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Weekly Words about Books December 16, 2012
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COOKIN' WITH GAS -
SOME HOT NEW COOKBOOKS
| | They say you can't be too thin or too rich, but for many lovers of food and food preparation, you also can't have too many cookbooks. Old classics like The Joy of Cooking and newer ones like the Cook's Illustrated Cookbook continue to sell, but they compete every year with a slew of new titles. Here are a few of 2012's attention getters and top sellers.
Deb Perelman, food blogger extraordinaire and founder of Smitten Kitchen, has written The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook featuring recipes created in her tiny New York apartment kitchen - a 42-square foot galley affair. Smittenkichen.com gets 8 million page views a month, so it's safe to say there's some excitement about this one.
The p rolific Ina Garten, better known as The Barefoot Contessa, has a new addition to her library of cookbooks - The Barefoot Contessa Foolproof: Recipes You Can Trust. I'm not sure I trust anyone who has sold so many books and still can't afford shoes, but that's just me. This one is already a bestseller in indie bookstores.
Thomas Keller is one of Northern California's true celebrity chefs, with restaurants like French Laundry, Ad Hoc and Per Se, and the fabulous  Bouchon Bakery, which is also the name of his new cookbook. The recipes are an amalgam of artisan baked goods, including the French classics he fell in love with as a young chef apprenticing in Paris. Keller's Bouchon Bakery co-author, Sebastien Rouxel, is no slouch himself; he's the executive pastry chef for the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group.
Modernist Cuisine at Home isn't for everybody (or everybody's pocketbook), but it is a unique and comprehensive volume. The authors have collected in this 456-page tome all the essential information that any cook needs to
 stock a modern kitchen, to master Modernist techniques, and to make hundreds of recipes. The book is divided into two parts - the first focusing on tools and appliances (what to buy, how to use), the second on what to make once you have the right equipment.
To say this book explores the science of cooking would not be hyperbole, as author Nathan Myhrvold is himself a scientist and inventor as well as the first chief technology officer at Microsoft. So if you're looking for a cookbook for a Modernist foodie or the cast of The Big Bang Theory, and you have $140 to spend, this could be the gift to give. One caution - call ahead to your local bookstore to make sure the book is on hand. At that price, some stores may not keep too many on hand at any one time. Easy to order, though.
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THANKS IN ADVANCE!
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GREEN APPLE BOOKS VIDEO
| The folks at Green Apple Books & Music in San Francisco are famous within the book world (and with their customers) for their skill at making short, clever videos that promote the store.
Their latest is a quick reminder of Green Apple's staying power and what makes a bookstore a great place to visit.
Click here to watch.
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A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ME
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My name is Hut Landon. I'm a former bookstore owner who now runs the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association (NCIBA) in San Francisco.
My goal with this newsletter is to keep readers up to date about new books hitting the shelves, share what booksellers are recommending in their stores, and pass on occasional news about the book world.
I'm not into long, wordy reviews or literary criticism; I'd like HUT'S PLACE to be a quick, fun read for book buyers. I'd appreciate you letting friends know about the column if you think they'd be interested - make sure to tell them it's free of charge.
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are no shortage of new memoirs to choose from. One of them - Waging Heavy Peace by Neil Young - has already been on Bay Area bestseller lists for several weeks. Here are some others to consider:
I Am by Pete Townshend
The Talking Heads founder offers up an intelligent and fascinating look at music as both an art form and way of life throughout history. If you're interested, I would call your local bookstore and ask them to hold a copy for you; this book may get hard to find as Christmas approaches.