Great cookbooks for starting out:

• The Joy of Cooking, Irma Rombauer

• Veganomicon, Isa Chandra Moskowitz

• How to Cook Everything/How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, Mark Bittman

• I Know How to Cook, Ginette Mathiot

• Help! My Apartment Has a Kitchen!, Kevin Mills

• Thug Kitchen, Matt Holloway, Michelle Davis

• Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Julia Child

• Ratio: the Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking, Michael Ruhlman