How Does My Brain Work?!
You don’t have to peruse personality quiz websites very long to know that people are fascinated by themselves. Everyone, at some point, asks vital questions about who they are, why they are that way, and how their brain works. Good thing there are so many fascinating books on the topic of psychology and personality!
I created a set of 6 silhouettes, with bold white text inside asking different vital questions. What are dreams really? Is my personality dictated by actions or beliefs? How can I be more positive? What if I don’t identify as either an introvert or extravert? Am I becoming my mother? and (because I was in a silly mood) Woof?
The books I pulled will help people grapple those questions, and many more. It was tempting to pull all the books from the 158 section, with their bold titles and sensationalized promises, but I made an effort to include books from different fields and various perspectives. The list I’ve created is based around the books held by the Idea Exchange branch I work at – I definitely recommend exploring other Psychology Booklists like this one or this one or this one.
Base List
Happiness
Stumbling Upon Happiness – 158 Gil
The Antidote – 158 Bur
Breaking Murphy’s law : how optimists get what they want from life–and pessimists can too – 158.1 Seg
Happiness and Health 613 Fos
Personality Theory
No Two Alike – 155.22 Har
The Personality Code – 155.2 Bra
Just Babies: The origins of good and evil – 155.41825 Blo
Perception
A mind of its own : how your brain distorts and deceives – 150 Fin
Blink 158 Glad
Social Sciences
Understanding Human Nature 150.1953 Adl
The Social Animal – 302 Bro
Brain Science
Brain storm – 155.5 Sie
Incognito : the secret lives of the brain – 154.2 Eag
The owner’s manual for the brain : everyday applications from mind-brain research 612.82 How
Resources:
As always, I want to help other public libraries provide the best service they can, so here are my downloadable free display resources. Let me know how the display goes if you use them!
Psychology Display Images
Psychology Book List Display
As you can see, I toed the fine line between informative Psychology books and blatant self help books, and tried to focus on the first. Even thought the two often contain similar information, the tone and approach appeals to different people at different stages in life. I think that people who are drawn in by the questions in the silhouettes – people who are looking for answers – will be happier with a tell-it-as-it-is informative book.
What are some of your favourite Psychology books?
Ontarian Librarian 
The introvert/extrovert question is one I ask everyday. Too often. 🙂 I love wondering about which one I am. But when someone tells me one way or the other, I get mad at them. hahaha. Great display!
[…] from multiple categories – aka don’t be lazy. If you’re making a display about Psychology, yes, probably most of your books are going to come from the 158 section. But a good topic-based […]