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.
Delicious!
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.
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!”
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 .
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.
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: 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.
