What happened to you oldroser is completely unconcionable. It's really appalling that a gift, and one from a primary benefactor, could be so misused. I'm so sorry it happened. Rosefolly, I'm sorry your noble quest to donate a worthy title has become so convoluted. As Bellegallica said - just because it may be accepted, doesn't mean you'll see it in the stacks. And I think Oldroser hit the mark by talking about selling books, whether a rose book collection or even a new rose book. I know it may bring up a sore spot, but getting these great books into the hands of people who really want to read them is the first priority, right? So is a library really the right place to do so? I guess I'm being influenced by a review I read recently in the New York Times about Larry McMurtry's "Books: A Memoir" where he talks about his obsessive book collecting. My husband is one such kind of guy who relishes his "finds" on dusty shelves. I have some lovely old rose books due to his "hobby" and I secretly wait for the next one, even as I try to subdue his obsession. Anyone who loves books will cherish this volume and perhaps keep a copy, or sell it, or share it with those who will appreciate it. The ability to see quality in a book is foresight into its intrinsic value, now, or in the future. Even though public libraries may not see it now, there are many more venues to appreciate its value.

Helo Dora, Matter of fact, I have a very good special on my book, INSECTS, PESTS AND DISEASES OF THE AFRICAN VIOLET FAMILY. If you write to robitaillenancy1@hotmail.com you can buy my book for $10.00 (until January 15) Postage is $10.50. Other books that I are tops in my library are: 1. Growing to Show...Bartholomew 2. African Violet...Helen Van Pelt Wilson 3. How To Select and Grow AV...Theodore James 4. Gesneriads and How to Grow them...Peggie Schultz 5. The Miracle House Plants...Elbert 6. Two books from Robey, Queens and Gifts 7. AV, Gloxinias and their relatives...Moore 8. Sunset Book There are many more and you can get them for around $1.00 at abebooks.com but shipping is about $10.00 for each. Happy reading! Nancy

