My grandparents gave me fifty dollars (or possibly gave my parents money and they then passed some on to me; don't care, I have money I didn't expect to have). I want a new recipe book, I'm bored with the ones we have. I would like a recipe book which is either a) endlessly useful and full of things I want to eat or b) collectible, culturally interesting or educational in some way.
I have fiftyish dollars and will buy new books either through bookdepository or from an actualfax bookstore if Australian. Second-hand books I'll probably buy through abeboooks.com.au.
I already own The Women's Weekly Cookbook 1972, and have access to a range of other Women's Weekly compilations. I'm not particularly interested in the Joy of Cooking (that's K's domain), and I don't want to buy Stephanie Alexander's Cook's Companion for myself - at such a time as I find an affordable copy I'll buy one for K's birthday or Christmas, but not right now. I also own both volumes of the most recent edition of the Commonsense Cookbook.
I like that kind of book, though: the kind of cookbook which is a great big compendium, a go-to book for your whole household. I particularly like the country/region specific nature of such books: the fact that I grew up with the original Women's Weekly and the Ellen Sinclair 1985, while K grew up with the Joy and Stephanie Alexander says something about each of our families and where we've come from and all that rot.
So far as things I like to eat go, I like big books of cakes and biscuits and whatnot. For main meals I prefer one or two-dish meals - a cookbook with a large proportion devoted to fiddly side dishes isn't much interest to me, unless it's full of hilarious and whacky dishes from some point in the past (see also: the original Women's Weekly cookbook). I'm not scared of vegetarian food. I don't have access to game meats. I eat a lot of pasta and thai food; I'd be interested in learning to cook more middle eastern dishes; I have a slowcooker and I'm not afraid to use it.
English language cookbooks are preferred (although it might be amusing to have a stab at French cooking in French...). I'm not fussed about measurement systems, we have three different measuring sets in our kitchen and can adjust accordingly.
There you go, have at. Tell me about your favourite cookbooks. :D
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ED: I've ordered a second-hand copy of the Ellen Sinclair (1985 - it hardly ever turns up, it must've had a much shorter print run than its competitor the Women's Weekly), and the newest edition of In The Kitchen by Campion and Curtis - a new copy, so a bit expensive; but I've had a look at a slightly older edition at
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ashen_key's place and it's just the sort of thing I like.
Keep the recommendations coming, though! I've decided to give up buying Good Taste Magazine (getting repetitive) and put that five dollars per month into buying cookbooks every three or four months instead. :D