Okay, I'll take the challenge from Flipsycab. I actually know about these things.

Total number of cookbooks I own: Not counting several cooking magazines I subscribe to (Cook's Illustrated, Gourmet, and Saveur -- mostly to keep the Mother's Against Drunk Driving off my back), I have 20 cookbooks. Now, some of them are things given to me -- one of the oddest is the Hare Krishna cookbook that was handed to me somewhere. I also own quite a few books on food and cooking, but that aren't cookbooks. Good food writing is one of those kinds of light non-fiction I like to read to unwind.

Last cookbook(s) I've bought: Hmm. It's been a while since I bought any cookbooks. I went through a phase about two-three years ago when I picked up a lot from the remainders bin. I think it was either a Southeast Asian cookbook or an Indian spice guide with recipes -- I live near a lot of ethnic stores, so I wanted some good guides to all that stuff that I have no idea what it is but I'd love to figure out how to cook.

Five cookbooks that mean a lot to me:

1. I will be boring and pedestrian and also highly recommend The Joy of Cooking. There's a reason why everyone has that one -- it gives you a no-nonsense version of how to cook just about everything. It may not have the perfect recipe, but whatever you need to figure out how to cook, there's a version of it in there. I also like the guide sections, so when I come back from the farmer's market with some odd veggie, I have some clue of what to do with the damn thing.

2. My next favorite is Best Recipe. This is from the people who do America's Test Kitchen and publish Cook's Illustrated. These guys are a Consumer's Report for cooking -- they take no advertising, and they spend their time fiddling with recipes until they can explain the scientific reasons behind the techniques they use to make a recipe. Their current tag line is "we made 35 lemon cheesecakes so you don't have to". It's also very helpful to an instinctive cook like me -- if I understand the basic principles that need to be followed, I can fiddle with the rest of it to my heart's content.

3. The Indian Spice Kitchen. This is the one with every weird little funky seed and spice that's in the Indian groceries. They teach you how to blend your own curries as well as give you ideas of what to do with things like nigella seed and ajwayan. Both of which I have in stock.

4. The International Cookie Cookbook. Okay, so I no longer indulge in flour, sugar and most sweet stuff, but it's nice to look at the pictures.

5. The Dorm Room Cookbook Just because. More fun with hotpots and pot noodles.