Via http://awfullibrarybooks.wordpress.com

I’m a book junkie.

I have my reliable suppliers to feed my addiction. They are the ones, with their colorful displays and come-hither promotions, who entice me to open my wallet and empty it in exchange for hours of reading pleasure. The heavy-duty pushers, otherwise known as independent book stores, have me weak in the knees, not only with their eclectic inventories but also their knowledgeable staff and peripheral products (stationery, pens, coffee cups, paper weights) that further deplete my capital resources.

Thankfully there are low- to no-cost options for when the wallet is light. There are used book stores, yard sales and online book exchanges.

The public library, of course, stands ready and waiting to lend to those of us on really tight budgets.

Beyond the search for books is the need, on occasion, to gather information about a book before buying it or to find new authors and titles when you’ve exhausted your reading list.

Here are a few online resources I’ve used:

Books Are Pretty
Bibliodyssey
The Millions
DeweyDivas
ALA Booklist Online
Paperback Swap
Book Page

But who is out there to steer a bibliophile away from a bad book or to highlight books that, despite better judgment, were published at all?

My local newspaper alerted me to a new resource,  Awful Library Books, put together by two librarians from suburban Detroit who have created a popular new Web site devoted to bad books, or as they say in their own words: “None of the books presented are particularly awful (okay, maybe some are).  These books are just odd, outdated or maybe should be reconsidered under a current interpretation of collection policies.”

A sampler of titles highlighted include:

• “Driving: How to Get a License and Keep It” (Put down the book and just drive, right?)
• “Clothes Hanger Projects” (Who doesn’t want a holiday gift crafted from an old clothes hanger?)
• “Dating for Under a Dollar” (Or, ‘How to avoid ever having a meaningful relationship’)
• “How Maps are Made” (If you’re not a cartographer, you just don’t care)

See for yourself:

http://awfullibrarybooks.wordpress.com