Molly's Books & Records

Philadelphia Bookstore Molly’s Books and Records Sells Used Cookbooks for Every Taste | Eater Philly

"Tucked into the Italian Market, a cheery sandwich board—with coloring and typeface evoking the classic cover of The Joy of Cooking—invites passersby to “Discover the … joy of cookbooks,” and that sign lured me into Molly's Books & Records, where third-generation bookseller Molly Russakoff runs a family business: her husband Joe Ankenbrand oversees the records, her son Johnny collects movies and knows the entire stock, and shop cat Mrs. Stevenson is the muscle. Russakoff, an accomplished poet who painted the sandwich board herself, treats cookbooks as literature and has devoted the entire back space of the small, thoughtful shop to cookbooks and food writing—a paradiso of a collection that is both comprehensive and full of surprises. Because stock is entirely second-hand there’s often only one copy of a title (great for building a kitchen library, even better for treasure-hunters or gift-givers seeking everything from Loretta Lynn’s You’re Cookin’ it Country to kitschy midcentury pamphlets like her favorite, How Famous Chefs Cook with Marshmallows from 1930), and the store has no online presence beyond a record-centric Instagram (@mollysbooksandrecords); Russakoff says the books mainly come from Friends of the Library sales and that “I work very hard.” She prizes global diversity—shelves devoted to Pennsylvania Dutch, African American, Native American, Jewish, Scandinavian, Indian, and Middle Eastern cuisines among others—while still stocking perennial classics (“Marcella. Mastering the Art.” and, as Johnny pipes in, “Bourdain!”). The cookbook section is dense and overflowing and can be almost overwhelming, so shoppers need time to browse gingerly; the shop also carries shelves for booze, home brewing and winemaking, tea, coffee, herbs, and some witchy titles, and defines food writing broadly to include biographies, memoirs (MFK Fisher), and reference works (Harold McGee’s On Food and Cooking tucked beneath imposing editions of Larousse Gastronomique). Prices are refreshingly fair—a copy of Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone went for $22—staff are knowledgeable and passionate, and true rarities are priced accordingly (a numbered, signed edition of From Julia Child’s Kitchen is listed at $1,200). Russakoff, who is pescatarian and relies on American Wholefoods Cuisine in her own cooking, isn’t a collector—she loves to find things and then find them a home—and she’s currently weeding the cookbooks to make room for a holiday-season sidewalk sale of high-quality, reduced-price volumes, a great chance to try a new cuisine or pick up a decorative title like The Czechoslovak Cookbook." - Abigail Weil