Greetings fellow book lovers!

[Reevsey]

Hi all, I'm James, 35, I live in the UK and like most on this forum I love to read.

I am a Head Chef and I literally have a library at home with a vast collection of cook books, I have a collection of cook books that would rival my local Waterstone's branch, I probably have in the region of 350-400. I am a recycler when it comes to my cook books as over 75% of them I have bought from the local charity book shop which collects money for a local hospice, so not only does it benefit a charity I can get books that have been out of print for years that people simply do not want or use any more; for me it is a win win situation.

Away from cook books I read everything on my Kindle Paperwhite, now I know before you all mention it that there is nothing quite like a real book made out of paper with pages and I could not agree more; for me the convenience of being able to take the rest of my books with me anywhere and everywhere out weighs the traditionalist in me.

What do I like to read on my Kindle I hear you cry, well, I love autobiographies; at the time of writing this post I am currently reading My Life by David Jason. Anything historical and factual interests me greatly, I thrive off reading about how cities were built, how King Henry VIII lived and died, how did Martin Luther King make a difference; history and facts fascinate me. I am not a big sci-fi fan, I would rather watch A Game of Thrones than read it. I like self help and motivational material and anything else that can guide me to be a better manager and a better person in life.

That is a little about me, feel free to ask me anything you would like to know. I look forward to discussing and debating with you all over many a book.

 

[regdog]

 

[sparkchaser]

Hi James. Welconme to BAR.

I am very, very interested in hearing more about your cookbook collection. I feel that one can never have too many cookbooks. Do you just pick up any you run across or do you only pick up certain kinds?

 

[Reevsey]

Hi Sparkchaser, I pretty much pick up anything and everything really, I buy the latest releases from chefs and/or restaurants brand new, anything else I get from the charity shop. I have some really good traditional cookery books from the National Trust collection; getting them from a charity shop is also the best way to get some chef ones that have long been out of print that other people just do not use anymore, so it is a win win situation for me. I quite agree you can never have to many cook books, cooking is so personal is many different ways so a red wine sauce recipe will be different from author to author. The advantage for me of this is that I can then use different ideas and recipes to create a recipe that suits me and the menu at the restaurant.

 

[sparkchaser]

Which cookbook is your favorite?

What five cookbooks do you think belong in every household?

Have you ever seen the site 101 Cookbooks? The premise of it is that a photographer realized she had amassed a sizable collection of cookbooks and started a blog featuring recipes from the books along with her photography. It's borderline pretentious but I enjoy reading it occasionally.