favorite was Libraries Rock. That book rec list I made for it was off the charts! (Pun intended) The next year I did a sci fi science themed one and that one was actually fun as well. I skipped 2020 because I wasn’t sure if we we’re going to have a Summer Reading Program, BUT I got back to it in 2021! For whatever reason I skipped 2 of the best themes from a couple years ago, and I said I won’t let that happen to me again! So last year I was back with a theme I wasn’t fond of for programming, but i didn’t have to do that I thought eh ok lol But you know what it was good for? Books and displays. So I gave them some ideas that were out of the box.
SO because this year is ART, and is SO BROAD, I didn’t exactly know what I wanted to do to that wasn’t something that all librarians weren’t already doing lol As y’all know tho, I’m not at the branches anymore, so I came up with this random idea to just give y’all the book recs instead lol So basically, this is a color theory (or color symbolism) book rec post, and the others listed at the bottom are some random display ideas that are probably already in their rotation. So, without further ado…. Here we go!:
SEEING RED: Red is a warm color associated with passion, love, anger and heightened emotions. For these I chose anger and aggression and immediately thought of some books that showed anger (and rightfully so!) In all of these there’s a character who portrays anger and I love that the color designers chose red as the main color for the cover. (In China, red symbolizes prosperity, happiness, and good luck. It’s a dominant color in weddings and celebrations so please know that and change your display wording accordingly if you add any books with characters who are of Chinese descent.)
A-PEEL-ING ORANGE: Orange is the color of emotion, youth, optimism, and enthusiasm. For these I chose books that showed lots of big emotions and those that had characters that were also enthusiastic in the activities they were doing.
EASE ON DOWN THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD TO HAPPINESS: Yellow is the color of happiness, optimism, positivity, and intellect. I chose these books because they all made me LOL. All of these characters also experience some kind of happiness, whether in small doses or large. Even in Clean Getaway where he was just happy to get away from his dad.
Green Thumbs Up!: Green is the color of harmony, safety, growth, envy, relaxing, prosperity, and health. For these I chose books that represented growth (whether in nature or personal) and one that also showed prosperity in the case of a windfall lol There’s a bunch more out there and a bunch more ways you can match the covers to the feeling a color is supposed to show.
True Blue is the color of security, trust, loyalty, responsibility, peace, and sadness. For the books I chose those that show sadness, trust, and loyalty. In some of these I would argue that they also showed peace.
Indigo Spirits: Indigo is the color of integrity, structure, intuition, order, and fearful. I added these because Lordt I didn’t realize how many horror books had indigo covers. And I’m guessing now that it’s because it’s considered as fearful? Makes me wonder if that’s the cover designer’s intent lol And of course there’s the morality of the Babysitter. She was a bad ass and fought to uphold what she thought was right.
Shrinking Violets are NOT what all of these characters represent… Violet is represented by creativity, wisdom, sensitivity, spirituality. I chose these because every single character is like some sort of creative genius. Whether its in fashion, getting in trouble lol, being a genius, or a baker, all of these MCs impressed tf outta me when I read their book.
Tickle Me Pink: Pink is compassion, love, femininity, kindness, warmth, and playfulness. I chose these books because they all represent the romance, love and playfulness of and between the main characters.
Black Heart: Black is usually what is described as protection, power, elegance, strength, dominance, and sophistication. I chose these books because in each one there is at least one character who is trying to excrete power on the MCs and show their dominance. And in a few of them, I think it’s obvious that there is some elegance and sophistication with someone in the book. Most of the time its the rich lol
White as a Ghost: White is cleanliness, purity, innocence, clarity, boring, cold, empty, distant. I chose these because one has a cold character, one provides clarity on the way voting has been terrible for ages, and of course, the innocence of these kids that the system tried to take from them.
BONUS RECS!
Because these are low maintenance and can be easily filled after someone goes in and picks it apart lol Here’s the books to start these off. You can easily add more as you go along! (AND AS A REMINDER, IF YOU DO A READ THE RAINBOW DISPLAY FOR JUNE, MAKE SURE THAT ALL BOOKS FOR EVERY COLOR IS QUEER! If you want me to make a post for one of those I can do that too!) **For a closer look at these pictures, check my Insta <3**
**ALL COLOR INFORMATION FOUND HERE.**
What do you think about this year’s SRP Book Recs? Have you read any of these? Will you read them now? Should I do an adult and/or picture book edition? Let me know in the comments!