Browsing the library shelves at the University of Alberta Library can be a fairly daunting process. We have eight library locations spread across three campuses! Where to begin? Today we are having a look at delicious books to pique your reading appetite!
Rutherford Library recently put up a book display which features delicious books for fans of eating and reading. This display was curated by our SAIT Library Information Technology practicum student Ashleen Parkash. Intrigued by Ashleen’s choices, I asked her about her process for the selection of the topic and the books.
Ashleen: As I was browsing the University of Alberta Library catalogue, I wondered if we would have cookbooks in our collections. I discovered that we have several thousands! I found out this is due to a large donation from Linda Miron Distad – she had quite the collection! I used the library catalogue and searched for : Linda Miron Distad Culinaria Collection
Originally, I had planned to do a display on various cookbooks, especially since I found an abundance of Canadian titles and cocktail recipes, which I thought would be popular. As I continued browsing though, I found that the collection contained many more food topics than I had originally thought.
First, I stumbled across children’s books relating back to food (Stone Soup, anyone?!) Beyond that, I found a lot of fiction with food or a restaurant location as central themes which I thought would be super interesting to highlight. I decided to go ahead with food as the theme. I also found non-fiction books that explored the world through food. Some really interesting examples of that are Chop Suey Nation, which explores Canada through Chinese restaurants and Peace Meals, in which a war correspondent shares her experiences and recipes she’s collected along the way.
I also had a lot of fun making bookmarks for this theme. You will have to pop by Rutherford before the end of January 2024 to grab some of these recipe bookmarks. Our Social Sciences and Humanities Librarian, Lucinda also informed me of a database called Bloomsbury Food Library.
Pull up a seat at the table and get ready to dig into these tasty selections from Ashleen’s list.
Warning: This list may cause you to develop an insatiable craving to eat & read
Thank you for the read, and many thanks to Ashleen Parkash for finding these delectably mouthwatering book suggestions!
For even more book suggestions, have a look at our #Good Reads blog posts.
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