Secondhand books

For the past few months I've been on a book buying freeze--blah!!! It sucks but it's saved me from buying some crappy books I pick out at the bookstore. When we get home from the bookstore I take my booklist and check the reviews online and then reserve them (if available) at library. I try to read them but recently I've chosen some real stinkers and snoozers. BO-RING!

Anyhoo the freeze was lifted for these two books--the only reason being that they're used. SWEET! I found this Lotta book at the Japanese store in the mall. Too bad I can't read Japanese (three years of Japanese school in grade school and four years of high school Japanese--time well spent huh?). There are some passages in English (although it's a little odd sometimes), I wish the captions were also translated into English.

I love her designs! Lotta describes her work as "organic, free and elegant." True that! Evident in her sketches, interior decor, etc. Sigh...

I picked up the second book in a Maui "junktique" shop this past weekend. I got a kick out of some of the recipes: prune whip (a delicious confection of prunes, egg whites and sugar served baked or unbaked), ham loaf (just like ma's meat loaf except with ground smoked ham and pork!) Mmmmm...mouthwatering....
My favorite part so far is the advice on keeping coffee hot--"keep it hot on an asbestos pad over very low heat..." WHOA. In 1958 it was common to have an asbestos pad at home?! Eh, I guess if you were building a house with asbestos floor and ceiling tiles a pad wasn't a big stretch.

Actually there are a some recipes that could be okay. Mostly I bought it for entertainment purposes. So clever how each illustration uses only one color and they're fun and sometimes creepy (check out those potato eyes). Reminds me of our kiddie books (we had a bunch of hand me down books from what seems like the 50's-70's).