The beauty of cookbooks

I am in love with cookbooks.

It's a fairly new love, only acquired in the last year or so. And I'm sure the admission would shock my family (who live on the other coast and haven't seen my kitchen for awhile), since growing up I was the one who had no interest in really learning to cook. Which now I realize is a shame, because I'm sure I missed out on learning lots of good stuff, as there are a number of really good cooks in the family. I picked up enough to be able to feed myself, and I did actually learn how to bake cookies, etc., as I've always had a sweet tooth. But I missed out on a lot, mostly because in my naivete I thought all that stuff was silly - women could do so much more than stay at home, and I was going to have a career. 

Lately, though, I've come to see how much beauty there is to be found in the kitchen - in the ability to cook a lovely meal and create delicious desserts and treats to nourish both the body and soul of yourself and family. How I wish I had more respect at the time for the knowledge I had available to me. Since I missed my chance, I started perusing cookbooks in bookstores. I love books in general, so it was to my delight to discover how gorgeous cookbooks are these days. That led to me joining a cookbook book club, and now I spend time trying to figure out how I can fit more cookbooks into my kitchen (I can't). But I doubt that will stop me, since it never has before. And if anyone has any cookbooks to recommend...