Popular cookbooks on "Library Thing"

I am a member of a site called Library Thing. It is, at heart, an online site that allows people to catalog their libraries. I discovered it in an article in the Sunday NYT many months ago. Like any good site, though, it offers a plethora of book and cataloguing related stuff. There are over 326,000 people from all over the world who have catalogued their libraries so far. And, just like at LTHForum, the people you can meet are fascinating, as are their libraries and interests.

One option available to you when you enter your books is to tag them. I was curious this morning to see what kind of cookbook collections others had and so did a search using the tag "cookbook." I found the results fascinating and thought others might as well.

First, only about 4,500 people have used the tag. (In other words, it's conceivable that others have cookbooks but don't use this particular tag. Helpfully, the site lists other common, related tags, such as baking, desserts, diet, food and drink, nutrition, vegetables, and so on.) Of them, the largest single cookbook collection belongs to a woman having 1,469 books with that tag. (I'm had what I thought was a large number, 119, but now realize is a paltry figure!) In addition to listing members with the largest number of books using a particular tag, you can find the list of books most frequently tagged as a cookbook. I think the list is fascinating:

Joy of cooking by Irma S. Rombauer (761)
Better homes and gardens new cook book by Better Homes and Gardens (398)
Betty Crocker's cookbook by Betty Crocker (215)
How to cook everything : simple recipes for great food by Mark Bittman (204)
The Moosewood cookbook by Mollie Katzen (174)
The enchanted broccoli forest : and other timeless delicacie… by Mollie Katzen (160)
Moosewood Restaurant cooks at home : fast and easy recipes by Moosewood Collective (143)
The new basics cookbook by Julee Rosso (141)
The Silver Palate cookbook by Julee Rosso (130)
Vegetarian cooking for everyone by Deborah Madison (137)
Fix-it and forget-it cookbook: feasting with your slow cook… by Dawn J Ranck (113)
The Fannie Farmer cookbook by Marion Cunningham (111)
New York times cook book by Craig Claiborne (104)
Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant by Moosewood Collective (110)
Moosewood Restaurant low-fat favorites : flavorful recipes f… by Moosewood Collective (108)
The new Moosewood cookbook by Mollie Katzen (95)
The vegetarian epicure by Anna Thomas (90)
I'm just here for the food : food + heat = cooking by Alton Brown (121)
Mastering the art of French cooking by Simone Beck (90)
Cooky book by Betty Crocker (76)
Rachael Ray : 30-minute meals 2 by Rachael Ray (80)

No observations on the list yet (though if you're interested, I'd encourage you to visit the site; the complete list is even more fascinating; click on "see more" at the bottom of the list). As one might be tempted to say: food for thought!

That's a bit of an unusual list. Half the selections make sense (Joy of Cooking, Silver Palate, Craig Claiborne, etc) although its kind of a greatest hits list from the 70s and 80s. Plus Rachel Ray and Alton Brown. Then there is just about every Moosewood cookbook in print. Where did that come from? And three more vegetarian cookbooks. Personally, I'm in the 100 cookbook collection range, and the only thing on that list that I have referenced with any consistency is the Deborah Madison cookbook. Not sure how useful that is, but it does seem to have a curious slant.

GypsyBoy,

I know this may be elementary questions if I read the website more deeply, but I hope you could provide a thumbnail sketch. If you catalog cookbooks on this website, then what is the benefit to the user? Does it help one organize them at home via the Dewey Decimal system. Do people do book exchanges?

As for Joy of Cooking, I have several copies in the heir and a spare mode. I know there are some people who collect every edition, because there are variances. I mostly keep them because I do bust a copy every few years. It is the only cookbook that lives in my kitchen, which explains why they don't live too long.

Regards,

Cathy2,
I suspect that people catalog their books for almost as many reasons as there are people. I, personally, find it helpful to know what I've got at a glance so I don't end up buying duplicates--which, sadly, has happened far too often. That said, I suppose some people do it simply to have a convenient listing of what they own, some for insurance purposes, some as a way of sharing an interest in reading and finding others who share (or, conversely, have completely different) interests.

Personally, I've met a variety of very interesting people through the site based on common interests in subjects and/or authors. There are substantial numbers of readers from outside the US, which is something that makes it even more attractive to me, though there are plenty of fascinating folks right around the corner.

There are exchanges and a whole slew of other things available through the site, including literally hundreds of groups based on shared interests in just about any topic you can imagine. It's a very user-involved site. If you have any interest in the idea, I'd encourage you to investigate the site a bit. And, of course, I'm happy to answer any questions that I can.

Hope that helps!

Cathy2 wrote:what is the benefit to the user?

'bout the same as a catalog of menus

I say that while openly admitting that I was compelled to catalog my books after I encountered Library Thing. For me, it was partially professional interest, as I think it's "well built" and I'm interested in cataloging and library kinds of things.

LibraryThing is a little less "feature oriented" than some of the other "social book services" but I'm not really looking for features; my own compulsions are enough!