POLL: Where do you get your cookbooks?

[Sara Emily]

From reading multitudes of your posts under different topic headings, I perceive that most of you are major cookbook afficianatos, as am I. I am not a COLLECTOR of statuettes, plates, or anything else I can think of....EXCEPT exercise videos and special cookbooks. I have enough books to keep a number of small restaurants in business, even if they tried brand new recipes every day!

Which brings me to the question - Must you PREVIEW your cookbook in person before purchasing it? Do you mail order them based on a review or recommendation? Do you keep up with your library's cookbook section?

Edward R. Hamilton's Booksellers (I'll supply the address if desired) is a GREAT resource for those on a budget. They have a great mix of downhome and more upscale cookbooks, including a good number that specialize in lower fat recipes. New ones are added all the time, and the BEST part is that no matter how many books (of ALL sorts!) you order from them at a time, the S&H charge is only $3.00!! (UNBELIEVABLE!) http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

A company called Jessica's Biscuit has the latest and best in cookbooks, often at nice sale prices, and many cuisines and award winning books are available through them.

I must confess that I DO check our local library FIRST, and if I find what I'm interested in, usually test a few recipes before deciding that I simply MUST have my own copy! So, I wind up mail ordering most of mine for the BEST prices ...... so that I can afford to buy 10 more!! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

I once went to a restaurant that had an entire wall done with bookshelves, displaying the owners very diverse collection of cookbooks. I coveted them even more than her good food! I thought that was a great idea.

[Chefmom]

Oh my, I get them anywhere I can! I have found some interesting, out of prints etc on ebay for very little money.

I also always like to browse amazon.com to read about what people say about cookbooks, etc. I like jessicas biscuit too. There are some books there that I have never seen anywhere else.

I have a "Good Cook" cookbook membership and I usually pick up ones when they have specials and sales. I do like to save on cookbooks! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

I also found a link (here I think) for www.bookcloseouts.com (http://www.bookcloseouts.com) and I ended up buying quite a few cookbooks there. All of them were new ones that I was interested in, yet they were insanely low prices! I didn't complain and the books are in great condition.

I usually buy books based on the author or the recipe collection. Most of my favorites have chatty authors who like to put their personal stories with the recipes. I like that more than a big fat book of nothing but text and recipes.

I do like to hear from others what they think, so I do read on amazon.com etc, but that isn't my only way I choose them. I also do like to see the book in person if I can, especially an expensive one, before I invest in it. But I have also been pleased with "spur of the moment" purchases as well. Hey I'm easy! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

I do have only preference, I like hard back more than soft back. I just think that they last longer than softback. And I can't stand when they condense a huge cookbook into a wee little paperback novel thing. THAT bugs me, you can barely read the recipes without breaking the binding. I like them large (oversized) and hardback, photos of the finished recipes are nice, but I much prefer to hear what the author says about their recipes, I'm much more likely to try them with a story.

It's funny because I usually pass on a story with my recipes, just a "quirk" I guess! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

Tami

[pinquepenguin]

You should try www.half.com (http://www.half.com) I have been checking out cookbooks there and you can find a lot of old ones at great prices. One of the best places to pick up really old cookbooks like early 1900's is Goodwill stores and junk stores. I have several really old ones that we have found there.
I pick up a lot of discontinued books at Walden's Book store in the clearance section for around $2-3 dollars.

[neenbeez]

My darling husband buys me a cookbook for Xmas every year--and I can always tell what he's craving--one year Pasta, one year BBQ, one year Louisiana cooking. One year I requested the new Joy of Cooking and he got it.

This is very interesting for a skinny man who claims he has no interest in food--I think it's his quiet way of making sure he's always well fed!

[Wendy w]

I have gotten my many, many, oh way too many cookbooks from many sources. Costco, Friends of the Library stores, TJ Maxx, used book stores, swapmeets, Crown Books,(most of them in my area are closing due to lots of competition) and as gifts.

I just got the CL 5 Star from Half.com the other day for $15.00 and am pleased with the condition. I have 2 other books on order and am waiting on them.

I usually like to look through a book before I decide to buy but have often bought a book by reputation-like the CA Pizza Kitchen side dish book. I love their food so I know that the book won't be bad either.

Sara Emily, I have seen Jessica's Biscuit as a seller on half.com and used to go to the library frequently on my lunch hour when I worked near one, now it is too far to go very often. Thank you all for the other sources so that I may maintain my "addiction". http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

[Ohioan]

I get most of my cookbooks from www.books-for-cooks.com (http://www.books-for-cooks.com) . Not only do they give good discounts (about the same as or better than Jessica's Biscuit and Barnes & Noble online), but they give free shipping on orders over $40. They also take very good care of steady customers! (Guess whom I'm referring to here?) http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

I do like to look at a cookbook before I buy it, so sometimes I'll check out a new one at the library first, or even (blush blush) leaf through it at a local bookstore. Then I mosey on over to Books for Cooks and buy it there. Sometimes, though, the online description of the book gives me such an Urge To Buy that I can't wait to get to the library -- or, conversely, the description lets me know that This Is Not The Food I Like, so I don't bother.

Cheers,
Phoebe

[emilycat]

Considering that I don't have a great deal of money to spend on cookbooks, you'd think that I would have a more efficient way of collecting them. But no, I choose to browse the full-price selection at Barnes and Noble.

