Saturday, October 02, 2010

I want to be a good person. But.

I wish I had not discovered this fascinating and eclectic list of cookbook recommendations because I want them all and they are all extremely expensive.

Or are they? They're all extremely expensive if you buy them by clicking on the link, which takes you to Omnivore Books, a wonderful and much-loved independent cookbook store in San Francisco with a discerning owner who really knows her wares. Omnivore hosts great author events, like the forthcoming visit from the authors of Baked, which is one of Isabel's favorite cookbooks. I want to support Omnivore!

But I checked and of course you can get the titles for a fraction of the price on amazon, saving $10 or $20 per book. That's real money and it's real money you could spend supporting local organic dairies or buying magazine subscriptions for the public school library or donating to a worthy cause. If you're incredibly selfish, I suppose you could keep the money you save. But who would ever do that.

I'm not buying any of these books today or tomorrow or the next day, but I will say that it's much easier to support local bookstores when you're actually in the shop. I would find it impossible very hard to pay such a premium for books online.

Thoughts?

4 comments:

  1. When possible, I like to borrow from the library to see if I want to buy it for the permanent collection. That's how I got Baked (which I got from B & N or Amazon).

    I'm waiting now on Good to the Grain and Cakewalk, based on your recs!

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  2. Agree with you concerning books, especially if we are talking about expensive ones (for some reason I do not care for full page photographs). I get all cookbooks from ecookbooks.com; great selection, prices and service.
    Slater's Tender is worth every penny of its full price though, but you can always get it cheaper.

    Oz

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  3. library then buy typically if I think I would use alot...or look in Borders then buy on Amazon.

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  4. I use abebooks when I buy cookbooks, which I do far too frequently! Well, far too frequently considering my already over-stuffed cookbook bookcase.

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