Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Pruning the overgrown cookbook collection


Alex

Recommended Posts

I have some I'd love to get rid of, but I am so damn lazy that I don't want to go the Ebay route. I'd love to donate them somewhere, but where? Does the DAV take cookbooks? Public library?

Yes to both, at least here in Florida. Also, check with your local extension office. HTH!

  • Like 1

"Commit random acts of senseless kindness"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I ended up shuffling around my collection and learning that I enjoy reading about food as much as cooking -- a large portion of my collection is intended to be reference.

I parted with baking books for the most part -- I try not to eat wheat and that limits what I'm able to bake when I have the time to bake. Knowing that helps me target which books I really want to explore more.

I have a collection I moved into the kitchen that are not-serious books, books to help me do quick vegetable dishes mostly. Books I could let go of, but in the end may be books I'd actually cook from more than reference. Those I can let go of.

And, I cheated, and moved a bunch of stuff (i.e., not books) off the shelves so I'd have more shelves!

I like to bake nice things. And then I eat them. Then I can bake some more.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm culling mine little by little and putting them on ebay. Mostly I am getting rid of books I bought in the early '90s and some holiday and regional cookbooks that are not of much interest to me.

I still have to delve into the footlockers of books that have been stored since before I moved up here in 1988.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had two Charlie Trotter books in the pile to get rid of, mostly because I've had them for ages but don't use them. I bought them when I was just becoming interested in food (I kept reading about this guy called Charlie Trotter). But since I was always more interested in baking rather than cooking, these books were things I would get to "later." I have "Gourmet Cooking for Dummies" -- yes, really -- and "Charlie Trotter Cooks at Home." They are no longer in the "culled books" pile, and the "Charlie Trotter Cooks at Home" book is getting a serious look-through.

Any books you've gotten rid of but later regretted?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Something you might consider if you have books you definitely don't want is selling them through Amazon's Marketplace. It's not difficult to set up an account, and although Amazon takes a small cut, they take care of pretty much everything. Especially if the books are old, you may be able to sell them for more than list price. Although most of the books I've sold this way have gone for $20 - $30, I got $100 for a bar book I bought for $10, and $90 for a cookie book I bought for $15. If the books are out of print and still in demand, it can be worthwhile.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Something you might consider if you have books you definitely don't want is selling them through Amazon's Marketplace. It's not difficult to set up an account, and although Amazon takes a small cut, they take care of pretty much everything. Especially if the books are old, you may be able to sell them for more than list price. Although most of the books I've sold this way have gone for $20 - $30, I got $100 for a bar book I bought for $10, and $90 for a cookie book I bought for $15. If the books are out of print and still in demand, it can be worthwhile.

I'm curious, if you don't mind telling, what were those books?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The bar book was The Bartender's Guide and the baking book was Great Cookies. The prices seem to depend largely on what's out of print or just out of stock. As I said, these two were anomalies, but it's been pretty lucrative for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmm. The books I've offered to Amazon have been worth peanuts compared to what I paid, and their "small cut" has been rather large. I wonder what I've done differently than you, JAZ?

Ah well, I console myself with the donation to the "Friends of the Library" booksale, or to friends' collections, and the knowledge that I enjoyed the books until I decided to find them another home. (But still...what did you do differently? :laugh: )

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
HosteG Forumsnsmith@egstaff.org

Follow us on social media! Facebook; instagram.com/egulletx; twitter.com/egullet

"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

Link to comment
Share on other sites

it's something I need to do in the coming weeks, I'm out of space and have books on top of books. I will move my German books to an other room and start getting rid of magazine books (cooking light etc) and other books I never use. My "admired chefs and restaurants" books will stay. I might move my specialty books out of the livingroom too, charcuterie, pickling, things like that.

I actually could get rid of Modernist Cuisine, I doubt I'll ever cook from it, but I won't. Nor the Fat Duck book, which I own twice, the first large edition and the smaller mass market one. Very doubtful I'll ever use them. But they're so pretty :-)

But my recently self imposed rule is, if there's no room, no more new books, or old books have to go. At least into a box in the garage....

"And don't forget music - music in the kitchen is an essential ingredient!"

- Thomas Keller

Diablo Kitchen, my food blog

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just tried Amazon last night and ended up aborting the mission. They want an outrageous cut and I'd rather give my books away, even the valuable ones, than give that kind of support to Amazon.

Now that I've filled up a box, it's getting much easier. I get happy when I find something else I can throw in there. I like the clarity that is coming through in what's left.

I'm keeping the box around for a while and I keep looking in there and there's nothing I want to retrieve.

I like to bake nice things. And then I eat them. Then I can bake some more.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just tried Amazon last night and ended up aborting the mission. They want an outrageous cut and I'd rather give my books away, even the valuable ones, than give that kind of support to Amazon.

That was my sense of Amazon, also, although I may revisit the issue with regard to valuable books, if I ever decide to part with them. For the books I've given away so far, I've much preferred the feeling that I've given to a useful cause, and I wasn't obliged to wait for a buyer.

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
HosteG Forumsnsmith@egstaff.org

Follow us on social media! Facebook; instagram.com/egulletx; twitter.com/egullet

"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

Since I started this thread, I had to vacate half of my space and most of my cookbooks are in storage. Interesting to see what I grabbed to keep with me. Mostly fruit and vegetable books, only three baking books including Paula Peck and Maida Heatter's chocolate book. I was sitting on the fence with a whole box of oversize baking books. They were sold. I miss them, though, I just plain liked looking at them.

I like to bake nice things. And then I eat them. Then I can bake some more.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm doing the same thing. I am no longer baking the way I did even five years ago so have been scanning (easier for me than photos) many of my baking books - especially the bread books, the pastry books and chocolate books that are large, detailed and more for the semi-pros.

It takes time to compose a successful ebay listing for some of these books so I have been spending too much time editing than is probably necessary but I like to be accurate.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...