As you all know I love cookbooks. And you all also know that I have too many – neither my wallet nor my shelves can handle my just willy-nilly buying of any and all cookbook that look interesting. But a quick perusal doesn’t cut the mustard either – you need to go though a cookbook thoroughly to know if it earns the right to displace another cookbook on my shelves.
The way I deal with this is to check out prospective cookbooks from the library. Then I can leisurely go through them, look at the recipes, ingredients, level of difficulty, etc. If a lot of recipes look interesting and I can envision cooking from the book, then I have to decide if it’s enough to replace an existing cookbook on my shelves. If there are only a couple of recipes, I copy them and add them to my big binder.
When I was in Tucson, we visited a few places that had cookbooks on display. One was an amazing cooking shop in the arts colony of Tubac. We spent quite a bit of time there as Susan was texting photos of various tea towels to a friend who was in the market. This shop had A LOT of tea towels; it would have been very easy to over-indulge. Wandering through a cooking shop is not a punishment for me and I came across a handful of cookbooks that looked interesting. I took photos and then when I got home I requested them from the library. Three are in transit, so hopefully in the next few days I can relax with some hot tea or cocoa and go through them to my hearts’ content.
How do you decide which books to buy and which to not buy (or borrow)?
Trail Baboon 
Most often the question is whether to buy the books new or to look for an inexpensive second-hand copy. Frequently the books I want aren’t available through the library or there is only one copy and it’s in the reference books downtown and can’t be checked out.
If it’s something popular, there’s usually a long waiting list relative to the number of copies in circulation.
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I used to work across the street from one of the “Half-Price Books” store in St. Paul. I really miss the convenience and thriftiness of that.
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I discovered working in the bookstore that having a discount was quite problematic because it kept me buying ….
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Indeed. I worked in libraries twice, and the temptation of books which I could order at a discount, was immense.
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Rise and Shine, Baboons,
These decisions have become much easier with the development of “Libby” the library app that allows e-versions of both audio and physical books. For the past year I have been a heavy user of that. Often I just browse what I have found, then make a decision about reading on, returning the book, getting the physical, paper book, or in a few cases, buying it. Buying a book these days is a real commitment for me. Usually a purchased book is about an art or color technique that I use with polymer clay.
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My book purchases are most often prompted by mentions on the Archdruid’s blogs, or finding the title in the bibliography of another book. I *almost* bought a copy of Burkett’s “Greek Religion” at HPB recently because it’s constantly cited, but it was $25 so I couldn’t afford it that day; it was gone the next time I visited. Other times I’m either researching a topic (the rosary and the cult of Mary, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn) or have reason to believe I will be studying it in the future (the Norse Runes, geomancy).
Rarely do I buy a book new–HPB and Abebooks are two of my best friends, and there’s a lot of great deals to be found on Ebay as well (though not in Esperanto literature; everyone on Ebay imagines the books to be immensely rare, when they’re nearly always available in the international org’s bookstore for a quarter the price. Does no one do even basic research before pricing??). I rather enjoy the ragtag look of my bookshelves–I like to think they say “eccentric autodidact” rather than “impoverished hoarder”, but whatever. Who wants a home library where every book looks like it was delivered straight from the printer wrapped in plastic, and has never been touched, much less read and reread?
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That said, I avoid used books with underlining and, even worse, highlighting. They often interfere with the text, and even when they don’t, I want to think my own thoughts about what I’m reading, not be punched in the face by some undergrad’s idea of what’s important. I’m less fussy about margin notes, but then, they’re easier to ignore than long stripes of bright blue or fluorescent yellow.
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I agree about underlining in books. For me it defiles the book and I can’t unsee it. Purveyors of used books online are often ambiguous about the presence or absence of underlining.
For searching used books online, I use AddAll, a site that aggregates the various used book outlets, including ABE, to give me the largest range possible.
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I agree that writing, and highlighting and books is a heinous crime. Even if the books are yours, I still think it’s a heinous crime.
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I also avoid those books. I don’t see underlining or highlighting as a defacement, but I do think once you do that, the book is yours forever. My uncle is a great notator in his books. It is fun to read his thoughts. The books remain his own, though.
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I have a set of volumes of George Bernard Shaw’s plays that once belonged to the author Brenda Ueland. They are full of marginal notations but not underlining. I agree, in this case it is interesting to read her thoughts.
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BTW, does everyone here know about Bookshop.org? It’s an alternative to Amazon, which supports independent bookstores. When I order new, I try to do it from Bookshop.
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I did not, but I will be sure to use it now that I know. Thanks CG.
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Better World Books is another possibility – they list both new and used.
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Thanks for that mention, Crow Girl! I’ve been linking my readers to it through my website and should try to promote it more. The only problem is, not every bookstore is enrolled in the program. But the ones that are enrolled certainly deserve our support.
Chris
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I am more frequently doing as VS does, see if i can first get it from the library. There is occasionally a “must buy” book, will back later and continue…
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Barnes and Nobel reduced price racks.
It’s a short walk to the public library, so selections from the “What’s New” section is convenient.
Just finished The Pope (Pius XII) At War by David Kertzer and Chuck Berry by RJ Smith. Monsoon-like rain here in Ohio. Looks like a library visit will have to wait until tomorrow.
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I’ve been trying to downsize everything, so no new books recently. I depend heavily on the library. I use Libby too. I haven’t bought a brand new cookbook in decades. If I want one, I do much the same as VS and check it out first, then I’ll look for it in used book stores. My favorite used book store is Chaquamegon Books in Washburn, WI. chaquamegonbook dot org.
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Washburn is kind of a long drive, even for books. Have you been to Chester Creek Books in Duluth?
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Sherrilee, did you see my email to you?
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Yes and I’ve now sent TWO replies but Hotmail seems to hate me MORE today than usual. I’m home the rest of the day day and the evening…. bring it by!
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Returning to the original subject of the posting, cookbooks, prompts me to comment that cookbooks are exceptional in that the market never seems to be saturated, yet recipes individually can’t be copyright protected. They just keep circulating.
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Ok, we are now in a winter weather advisory, with 5-10 inches of snow by Monday. Grandson is probably staying g with us until next Friday. We will go to the Public Library to stock up on children’s DVD’S. We have about 100 children’s books at home, but will get more science-type ones at the library, as grandson loves books about animals and natural history.
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He is a pretty independent little guy if he is able to be away from Mom and Dad this long.
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He says he is having the best time ever, and hasn’t asked once for his parents.
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He has become accustomed to Häagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream, and will expect it when he returns home.
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I’ve become accustomed to Aldi’s Thank You Cherry Much ice cream. I’ve come to expect it and I am extremely disappointed in myself when there is none to be found in the freezer.
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just give him an ipad and show him youtube
he’ll find lots of interest
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I’m a frequent borrower fron Little Free Libraries. I can skim the book and decide if I really want to dedicate myself to reading the entire book, or if it would be better to have a dalliance and return it to its LFL home.
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Statele.teuteuf.fr
Minnesota
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Huh?
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wessew is starting to rival tim in mystery reponses.
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Mr Frugal says: Library first, ebooks second, purchase (at a local bookstore if possible) next. As an author, I buy more books that I otherwise did before my author days (thankfully they can be deducted as a business expense) but I mostly buy first novels of MN authors or authors I’ve met (and liked) in my author journey.
Finally got around to reading David Housewright’s first McKenzie novel and it’s first-rate. “A Hard Ticket Home.” Compelling MC and a good mystery/detective story set in the Twin Cities.
Chris in Owatonna
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