Around the World in 80 Cookbooks?

I have recently become a "professional reader". I get advanced copies of books so I can read and review them, and post my reviews to my sites. The first book I've started reviewing is called "Snackistan", and it got me thinking about my Around the World in 80 Books project. I often use cookbooks as a way to introduce my students to other cultures - should I include them in my project? Or, should I have an entirely separate project just devoted to cookbooks? The last option sounds like a much more fun - and tasty - idea. So, my plan is to pick one cookbook a month (wow - 80 months is like 6 and half years...) to review AND cook out of. YUM! No, I won't cook EVERYTHING; nor will I cook out of it every night. I'll just try a selection of the most promising recipes. Since I'm already reviewing "Snackistan", it'll be my first choice. Just to give you a preview...the idea behind "Snackistan" is the snack and street foods common to the Middle East and parts of the Mediterranean where meze is popular. Meze is the Mediterranean version of a heavy hors d'oeuvres buffet. While street food is still not common in my part of America, it is catching on in many urban areas in the US. But, the rest of the world has eaten off the street for centuries. In China, we were strongly discouraged from eating at street vendor stalls, but they were ALL over the place. In France, the food sold on the street was better than most of the food we eat here in restaurants. In Japan, there weren't many street vendors, but there were scores of vending machines dispensing everything from hot green tea to octopus balls...(yeah, don't ask). The entire first chapter is on pickles - which is something I've been wanting to work on in my kitchen, anyway... so stay tuned!