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Hi Julia28 - I own more than 2,500 cookbooks and that is what shows on my Bookshelf. I think most members with very large bookshelves actually own those books. There are a few libraries - America's Test Kitchen, Milk Street, Food Network and culinary schools - must most of those bookshelves are individuals (who have the space to store the books).

I am so glad you asked that! I own all of my books. Over the years, I have thinned them out quite a bit, but always take them out of my library. How frustrating that would be to search for a cupcake recipe and then find out you have no access :(

So, here we are in the middle of a pandemic and I have decided to thin ever farther. Is there any kind of giving library on Eat Your Books? Does anybody want my extra copy of OTTOLENGHI or . . .

I have a little over 900 books on My Bookshelf.  Nearly 200 are Kindle books; I don't like them nearly as much, but I am truly out of room!  I did a huge cull a couple of years ago, but I continue to buy more, though I'm much pickier about what I purchase than I was when I was just starting out.  I love to read my cookbooks like novels.  Plus they all give me such great inspiration!  I rarely pay full price for a cookbook - either get at Half Price Books or purchase on Amazon with the points I accumulate from my Amazon credit card.

I have all the books on my shelf but decided it was time to prune ... only to have the Friends of the Library announce that they are no longer taking books ... now I need to find a place to rehome the culls.

I currently have approximately 6,400 cookbooks (real) on my shelves at home.  In addition, I have about 250 books about food and food writing.  I have no Kindle books.  EYB has been a terrific help to me in trying to locate recipes.  For the approximately 1,400 books not in their library, it's the old "seek and ye shall find" way of finding recipes!  I also started a "recipes to try" file a couple of years ago, by reading the cookbooks and keeping a list of page numbers of ones I wanted to try, which I then entered in a spreadsheet, so that is also very helpful.  I have slowed down on collecting, as I'm pretty particular and don't just purchase them for the sake of having a huge number.  Almost all of them are used and I have more from the 1980's and much earlier as I'm not as partial to the newer ones.  Enjoy your cookbooks!

My collection isn't as large as many members here, but still some of the cookbooks on my Bookshelf are Kindle books. They are not taking up physical space in my house, but I can still include them in my searches. I would probaly never use a Kindle cookbook if not for EYB -- I don't ever think to "thumb" through a Kindle cookbook, but I sometimes purchase a title that's a good deal and it's nice to know I can access those recipes when they pop up in an EYB search. 

Also, I remember at least a person or two mentioning in the past that they add books to their EYB shelf they know they can borrow from their local library (and I'd assume they Bookmark them accordingly to prevent confusion about what is in their house vs. another location).

It could also be useful to add books to your Bookshelf to "test" a cookbook before buying -- once again, if clearly marked that it's not a book you actually own, it could be helpful to see if a book you are considering ever turns up any results as you go about using the site as you usually do. 

If you subscribe to an monthly ebook service such as Kindle Unlimited or Scribd, you certainly could add cookbook titles available through those services as well.

I also imagine you *could* add books to your Bookshelf you know you could access from friends or family if you wanted to, it all depends on how you want to set things up.

Thanks @Christine! These are very helpful tips! It never would have occured to me to create a bookmark for books I didn't own like this. I love it!! 

I have a modest collection of 190 books, but I also use the 'seek and ye shall find' approach for finding recipes in the unindexed books. I then use the Add Personal Recipes function on the website, listing the ingredients and making a note of where I found the recipe. Once entered, these recipes can turn up in my searches on EYB. (I love this website!) 

Hi Julia - yes I actually own over a 1000 cookbooks. It did take several decades to collect that many and, yes, it is hard to believe, I am actually picky. I lean towards Mediterranean and Vietnamese food which is my largest section. I have recently culled several great baking books, in particular bread baking books, since I don’t bake much. All my books are covered in Brodart protective wrap to keep them pristine - that is truly nerdy. The books are organized by continent or famous chefs. I love to just randomly pick a book and cook something in it. My cookbooks take me on armchair travels and inspire me to where to go next. In fact, where ever in the world I go I have a list of foods I have to try when I get to my destination. The old Time Life series on Foods of the World from the 1960’s/70’s is still one of my favorites. The hardcovers talk about lifestyle and customs and really get you inspired. It also makes you realize how globalization has changed traditional foods in countries like Austria or Japan for example in just a few decades. Like other “hoarders” I like my vintage cookbooks but miss the photos. I wish some would be republished with them. Kindle books or online recipes don’t inspire me which is why I don’t have any. I love rummaging through charity, church and yard sales for old cookbooks. There are great finds out there.

Very interesting Shelmar.  I also started clipping recipes in mid teen times and still have all of the clippings.  For books, started buying books using little that I earned doing babysitting and military dependent summer hire in my late teens.  By early twenties earning more and living independently, on my travels to some Asian countries my suitcase always had local English language cookbooks coming back to Okinawa.

I have 417 kindle cookbooks, about 1000+ Japanese language cookbooks not in EYB, about 650 english language books not in EYB database, and about 1100 or so regular cookbooks.  

I have a good collection of community cookbooks, plus the 400 or so books I have in my library here, so I'm getting close to 450 cookbooks, which is relatively modest compared to some members! Unfortunately (or maybe it's a good thing) I have to admit I'm running out of room, so I'm becoming a little more selective about new additions. Now, before I make a purchase, I look the book up in the library here to peruse the index (if it is indexed) and read any reviews or comments posted. It's been really helpful.

And, like I said, I'm not really looking but.... as mentioned in an earlier comment would that be possible to have a place here to give away or exchange cookbooks? A place to ask if anyone has that out of print cookbook you so desperately want, that they might not need anymore. Maybe it'd inspire me to reduce my collection. I love my cookbooks and it'd be nice to know they're going to a good home lol. 

KarenGlad - we have considered a marketplace for exchanging or selling books but decided it was a minefield we did not want to step into. No matter how many disclaimers we posted that it was buyer beware and you did this at your own risk, etc we know that if the deal went badly e.g. the book never arrived, it was not the quality promised, etc then we would be expected to get involved to mediate.

Jane - that's too bad but unfortunately so true and as a result understandable.