Who would turn down childhood summers spent in France, traveling between a farmhouse in Provence and the glamour of Paris, or taking a long road trip through Bordeaux, stopping off in Saint Malo and Lyon and ending up in on a beach in the Mediterranean? Who wouldn't love to offer such a life to their own children? If that's not immediately possible for you, then you can take vicarious pleasure in reading and cooking from this beautifully photographed cookbook/memoir written by two lucky women who had that very childhood and more.

Butter makes everything better. So it stands to reason that flavored butter would make everything even more better. Times infinity. Judging by the butters Lucy Vaserfirer offers in this new cookbook, I'd say this logic definitely holds true. Chipotle butter for your grilled steak? Honey-orange butter for your muffin? We have just entered buttery nirvana.

"Indians are alchemists of the vegetarian table," writes Anjum Anand, and her new cookbook merges India's rich culinary traditions with a fresh, modern perspective. Indian Vegetarian Feast should appeal to both vegetarians and omnivores looking for simple, healthy weeknight recipes and beautiful dishes to impress dinner party guests.

Q: I would like to buy a pair of solid fruit and vegetable reference books. I am debating between Chez Panisse Fruits and Vegetables and Nigel Slater's Tender and Ripe. Do you have any suggestions or thoughts on how they compare? Are they unique enough that it's worth owning all four books?

Are you ready to be wrapped in a big ol' bear hug of awesome? One that smells like fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies and the unbeatable huevos rancheros you first ate on a trip to Mexico when you were a teen? Then turn to the first page of this graphic food memoir by comic artist Lucy Knisley and prepare to settle in for a happy afternoon of reading.

We've been reviewing a lot of cookbooks on The Kitchn lately, which has led me to thinking about how and why I still use my print cookbook collection.  I know that the internet is in many ways a more efficient method for procuring recipes and researching variations.  Why, then, are cookbooks still a big part of my life in the kitchen?  Here are four reasons why I will never give them up.

Let's be honest with ourselves: half of the reason we eat salads is for the dressing. Whether it's a tart balsamic vinaigrette or a creamy blue cheese dressing, we love the way that dressing wraps around every bite. This new book by Michele Anna Jordan is a boon to us salad-lovers. Here are over sixty recipes to shake up your salad routine and ensure that you'll never buy dressing again.

If Dan Lepard's new cookbook Short & Sweet is the one-stop shop for homey everyday sweets and baked goods, Patisserie is the one-stop shop for all things classic and French. Want to become the master of puff pastry? Craft your own pulled-sugar roses? Drap petits fours with fondant? With over 3,200 step-by-step photos and 210 recipes in 800 pages, this book will show you exactly how to do all of these things and more. Wowzas.

Working with sugar can be a little scary, or so a lot of people think. The Sweet Book of Candy Making is determined to quell those worries by explaining everything you need to know to make candy in the comfort of your own kitchen, just like your Grandma! More

My boyfriend and I make quite a few cocktails, often preferring our home bar to going out for over-priced and often marginal drinks at our neighborhood bar. We like experimenting and making up new seasonal drinks, so I find myself turning to three books in particular for constant inspiration. More