Cookbooks are the best books. Some are love stories. They all have happy endings and there’s a cookbook for everyone. There are cookbooks that focus on a single type of food from avocados to pie to zucchini. Books that focus on breakfast, lunch or dinner. Books that focus on entertaining, holidays, or on a specific cuisine or country. Eating healthy, vegan, gluten-free, paleo, keto. Books for the latest kitchen gadgets or method of cooking. Contributions from celebrities. Then there are food essays, novels that celebrate food, memoirs from famous chefs and food personalities.

There’s something deeply satisfying about cracking open a glossy new cookbook for the first time, touching the pages and anticipating what’s inside. Cookbooks can be teachers, serve as inspiration, conversation starters, eye candy. Some get dirty over time with chocolate drips and sticky hands while others remain in pristine condition in their spot on the coffee table.

Here I share some of my favorite cookbooks that I hope will spread some joy to your kitchen. Visit my kitchenistics bookshop on Bookshop.org. I’ve picked a selection that I own, have borrowed from the public library or that are on my list to buy. All books I recommend.

How it works:

Bookshop.org is an ecommerce startup that encourages people to support their local independent bookstores. You can choose which bookstore you want to support or have your order contribute to an earnings pool that is evenly distributed among independent bookstores. If you purchase a book I recommend through links on my site, I may earn an affiliate commission.

“You want happy endings, read cookbooks.”

— Dean Young, Poet