Reference vs. selection in cookbooks

Today, I opened a book package and found a square-formatted paperback entitled, simply, Shake.  Without looking at the title, the flap, the press release, or the back cover, I started thumbing through the pages (sometimes I just plunge in cold like that, to avoid any preconceptions I might get from the marketing).

“That’s odd,” I thought to myself.  There was something really different about this book, but it took me a moment to put my finger on it:  it was a drinks book that looked like a cookbook.

The drinks books on my shelf tend to be solid and dauntingly comprehensive, like any one of the many books titled “The Bar Book”.  Occasionally there’s a slim volume with an umbrella drink on the cover, explaining how to make 100 sangrias or vodka drinks.

But both kinds are references in their way – they take on a specific topic and exhaust it as best they can, leaving no stone unturned.  Shake, however, doesn’t. Like many cookbooks, it offers a few dozen lavishly illustrated, anecdotally supported recipes, seasonally organized, with nothing in common other than that they’re all alcoholic drinks.  (Summer’s offerings include “The Watermelon Daiquiri”, “the Montauk Mule”, “The Bush Basil Booster”)

Although it’s practically a default format for regular cookbooks, I’ve never seen a drinks book quite like that – someone’s favorite recipes, curated as lovingly as an exhibit in a posh gallery.  But it occurs to me that maybe that’s partly because when it comes to drinks books, I’m biased toward reference.  Same with preserving books.  I guess, if it’s an area of cooking where I don’t feel comfortable improvising, it’s an area where I prefer a reference.  I used to feel that way about grill books too, but now that I feel pretty comfortable with grilling, I think I’d prefer a small curated book bearing someone’s vision.  (And the thing is, the “all the recipes in one place” argument is less important when you have tools like Eat Your Books, which puts all your recipes virtually in one place.)

What about you?  Are you a part-time sucker for reference cookbooks too?  Or do you prefer the cherry-picked and highly selective?