My Kitchen Library

My kitchen library is not so much mine as my housemate’s, the real chef of the apartment. My sole contribution to this small collection sandwiched between our mini–food processor and the olive oils and vinegars is Mark Bittman’s How To Cook Everything: The Basics, which is basic, and thus, essentially perfect for me. It’s also the only beginner cookbook I have that is of high enough quality (and used frequently enough) to get the honor of being moved from my bedroom bookshelves to the kitchen, where counter space is crucial. But I do think I’m almost ready to graduate to the real Bittman, How To Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food, yet "simple" isn’t as comforting as "the basics," so we’ll see how it goes.

My roomie’s four-fifths of the collection include More from Magnolia, The Best of Gourmet, Amy Sedaris’s I Like You, and Julie Powell’s Julie and Julia. What are your personal small, themed collections, and where do they live?