supertaster

Editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine: The New Best Recipe: All-New Edition with 1,000 Recipes
My current go-to book for nearly everything. Hasn't failed yet. (*****)

The Quick Recipe (The Best Recipe Series)
Good for what it is: quick versions of standard recipes so you don't have to keep eating frozen veggie burgers for dinner every weeknight. (****)

Mark Bittman: How to Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food
It's not really everything, especially if your idea of everything includes Mexican food, but it is pretty comprehensive otherwise. One caveat: he's a little too fond of butter. (****)

Shirley Corriher: Cookwise : The Secrets of Cooking Revealed
The science of cooking laid bare for the layperson. This book helped me save a disastrous batch of cookies which insisted on spreading into a long, flat sheet, and turn it into something your grandmother would be proud of. (*****)

Lynne Rossetto Kasper: The Italian Country Table : Home Cooking from Italy's Farmhouse Kitchens
(*****)

Marion Cunningham: The Fannie Farmer Cookbook : Anniversary
My first cooking tome. I more or less learned to cook from Fannie, and have probably made everything I'm ever going to make from this book by now, meaning that the variety meats chapter will go untested by me. I still have a soft spot in my heart for this one. (*****)