Book Riot and the EveryLibrary Institute have spent this fall developing and deploying a series of research surveys related to parental perceptions of libraries. The results for the first two surveys — what parents think of public libraries and what parents think of librarians — are available, and the third survey — covering parental perceptions of school libraries — will be published soon. Each survey stands on its own and offers a cross-section of data worth considering in light of the ongoing assaults on public institutions like libraries and schools.

Some even more interesting insights emerge when similar questions appear across surveys. In different contexts and with different participants, are there trends or discrepancies?

A couple of weeks ago, I looked at parental trust in public libraries. This week, let’s look at what parents had to say about what age they feel is when their children are able to select their own materials at the library. Keep in mind that most books banned are written, published, and shelved for young adults aged 13-18, as well as middle grade and children’s books, including picture books. In other words, books being banned are primarily those developed with young readers in mind.

In the survey of parental perceptions of library workers, responses suggested that the majority of parents are comfortable with their children selecting their own materials in elementary school, followed by middle school, then high school. A small number are comfortable with children selecting their own material before kindergarten, while a minuscule number are never comfortable with their children selecting their own materials.

These numbers make a lot of sense when taken in context with another set of survey questions from this same survey. Parents overwhelmingly trust their children to select appropriate material, and part of it is because of their overwhelming trust in library workers to have materials on shelves that are age and developmentally-appropriate.

When life gets tough, readers read romance. As the most popular fiction genre, romance thrives during hard times. During the 2008 recession, the romance market generated $1.4 billion in sales. The promise of a happily ever after at the end of a romance novel is what continues to make romance the top-selling genre. It’s pure escapist fantasy.  From contemporary romance to paranormal romance to the evergreen historical romance, romance truly has something for everyone. What makes a romance popular besides the love story and the writing? According to this list, it’s family sagas, controversy, and time travel.

Before we get to the list, I want to point out that this list is overwhelmingly white and heterosexual. Happily, in 2023, diverse romance is faring better than in the past. I’ve included a few romances by authors of color and queer romances that haven’t quite made bestselling romances of all time quantifier but still deserve recognition as a best seller. What’s popular today might be the beloved classic romances of tomorrow.

The numbers presented below are estimations based on cumulative sales and ratings.  These books are listed in no particular order, but just know they’ve all sold a lot of copies. Now, let’s dive in!

Totally Killer (Prime Video) is a fun horror film that pokes fun at the ’80s while equally hitting ’80s nostalgia and delivering on tropes like slasher films, Final Girl, fictional true crime podcasts, fictional serial killers, time travel, whodunnit murder mysteries, and friends or frenemies.

Decades ago, while in high school, Pam’s three best friends were murdered by a killer eventually dubbed the Sweet 16 Killer. Now it seems that the killer is back on Halloween for Pam. Her teenage daughter, Jamie, teams up with her best friend Lauren to time machine back to the ’80s to stop the original killings and thus the future one. Jamie, a modern teen, quickly finds out that in the ’80s, there were many more slack rules allowing you to pretend you are a transfer student, and that would be enough to infiltrate a school. But it won’t be easy to convince her teen mom and her friends that they’re in danger as she tries to uncover who the knife-wielding killer is. And, more importantly, how does she get back out of the ’80s?!

The humor is great, especially from Jamie, who is constantly shocked by the difference in decades — including the quality of weed. Like in the film Scream, you’re playing along to find out who the masked killer is, while also screaming, “look behind you” and “get out of there” because they’re about to die. With that in mind, I thought I’d round up books that hit on different fun elements and tropes from Totally Killer, from humor in the ’80s to a slasher film in a book!