Last month Belinda Sanda, friend and fellow foodie, loaned me Comfort Me With Apples, a book I’d wanted to read by Ruth Reichl (Gourmet magazine’s editor, nearly reason enough to subscribe – which I do).
Comfort Me With Apples went to bed with me that night. I finished it at 2:30 a.m.Â
Delicious! Â
Burp.
I especially loved how Reichl sprinkled recipes throughout her story in a way that wasn’t the least bit jarring. If anything, they added flavor and spice (and made me want to get up and cook). Each time I encountered an interesting recipe (uh, every one of them, except maybe the Fried Capers and Calves’ Brains with Sherry Butter Sauce) I stuck a slip of paper between the pages; a placeholder so I could copy the recipes in the morning.Â
About three-quarters the way through the book, I realized something: I dreaded returning Belinda’s book. I’d bonded with it, and the recipes.
Later I thanked Belinda for letting me borrow her book, said how much I enjoyed it.
I swear, I never let on how much I coveted her Comfort Me With Apples.
Even so, she waved her hand and said, “Oh, you can keep it, really!” Â
I protested weakly.
“In fact,” she said, “I have her other books, Tender at the Bone and Garlic and Sapphires, and you can have those, too.”
Be still my crepe-flipping, dough-kneading, stock-simmering, cheese-grating, lemon-zesting heart.
It turns out Belinda has lots of books because she spends lots of time around books. She volunteers at the Friends of Shasta County Libraries Bookstore .Â
The bookstore’s regular hours are 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. Sundays. Typically book prices range from $2 to $7.
However, every other month the bookstore holds a special mark-down bargain sale to thin its inventory.Â
On those days prices plummet and books cost just 25 – 50 cents. Now that’s what I call a real stimulus package.
This is our lucky month, and Saturday is our lucky day.
I spoke with Karel Wollaston, a bookstore volunteer who helps price the books. She said Saturday’s sale will have a lot of good-quality, fairly recent books.
“For example, if I have eight copies of Dark of the Moon by John Sandford, I’ll give one to the library plus another as a back-up copy,” she said. “The others I’ll put in the book sale.”
I can’t say whether any Reichl books will be there.
But then, I can’t say there won’t, either.
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What: Special book sale – prices 25 to 50 cents
Organization: Friends of Shasta County Libraries Bookstore
When:Â 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Sat. Feb. 7
Where: Shasta County Library in Redding, 100 Parkview Ave – (Southwest corner on the ground floor. In good weather sales are on the patio; otherwise they’ll be inside.)
More: For information or for donations call 245-7265 or visit the library’s website at www.shastafoscl.com/friends_bookstore.