Yes, I must, must, must tangibly peruse a cookbook before buying it -- it must call out to me, shouting, "Emily, buy me, buy me!" and be aesthetically pleasing to read and look at. Not only must the ingredients and cooking methods look scrumptious, they must also be presented in an alluring fashion. (Not asking much, am I? ) But I feel as though if a cookbook writer has enough pride in her dishes, she'll want to present them in the utmost form.
And really, why would anyone want to read a book that has no pictures in it? http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

Besides, an outing of cookbook shopping just isn't the same online. I'd rather spend a couple of hours with my back stooped and my head cocked at 45 degrees reading the spines http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

Emily

[SueK]

Phoebe-I do the same thing you do--check out books "in person" and then buy them on-line! I have bought books from Amazon, plus my book club, half.com, etc. A lot of the ones I've bought over the past year have been from recommendations on this board, so thanks!

My husband doesn't understand how I can sit and read a cookbook just like a regular fiction book. I could sit for hours just reading recipes!

[Leslie w]

Since I'm a traveler I like to buy my cookbooks from the places I visit. Quite often I will find a cookbook from a restaurant that I've been to, or I'll pick up a cookbook that was published by the local women's league featuring family recipes. I'm also a lover of historical cooking and love to read books published by cooking schools, my latest I found at an antique show - The Boston School of Cooking Cookbook, it was published in 1899 and has a lot of neat advertisments in it.

[CeeCee]

I buy cookbooks everywhere and usually buy one when we travel to a new location - some are Jr. League. Some are from Amazon, many are from "Sam's Club" where the supply changes frequently - they have had So. Living and Cooking Light, as well as Weight Watchers in the past. Some I read about in book reviews then try to find them. It is nice to know others covet cookbooks too. In the new home we're planning, I must have a huge bookshelf in the kitchen for my cookbooks as I really don't have anyplace for them now.

[Gina O]

I guess I buy cookbooks pretty much where ever I find them! For bargins, I really like SAM'S Club. I also get The Good Cook, and order from there once in a while.

I travel a great deal, and make a point to get one when I visit a new place. And, like others, read each one cover to cover. Gina

[Sara Emily]

Boy, AM I GLAD I asked this question!!! Y'all have given me some GREAT online sources that I would not otherwise be aware of. (I'm not much of an Internet surfer! I just sort of go to favorite sites and then get off!)

I, too, have belonged to The Good Cook for awhile, but my enthusiasm for them has waned considerably over the years. Their prices are not always so terrific once the S&H is added on AND I have found that on the orders I HAVE placed, they often make MAJOR financial charging mistakes, always in their favor. Then, I have to phone and phone, wait for the ever busy attendant (even though I am considered a "preferred" customer), and spend a long time explaining and getting everything corrected. They always do correct it, but I've lost a valuable chunk of my day in the process. The last time this happened to me was a couple of weeks ago. They sent the bill with shipment, and I sent an AMENDED bill back with payment. It's too much like work!!!
It's sometimes almost as much fun to sit and READ a cookbook, drooling over the recipes and pictures, as it is to actually cook the recipes! Non-foodies just cannot understand that! And...I have a passion to eat and to prepare something DIFFERENT all the time. The inspiration provided is great.

[Vanessa]

I get many books as gifts then I buy others at Borders because I like to look at a book then buy it. I have also ordered at www.bn.com (http://www.bn.com)
and when I travel I usually get a cookbook from the place I am visiting (Napa, Williamsburg etc). My DH laughs because I enjoy looking at books, specially cookbooks.
I have also found some great books on sale at Waldenbooks and other bookstores.For Xmas I got 3 new cookbooks which I hope to read soon.

[BosunsWife]

I buy my cookbooks everywhere. We have lived and visited a lot of different places and I have a cookbook from everyplace we've been. When we finally stop moving around I'll have a very nice memory collection just with my cookbooks.

DH even bought me my own oak bookshelf to put all my cookbooks in. He said they were crowding out all of our other books.

I read my cookbooks simply for enjoyment too. My latest library checkout is the Cookies book by Nick Malgieri (sp). I think it may be a purchase soon.

[MrsReber]

Neenbeez- my husband buys me cookbooks, too! He bought me a couple of really great ones. One is a tiny book that just has apple dessert recipes in it, one has over 1000 recipes in it. He bought me a canning book for Christmas last year which has some interesting recipes. Most of my other books were gifts, too. I can only think of three or four that I bought myself- one is a potato cookbook that I bought on the Blue Ridge Parkway, then I bought CL Complete just a couple of months ago, and I have an Italian cookbook that I bought myself. I like the spiral bound cookbooks the best. I have a really great cookbook that a former co-worker bought for me in Atlanta. It has a bunch of good southern recipes. I have to lighten them, but they're good!

[Jewel]

I have purchased all of my CL cookbooks from Oxmoor House (grrrrrr...) but no more, now that I know I can get them other places! Just picked up CL's Light & Easy at Half.com for $10, but haven't received it yet.

I buy at Thrift Stores, Ebay, and sometimes Amazon. I have been burned a few times buying books online that someone else has recommended, without actually seeing it first. I have three brand new books here that Amazon 'critics' simply raved about that I can't find even one recipe in that turns me on! So, I'm turning to Ebay to sell those, and I'm making a promise that unless it's a CL book, I'm looking before I'm buying as much as possible!

I used to think good cooks didn't need cookbooks, but then I woke up and realized that ideas have to come from somewhere! I have too many right now, and no place to store them! But, that doesn't mean I'm done shopping for them... http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif