OnlineBookClub.org

Seeing how very many people prefer the internet to cookbooks nowadays, I find myself wondering exactly what it would take to make you pick one up?

It seems to me that just offering recipes isn't enough, so what else could someone add to a "cookbook" that would make it worth your time?

I know there are quite a few authors who've included different recipes that are related in some way to their book, but what is the reverse of this?

I suppose making it into a pseudo memoir could work. Goodness knows I'd probably give it a second look

Aside of the price?

I would pick up a cooking book if its recipes were unique, easy to make, and couldn't be found on the net.

I own a few cookbooks, and I selected them because the recipes seemed easy. I was not taught how to cook as a child, so I'm not very skilled in the kitchen!

What catches me every time about a cookbook is the photography. Beautiful food photography is usually lacking in online recipes, unless they are part of a food blog. Even when photographs are included, they are of the transitory nature of internet content. A hard copy cookbook with lovely photos is like a collector's item to me.

I love cookbooks so my opinion might be skewed, but when I have time to kill at the bookstore I like to look at cookbooks just to see if inspiration will hit me. Sometimes it's when you're flipping through that you see a simple recipe with interesting ingredients, cooked with a technique you'd never heard of before!

I'm not too picky about substituting ingredients and rarely make a recipe exactly as it's written, but learning the techniques means that you can make multiple variations of the same dish.

The recipes being easy and unique would make me buy a cook book. If the price was decent also. Cook books are so expensive. I actually prefer having a cook book over recipes from the Internet, but now in days it seems people have to be rich to own one!

I would say the book must have appealing photographs to attract my attention. Next it should be having simplest recipes, something with less ingredients. That'll make me wanna pick up a cookbook!

It would depend on how the author wrote the cookbook itself. I've read a lot of cookbooks that contain easy-to-make recipes but I could not understand how it was written. I'm not great in the kitchen so I could use something like "An Idiot's Guide to Cooking blah blah blah Recipes" with side notes and tips about each recipe.

...a brownie inside

Easy directions with very little processed food. We do not use cream of anything soup and things like that. I do buy dry pasta, canned beans and such.

I love spicy and strong things. If the cookbook has those kinds of recipes I would probably be interested. I also think that pictures accompanying the recipes are very important so that one can surmise how the dish will look and taste.

I like making deserts, cakes; so any cooking book that has a great picture of desert on it. That will make me pick it up and flick through the pages.

Besides the aesthetic aspect that others have noted, I would buy a cookbook if it included a lot of input from the author, especially if it appeals to my values.

For example, I recently checked out a book from my library called "The Malibu Farm Cookbook." It appeals to those who strive to eat natural, organic food. This book includes beautiful photographs around the farm, charming entries by author Helene Henderson, and unique, simple recipes that make your mouth water.

I'm even thinking about buying this one for myself.

I don't think I could do a hard copy cookbook. I have a few old ones my mother handed down, but over all they are bulky. They take up my counter space, stuff gets spilled on them. It's just inconvenient. Now e-books I can put on my phone are another thing. I am actually a fan of those types of cookbooks.

I think it needs to have a lot of things; nice pictures, clear instructions, easy recipes, recipes that don't require any fancy ingredients. I would also definitely pick up a cookbook if it included the calorie count of all the final meals.