Home economics book series in reading order

by Betty Crocker

America's Test Kitchen is credited with 14 cookbooks in the catalogue, published from 2014 to 2025. The Complete Cooking for Two Cookbook (2014) is the earliest. Later titles include The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook (2015), The Complete Mediterranean Cookbook (2016) and The Complete Diabetes Cookbook (2018). Cook's Country TV Show Cookbook (2025) is the newest title. Subjects include recipes, home economics and diet therapy.

Dame Shirley Conran, born Shirley Ida Pearce on 21 September 1932, was an English author, designer, journalist and social entrepreneur who died on 9 May 2024. Married to Terence Conran, she worked as a designer and sales director at Conran Fabrics, then became women's editor of The Observer and the Daily Mail, where she launched the Femail section. After ME made working difficult, Conran wrote best-selling books, including the feminist self-help title Superwoman and the novel Lace (1982). Later she founded charities promoting maths education for women. The catalogue runs from 1977 to The Revenge of Mimi Quinn (1998).

Mary Berry is an English food writer, chef, baker and television presenter, born on 24 March 1935. Berry trained in catering at college and went to France at 22 to attend Le Cordon Bleu. The Hamlyn All Colour Cookbook (1970) was the first Mary Berry book, and the Baking Bible followed in 2009 among more than 75 cookery titles. Berry has presented television series for the BBC and Thames Television. The catalogue opens with Mary Berry's Cookbook (1970) and covers baking, cakes, desserts, freezer cooking and make-ahead cooking, with titles such as Popular Freezer Cookery (1972) and Family Cooking (1978).

Nigel Slater is an English food writer, journalist and broadcaster, born in 1956. Quick cooking is his signature subject: Real Fast Food (1992), Real Fast Desserts (1993), The 30-Minute Cook (1994) and 30-minute Suppers (1996) all work that ground, with Real Cooking (1997) and Real Good Food (1997) after them. Slater wrote for Marie Claire for five years before moving to The Observer Magazine, where his column has run for more than a decade, and he is the principal writer for Observer Food Monthly. His 27 catalogued books reach A Thousand Feasts (2024), at a median of 288 pages.

Mark Bittman

44 books• 1 series

Mark Bittman is an American food journalist and author, born in 1950, and a former New York Times columnist. Bittman promotes VB6, a flexitarian diet of vegan eating before 6 p.m. The catalogue lists 44 books from Fish: The Complete Guide to Buying and Cooking (1994) to How To Cook Everything Kids (2024), including The Minimalist Cooks at Home (1999) and the How to Cook Everything series. Subjects include quick and easy cooking, international cooking and vegetarian cooking.

Wanda E. Brunstetter writes Amish romance and has sold more than 10 million books, with titles on the New York Times Best Seller list; Brunstetter is based in Washington. The catalogue lists 125 books from A Merry Heart (1997) to A Castle of Sand (2026). Series include Brides Of Lancaster County, Brides Of Webster County, Brides Of Lehigh Canal, Daughters Of Lancaster County, Sisters Of Holmes County, Half-Stitched Amish Quilting Club, Amish Millionaire, Creektown Discoveries and Rachel Yoder: Always Trouble Somewhere. Subjects include Amish women and children, Pennsylvania and Amish cooking.

Susan Branch is an American author, watercolourist and designer who illustrates her own books. Heart of the Home is the cookbook series Branch is known for, and the 44 catalogued titles also take in memoirs, guided journals, travel writing and keepsake books. The run opens with Heart of the Home (1986) and reaches Distilled Genius - A Collection of Life-Changing Quotations (2022), at a median 80 pages. Cooking, entertaining, home economics and Christmas recur as subjects. No new title has appeared since 2022.

Jamie Oliver

40 books• 1 series

Jamie Oliver is an English chef and restaurateur whose 40 catalogued books are mostly cookbooks. The Naked Chef (1999) accompanied the BBC Two series of the same name that ran to 2001, and Jamie's Kitchen, Jamie's Dinners and Jamie's Italy extend a run reaching Eat Yourself Healthy (2025). Oliver started the Feed Me Better campaign in 2005 to put healthier food into schools, and the government later backed it; the first Jamie's Italian restaurant opened in 2008. Oliver has also written the children's series Billy and the Giant Adventure.

Prue Leith, born Prudence Margaret Leith on 18 February 1940, is a South African and British restaurateur, chef, cookery writer, novelist and broadcaster. Leith judged BBC Two's Great British Menu from 2005 to 2016, then replaced Mary Berry as a judge on The Great British Bake Off in 2017 after the show moved to Channel 4, staying until 2025. Leith was also Chancellor of Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, from 2016 to 2024. The catalogue lists 42 books from Leith's All Party Cookbook (1972) to Being Old...and learning to love it! (2026), including Leith's Cookery Bible and the Angelotti Chronicles novels. Paul Hollywood shares credit on 2 of the books.

Betty Crocker is a fictional character created in 1921 by General Mills, then the Washburn-Crosby Company, to answer consumer questions about products in a personal voice. The character is used in advertising campaigns for food and recipes. The catalogue carries 251 books under the Betty Crocker name, from Betty Crocker's Cooky Book (1948) to Betty Crocker's Frosting Secret (2025). Titles include Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook (1950) and Betty Crocker's Cookbook (1969). Subjects cover American cooking, quick and easy cooking, cookies, pasta and chicken.

Joe Wicks, born Joseph Trevor Wicks on 21 September 1985 and known as The Body Coach, is a British fitness coach, television presenter and author. The Wicks fitness method is built on High Intensity Interval Training workouts. Wicks began by sharing 15-second recipe videos online and built one of the most followed fitness accounts on Instagram and YouTube. Lean in 15 (2015) was a best-seller that sold more than 900,000 copies. The catalogue lists 17 books through Protein in 15 (2025), including Veggie Lean in 15 (2018) and the Burpee Bears series.

Martina Slajerova and various others is a combined cookbook credit covering 16 books from 2016 to 2021. The KetoDiet Cookbook and Sweet and Savory Fat Bombs date from 2016, and 500 Ketogenic Recipes and Quick Keto Meals in 30 Minutes or Less from 2017. Ketogenic, low-carbohydrate and sugar-free diets, weight loss and slow cooking are among the subjects. The listing also includes Dana Carpender's Keto Fat Gram Counter (2019). The New Mediterranean Diet Cookbook (2021) is the newest title.

Yotam Ottolenghi

16 books• 1 series

Yotam Ottolenghi is an Israeli-British chef, restaurateur and food writer, born on 14 December 1968. Together with Sami Tamimi, Ottolenghi co-owns delis and restaurants in London and at Bicester Village. The cookbooks listed here start with Ottolenghi (2008) and include Plenty (2010), Jerusalem (2012), Plenty More (2014), NOPI (2015), Sweet (2017) and Ottolenghi Simple (2018). Ottolenghi Simple Too (2026) is the newest. Subjects cover vegetarian, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cooking.

Julia Turshen is catalogued with 10 books on cooking, published from 2015 to 2026. Small Victories (2016), Feed the Resistance (2017), Now & Again (2018), Simply Julia (2021) and What Goes with What (2024) are among them. The listing also carries The Hot Bread Kitchen Cookbook (2015), Margaritaville: The Cookbook (2018) and In Bibi's Kitchen (2020). Subjects include leftovers, Eastern African cooking, political advocacy, grandmothers and interviews. Down to Earth (2026) is the newest.