I've stopped buying cookbooks because I don't like to make complicated things with more than 10 ingredients (including the herbs, spices & salt); I get them out of the library. I do own and like Nourishing Traditions, but the book I use the most is The Joy of Cooking from the 1940s because it covers how long to cook basic things like roasts and has a great "substitutions" list for when you are missing an ingredient. I rarely follow recipes but will look up what herbs/spices go with whatever meat/poultry/fish and vegs I have at hand, depending on whether I'm feeling like Mexican, Indian, Asian, French or Irish food at the time.