Since I too am considering writing a first book, I find this is an interesting thread, and I appreciate the words of wisdom of zootjs and ketzel. Along these lines, I have a question for everyone: Is there a market for a new and comprehensive book on tomatoes? By that, I mean one that covers, at least to some extent, everything about tomatoes that a tomato enthusiast/aficionado/junkie/addict/head might want to know (and maybe more). I am considering writing such a book, and in fact already have prepared an outline and introduction. But before I put a year or two's work into it, I would very much appreciate any opinions anyone may have on the subject. What I have in mind is something that would cover at least the following subjects: 1. Biology and cultivation (including different species and cultivars), 2. Genetics and genetic modification (e.g., sad story of the Flavr Savr gene), 3. Origin and evolution (meet your cousin, the tomato), 4. World-wide diffusion and subsequent history (how did the tomato get to India and China, anyway? The English? The Portuguese? The Spanish? One author suggests early sea contact with Peru) 5. Adoption and use in different food traditions (e.g., how do tomatoes fit in with the religious aspects of Indian food tradition?), 6. Health aspects (e.g., effect on prostate and lung cancer, macular degeneration, sun damage to skin), 7. Commercial and economic issues (do they really eat 200 pounds per person per year in Egypt?), 8. Connections with famous people (e.g., Ronald Reagan), 9. Film and literature (nobody should miss Attack of the Killer Tomatoes or its sequels), 10. Myths (e.g., the Robert Gibbon Johnson story) and misconceptions, 11. Tomatoes and sex (no misconceptions there, and no conceptions, either, I suppose [smile]), 12. Enthusiast organizations and festivals (the most spectacular is in Spain), 13. Etymology of popular and scientific names (where did the name lycopersicum -- Wolf Peach -- come from?), and 14. Home growing and cooking (somewhat). I know of course that there are many books on how to grow tomatoes, and many recipe books, and I certainly don't intend to compete with such books. What I am thinking of is something that would not only contain quite a lot of information about a broad range of subjects relating to tomatoes, but also use tomatoes as a lens to look into some of the things mentioned (history, biology, even cosmology: for example, without supernovas, tomatoes could not exist). Needless to say, with such a range of topics, I could only cover most things in a fairly summary manner; the selling point would be its breadth, not its depth on any subject. I would make reference to other books for more depth on a given subject. Would you buy such a book? At Amazon prices? Would it be better to have lots of pictures, maps etc. and a higher price or fewer of such things and a lower price? There the various books on other food items, some of which have done quite well in the market, notably Mark Kurlanskys three books, on cod, salt and oysters, respectively. There is also one on the potato by Larry Zuckerman and one on the olive by Mort Rosenblum. Each of those is, however, somewhat less comprehensive than what I outlined above, which brings me to a second question: Should I cut back the scope and make it a bit deeper in the areas retained? If so, what should I leave in or keep out? Should I make it pretty much purely a history book with a particular twist, like KurlanskyÂs? Or would that narrow the audience too much? Just to elaborate for a moment, a historical work would start with the break-up of Pangaea, the latest supercontinent, which started drifting apart 200 million years ago. The breakup resulted in separate biospheres developing in the Americas and Eurasia, which meant that the tomato was unknown to the bulk of humankind until the the last 500 years. During that time humans have, from a biological perspective, re-united the divided parts of Pangaea. Before they did so, the tomato spread from its origin in the alto plano of the West Coast of South America to what is today Mexico and Central America, but not to what is today the US (why it didnÂt is an interesting issue I would try to explore) or anywhere else. In the last 300 years or so, it has been adopted into almost every food tradition on earth. How and when it did so is a story that, to my knowledge, has never been fully told, except as it relates to the US (in Andrew SmithÂs book cited below). Telling that story would allow me to bloviate on various subjects such as international trade routes and social history. As I write that last paragraph, it occurs to me that this story alone would be quite an undertaking, one that could not really be done justice in a single chapter of a broader book. But then ÂÂare the 30 million home tomato gardeners in the US going to buy a history book? Or will you want growing tips, recipes, cosmology, sexual innuendo and genetics and such thrown in? I suppose I could include some of those topics in a book that is primarily a history, but would a book that is primarily a history that grab your attention, or, more relevantly, give you an uncontrollable urge to buy it? Hey, maybe I could include OprahÂs favorite tomato recipes. I could put that in a chapter entitled, "the tomato and popular culture." I would appreciate any thoughts any of you may have. Thanks very much, Jonathan P.S.: I have looked at the following, none of which (it seems to me) is quite what I have in mind: 1. Tantalizing Tomatoes, ed. by Karen Davis Cutler (New York 1997) 2. The Tomato in America, by Andrew Smith (Columbia, S.C. 1994) 3. The Great Tomato Book, by Gary Ibsen (Berkeley 1999) 4. The Great Tomato Book, by Sheila Bluff (Short Hills, N.J. 1999) (The preceding two books have the same title and were published in the same year; rather remarkable.) 5. In Praise of Tomatoes, by Steven Shepherd (New York 1996) 6. Exploring the Tomato, by Mark Harvey, Steve Quilley and Huw Beynon (Cheltenham, U.K. 2002) 7. All About Tomatoes, by Walter L. Doty (? 1981) 8. Terrific Tomatoes, by Mimi Luebbermann and Faith Echtermeyer (? 1994) 9. 100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden, by Carolyn J. Male (New York 1999)

No I don't want to go back to the days pre computer. I wrote my masters thesis on an electric typewriter with carbon paper. Computers are a god send, sometimes. I don't know if others are like me - but when I say I miss library cards, Readers Guide to Periodicals and such, I am really saying that I miss the magic libraries once held for me as a child and young adult. For a lonely child who often didn't fit in, it was a place that opened up the world for me. I think of how I used to browse the shelves at the library. I'd start with the As and look for books that intrigued me. I ended up picking some classic literature, good literature, and just plain good reads that I never would have found if those books were culled because no one was checking them out. Now, these types of books are so seldom on the shelves or seldom recommended, that I do my browsing at the local indie rather than going to the library. Then there is the culling of staff, and the lack of personal attention. I still remember a wonderful lady named Pricilla McCloud, the children's librarian who later became the head librarian at our branch. I could always depend on her help when I wanted books on a subject, or just 'whats a good book I should read" and she'd find a few which would lead her to more ideas... Librarians like her knew my name, knew my interests, knew what authors might intrigue me. Now, the librarians are replaced by computer check out machines. There is one librarian at the reference desk who is usually helping out folk on the public computers. >public libraries are meant to serve the public. By and large, that same public is checking out the bestsellers rather than classics and when space is limited, such as at a smaller branch, it only makes sense that the shelf space is dedicated to books that patrons will read bookmom I agree to an extent. However the library should still have good copies of the books that have been popular in years passed (not necessarily books that anyone 'should' read) or at the very least books that are being required by school districts. And they should have librarians who know what's out there, ones who are available to help the public that they are catering to. Unfortunately budget cuts in our community have severly slashed the libraries ability to run. There is a bond election in May that will determine whether or not two of the three libraries in our area will close. And this is such a conservative area that I suspect it will fail.