@MsMerope @ai6yr
Do you remember which ones you had liked?
My first favorite was "Joy of Cooking." People sneer at it, but it tells you how to do things.
My least favorite was the one I bought when leaving for college.
Catch a deer, skin it, cook it.
Um, not enough details there for a new cook who had a single 2 qt. pot, one knife, one stir spoon.