Not a New Cookbook—but a Goldmine of Old Ones!

By Kristina Sepetys

 

 

This week’s recommendation isn’t for a particular cookbook full of tempting photos and must-try recipes, or a food memoir, or even a novel with a delicious plot. It’s for a destination. If you’re a cookbook lover—and if you’re reading this, you probably are—make your way to the Friends of the Berkeley Public Library bookstore in downtown Berkeley!

Not far from the main Central library, this cozy used-book haven offers one of the best and most delightfully unpredictable selections of used cookbooks in town, most priced at an incredibly reasonable $2 for paperbacks and $3 for hardcovers. There are also sale racks and carts full of free books outside. All proceeds support the beloved Berkeley Public Library system, so your purchases fund everything from children’s story times to tech literacy workshops, food-related programming, scholarships, capital campaigns, and many other excellent causes. Buy a stack and feel virtuous while doing it.

And oh, the treasures you’ll find! Shelves and shelves of well-organized books in good to great condition. You might get lucky and find favorites like Deborah Madison and Alice Waters classics; obscure spiral-bound commune potluck collections (some with surprisingly great soup and granola recipes); forgotten gems like The Silver Palate Cookbook, Julia Child’s Menu Cookbook, or Martha Stewart’s Entertaining; and many virtually new volumes. There are often some impressive international offerings. I recently discovered a Moroccan tagine book, a guide to Georgian khachapuri, and three different volumes on Japanese home cooking.

The selection is always changing, and you never know what you’ll find, which is half the fun and reason to visit often. It’s also a smart stop for anyone building a cookbook collection without spending a fortune, or looking to replace that splattered, sauce-stained paperback from 1983.

And if you’re doing a little spring cleaning of your own shelves? They take donations, too. Drop off your gently used cookbooks (or any other books) during store hours and help the next generation of home cooks find inspiration. (But call first to make sure they have room.)

So no, it’s not a new book. But it’s a wonderful place to meet old ones and maybe bring a few home.

Happy hunting!

The Friends of the Berkeley Public Library bookstore, 2433 Channing Way, in downtown Berkeley, is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10am to 4pm. The shop is located at the bottom of a parking structure and parking is free for the first hour. Donations welcomed, but call first to confirm they have room, 510-841-5604.