I’ve been trying to rein in my book buying habit and making use of my library card instead. But then winter arrived with a vengeance and there were a couple of books I had to have as long as I was ordering Christmas books on Amazon. Then in her inaugural blog post Rebekah Denn offered a free cookbook to the first 5 people that forwarded their Menu for Hope donation receipt to her. And then my favorite food writer’s new book came out this week.

And now I have a whole new stack of books to read. Yay! Good thing we’re done with the house projects so that I can spend my evenings knitting and reading until we actually have to move. Here’s what’s on my bedside table…

The Essential Baker
This is the book that I won from Rebekah Denn. It just arrived today and I can’t wait to dig into it. It was on several of the top 2007 cookbooks lists that came out this fall. And the more I read about it, the more intrigued I was and the more I wanted my own copy. And now thanks to Rebekah, all 645 pages of it are mine. I’ll let you know what I think once I get a chance to cook out of it.

Super Natural Cooking
I love Heidi’s blog and often find myself referring it to it for cooking things I’m not familiar with or for new ways to make old favorites. When the cookbook started getting such rave reviews and showed up on so many best of lists, I decided that everyone couldn’t be wrong. After all, I already know I like her style. So I bought copies for both my mom and myself. I can’t wait to try my first recipe.

In Defense of Food
I just had to have it and I’ve been carrying my copy around in my bag for two days now trying to find time to dive in. So far I’ve only gotten as far as the first page with that now famous line “Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly plants”. I fully expect to love this book even if I’m not sure that I’ll agree with everything in it. I like Mr. Pollan as much for his willingness to take a stand as anything else. Well, and because he says what I think much better than I ever can.

Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades
It seems that it’s time to finally learn to keep a garden. I’ve tried a few times in the past and always managed to kill everything but the tomatoes and herbs. This year, no matter where we’re living, I’m resolving to plant a vegetable garden and keep it alive. To that end Steve Solomon’s book, now on its 6th edition, is supposed to be one of the best manuals for organic gardening in the Puget Sound region. Hopefully it will be enough to increase my success rate from pathetic to respectable…

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