I generally think of cookbooks as collections of recipes, because that's what the majority of them are. I pored over a 1967 edition of The Joy of Cooking as a teen, and studied the detailed explanations of methods and ingredients, equipment and history, and thus began my real education.

So even though I will probably never skin a squirrel, or make Chicken A la King, or anything at all in tomato aspic, the old Joy of Cooking is my fave.
I still turn to it for the White Bread Plus (or Wheat Bread Plus) recipe that makes 3 loaves, or the very simple, very easy, Flour Paste Pie Crust recipe.

Other cookbooks I can cheer for are 'The Hows and Whys of French Cooking' by Alma Lach, which is like taking a culinary class in terms of depth and understanding.

Also the magazine Cook's Illustrated! In addition to offering top-notch recipes and methods, it's a great entertaining read.

Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book is how I learned to make bread without anyone to teach me, and have baked passionately ever since.

For some reason, I could never get behind the Betty Crocker cookbooks like The New Cookbook. They seemed more like recipe collections than cookery books, and I wasn't too impressed with the recipes or methods. I know, I am trampling sacred ground, and don't mean to. Maybe I feel that way because my mother always used that book, and she was a terrible cook. I am certainly biased, so forgive my words if you are a lover of that book.

*** It is in the nature of man to search for the meaning of Wife. But one man said it best: 'Wifeys like a box of chocolates'. ***