A lot of good books have been coming my way and I feel compelled to pass on the information! The most exciting thing has been Diana Kennedy's long awaited tribute the state of Oaxaca. It's only available in Spanish and the initial run of the book was very small and it's not available through the regular channels. But it's a big, fat glorious tribute to the region and as it becomes available, I'll let you know.

Next up is Mary Karlin's Wood-Fired Cooking: Techniques and Recipes for the Grill, Backyard Oven, Fireplace, and Campfire and while the title is pretty self explanatory, it doesn't reveal how great a book this is. It's one of those that just makes you want to run to the kitchen and experiment and play. I met Mary a few years back and she's played various seminal roles in the north bay food scene. I couldn't be happier about a book coming out!

Mark Miller's new book, Tacos: 75 Authentic and Inspired Recipes, frankly sounded like it was going to cover a lot familiar territory but there are a lot of terrific recipes and it's worth your checking out. The duck with a pecan pipian sauce is in my near future.

I met Judy Witts Francini in the 1980s and we rediscovered each other via the Internet. Travelers to Florence know this diva is the last word in regional Italian cooking and now she has a book that I haven't put down since I got it a few weeks ago. Secrets From My Tuscan Kitchen is a collection of some of her best recipes with simple, direct instructions that seem hard to beat. And there are lots of bean recipes!