Purchasing Cookbooks

Hi,

I started to reply to Moosewood thread and realized I was really on a different mind track:

I have three criteria for buying cookbooks: 1) If it is signed, then I buy during Author visits; 2) I get it from the library. If it is good enough, that I keep taking it out, then I buy it eventually. I am in the fortunate position Highland Park Public Library is very close to my house and has a very strong cookbook collection. 3) Whenever I can, I buy used and often I don't care if it is on my wishlist, if I can buy it cheap.

There are a few books, which I lost or lent out and never found their way home. Those books were on my active hunt list for quite a while. Eventually, I went over to e-Bay where after less than a month, I had my books back.

One night on CH, I observed a thread between Foodfirst and the guy with 3 initials where they were commenting on the Oxford Compendium for Food. I checked Amazon where I found it at a steep $115, I patiently waited on e-Bay for a good deal and got the same for $15 + transportation.

No cookbook has been so seductive that I had to buy it the moment it came out. I'm confident I can always find it later.

Hi Cathy2,

In case you don't know of it, there is a great resource to buy cookbooks;

Jessica's Biscuit, more commonly known as ECookbooks (ecookbooks.com). They always have the best prices around and a huge selection (including older cookbooks). I've bought all my cookbooks there for a long time (and I love my cookbooks.......).

One of the unfortunate side effects of my wife's business is poor impulse control: Owning a (children's) bookstore means that I can get any book at wholesale for myself from our distributor. Generally, that's cheaper than anything that's not clearance or remaindered. See it, want it, have it (a day or two later). We just got the King Arthur Flour Baking book (Beard Award Winner this year).

On the other hand, Borders bin full of books at their entrance is often chock full of cookbooks. Usually they're pretty crappy (I still haven't found a thai cookbook with the dishes I like to eat: nuea nam thok is not the same as laab, nobody has a paad si ew recipe).

Half.com is a good source, but they're going away in October (it was July, but ebay gave vendors a reprieve for back-to-school). I've gotten a couple books this way (a middle-eastern cookbook and Bourdain's "A Cook's Tour" -- great read)

Printers Row book fair usually results in a nice used cookbook or two. Didn't this year, but that's unusual.

Some of my best finds, though, have been freebies from the annual BookExpo America convention for booksellers. This years nice find was "A Season in Morocco" which is really more travelog than cookbook (half the recipes are basically cook vegetable, add paprika and cumin), but is lavishly illustrated, and there's a few there to try. I also ended up with a pretty good BBQ/grilling book that may make me finally buy that smoke box for my gas grill (is that one heresy or two?).

There are literally tens of thousands of used book dealers out there, and they're easy to reach.

Most list books on specialized websites such as ABE (I think ABE stands for Antiquarian Book Exchange) http://www.abebooks.com which is the biggest such site. Another good site is Powell's [url]ww.powells.com[/url] which is a huge used book store in Portland, Oregon.

You can reach even more booksellers by going to megasites which search ABE and many other book sites. These are http://www.addall.com and http://www.bookfinder.com

Each has it's pros and cons. Try both to decide which you prefer.

By the way, when you look for used books on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other similar sites, the books are not owned by the site. They are owned by small private dealers who are just listing them there. Websites such as ABE and the megasites below allow you to go direct to the seller.

I use the megasites when buying books for personal use (I've been in the book business for 28 years). It's worked well for me. There have been a few minor disappointments, but I've not been burned.

After finding some books that meet my price/condition criteria I look within that group for booksellers who list their phone number. Then I call to place an order. That way I know the book really is in stock (website listings can get out-of-date).

I start by asking a minor question about the book. In less than 30 seconds I have a pretty good idea of what the person at the other end is like. If I'm uncomfortable, it's easy to back out.

This reduces the risk of internet auctions where you're not always sure of what you're getting or who you're dealing with. Also, it cuts out time wasted bidding at auctions and not getting what you want.

Re internet auctions: 99% of the people are honest, but sadly a lot of them don't know much about the goods they're selling, and have difficulty accurately describing condition, edition, etc. A fast conversation is more efficient and more effective than a barrage of emails going back and forth.

JoelF wrote:I still haven't found a thai cookbook with the dishes I like to eat: nuea nam thok is not the same as laab, nobody has a paad si ew recipe

I have a little, crappy looking, but truly awesome, Thai cookbook that I received from the legendary David Spriggs http://www.newbookscheap.com. It is Quick and Easy Thai Cuisine Lemon Grass Cookbook published in Japan by JOIE, ISBN 4-88996-094-5, list $11.95.

It has pad sei ew as well a few dozen other gems. I haven't found a clunker in it yet.

Bon Appetit has a slide show of the The Best Cookbook Stores Around the World.