I was recently in New York over Labor Day weekend where, in addition to two same-day SNL-related celeb sightings (Mike Meyers outside my hotel and Fred Armisen exiting a matinee of Man On Wire at Sunshine Cinema) and eating my way around the city--with stops at Bubby's, The Little Owl, Blue Smoke, Momofuku Noodle Bar, Esca, Shake Shack (yes, a worth-every-minute-of-it hour-and-half wait for a Double Shack Burger), and Blue Hill--I was also on the hunt for a copy of the out-of-print cookbook Quick Pickles at any bookstore I passed.

Working in the book business, I'm definitely spoiled by being able to read and have access to so many books, especially books that have yet to be published (it's not infrequent to be reading Spring '09 titles in Fall '08--trust me, I am right now). When I walk into a bookstore now I would be hard pressed to be surprised by any titles on display, in that "Oh, I didn't know he had a new book out!" thrill I used to get wandering around the new releases.

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