It’s been a good year for cookbooks, almost as if authors had a couple of years of pent-up brilliance just waiting to burst forth. (I wonder why?) In fact, 2022 was such a good year, I snuck in a mid-year roundup as an excuse to write about more of them. Now at year’s end, there is a pleasing continuation of the theme of what it means to be an American, along with some eye-catching and helpful design. Finally, I persuaded Celia Sack at San Francisco’s Omnivore Books to share some of her favorites—thanks Celia! Show local booksellers some love this year and buy through Omnivore or your local shop. (We’re provided plenty of links below.) Cheers!