You can’t judge a book by its cover.

At least, most people agree you shouldn’t because appearances can be deceiving. The statement is actually an oblique reference to judging a person’s value based on their appearance. Many of us may not consider the impact we make with our choices of apparel and grooming, but our appearance is speaking whether we consider it or not.

Good book marketers carefully consider the impression a book’s cover will make so it will sell as well as possible. People specialize in designing cover art and others choose what they hope will be the most engaging title.

Book titles frequently experience fads like other facets of our lifestyles. There was a time when the word “modern” occurred frequently in titles. Nothing could date information more clearly now, not even “groovy.”

A surprising series that has become wildly popular is the “Dummies” set. You can find almost any topic from using a computer to investing, playing the piano, cooking and exploring the national parks. People who face doing their income taxes for the first time are not insulted by the title but seem to identify it as being especially intended for them. They don’t consider themselves stupid but uninformed about the subject. A related series is the “Complete idiot's guide” which addresses alternative medicine, choosing baby names, needlecraft, being a successful entrepreneur and most other topics you could name.

Book titles formerly used “easy, beginner’s, basic” to indicate an introduction to a topic like “Easy Piano Classics,” selected and edited by Ronald Herder, and “Easy Adult Piano Beginner’s Course” published by Hal Leonard.

Legal advice books intended for the general public also follow the calming everything-you-need-to-know prescription and are provided by Thomson/West’s “In a Nutshell” series with book titles like “Family Law” by Harry Krause and David Meyer while Nolo publishes “jargon-free information, step-by-step instructions and easy-to-use forms” with its law series including “Nolo’s Simple Will Book.”

Math instruction series have titles that may be intended to allay the fears of the instructee like Schaum’s outline set including “Elementary Algebra” by Barnett Rich and Philip Schmidt, Learning Express’s “Algebra Success In 20 Minutes a Day,” Barron’s “Forgotten Calculus” (just polishing up the information you already know) by Barbara Lee Bleau, Bob Miller’s “Geometry For the Clueless,” and the “Teach Yourself” series including “Trigonometry” by P. Abbott. But “Trigonometry DeMYSTiFieD” by Stan Gibilisco, “Statistics without Tears” by Derek Rowntree and “Statistics For the Utterly Confused” by Lloyd Jaisingh may cause the student to wonder if mystification, tears and confusion are the norm when dealing with these subjects.

If you need information Muskogee Public Library staff stands ready to help you find it. Judge the cover and title or flip through the table of contents and index and maybe even read a few paragraphs to decide for yourself which book will best meet your needs.