Was it a vision or just a sight?

Linda Sappenfield — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 16:29:00 GMT

Uh-oh. That was unquestionably a frown (which Customer Service 101 assures us is a Bad Thing) clouding the nice library patron's countenance. She even shook her head in disapproval at something I'd just shown her.

And our interchange had been going so well. I'd shared lots of information about Overdrive eBooks, noting that, while some major publishers decline to make their eBooks available for library circulation, we still add new digital titles every month and offer a great variety for free checkout.

Probably should have stopped there, but instead I lovingly tapped my finger atop two printed advance reading copies I'd just been handed. These were intended as stellar examples of new and forthcoming choices: Karen Engelmann's The Stockholm Octavo and Ariel S. Winter's The Twenty-Year Death.

At that point, the customer and I beheld two quite different things.

I glimpsed two intriguing novels I'd intended to snap up at BEA, had I been in the right place at the right time. Both authors had spoken passionately about their stories at Library Journal's debut author panel. Engelmann's historical piece, set in 18^th-century Stockholm and incorporating a sort of mystical card game, lines up perfectly with my preferred tastes.

Winter's crime novel (three crime novels in one, actually) exhibits classic hard-boiled cover art, auguring that it's not what I usually go for--and yet I have been itching to read it ever since Winter chatted it up and sold me and a not inconsiderable number of other librarians on it.

These two ideal selections for Readers Extravaganza weren't going to get read before August 16 if I didn't have copies. I asked co-worker and Acquisitions magician Barbara if she could request pre-publication copies through our library vendor, acknowledging the mission to be a long shot. But Barbara and our rep came through. I'd just delightedly taken possession when this whole conversation started.

My vision of the two paperback represented wishes granted. The alert customer, on the other hand, beheld two flimsy volumes with paper quality one or two notches above newsprint.

I cherish the not-ready-for-primetime look and feel of ARCs as evidence that these are not intended for the masses. But these two items weren't merely unpolished; the corners were just slightly dog-eared and the books appeared, as the patron observed, potentially "used". Perhaps my treasures had endured a problematic transit; maybe I'm not their first reader. None of that matters; I am thrilled with them.

If you come to Readers Extravaganza, I'll at least be able to tell you if these two first novels lived up to my considerable expectations. Who knows--perhaps you can borrow one of these copies that will appear even less pristine at that point, but all the lovelier for having granted access and enjoyment.

Food for thought

Linda Sappenfield — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 23:40:00 GMT

We 21st-century Americans celebrate our capacity for assimilating new ideas and techniques. We upgrade phones at the drop of a hat, endlessly tweak our Facebook pages, and investigate any number of eco-friendly home improvements. Adapatibility, flexibility, innovation--these are our watchwords. Just don't go switching raspberries for strawberries in Aunt Bertha's Thanksgiving jello salad, and God forbid you should try to have a festive extended-family meal without (fill in the blank with your clan's most time-honored dish)!

During the holidays, food signifies fulfillment of two needs--affection and stability. That's a fact, as is the realization that all those modern technologies encroach on time formerly spent planning and executing the Significant Seasonal Meal. Each approaching Thanksgiving or Christmas finds me a little more desperate for rock-solid yet inspired culinary advice.

So, I turned to my fellow library staffers for recommendations. What, I asked, is your #1 cookbook? The nominees:

Betty Crocker Cookbook: named multiple times, this classic offers "favorite comfort foods", instructions for novices: cuts of meat, freezing, etc, convenient looseleaf format, and lots and lots of color illustrations
Six Spices: A Simple Concept of Indian Cooking by Neeta Saluja: "helps you master the basics"
Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course: "my cooking bible at home in England"
America's Test Kitchen books and DVDs: "everything about cooking from the best appliances and cookware to improving recipes"
The Joy of Cooking: "I like the older version more than the current one"; also named by more than one respondent
New Best Recipe: "old favorites that have been tested for taste, texture, dependability"
Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food by Jessica Seinfeld
The Food Network website
The "small holiday recipe brochure--I think from Borden--that I picked up at the grocery checkout several years ago": "I've even preserved each page in a plastic sleeve".

As in our other pursuits, when it comes to cooking we retain our appreciation for the traditional sources as we test-drive evolving ones. No wonder our celebrative repasts carry so much emotional weight; they are microcosms for the challenge we face in navigating a changing world while preserving our identities.

With apologies to The Serenity Prayer, here's what guided my choice of menu items for this Thanksgiving: courage to adapt a couple of family favorites to slightly more healthful versions, and wisdom to not monkey around with the buttermilk pie recipe.

Reader's Exchange : Readers Exchange, Round Rock Rock Public Library

Was it a vision or just a sight?

Food for thought