# What is your personal "bible"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [March 7, 2023, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-personal-bible/980849 "2023-03-07T22:32:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-personal-bible/980849/21 "2023-03-08T09:32:40Z")
_Mastering the Art of French Cooking_ by Julia Child. I’ve only ever cooked a few recipes out of it, but I find it a useful guide for technique and some basic principles of cooking, and I’ve learned things from it that have helped me developing my own recipes. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-personal-bible/980849/22 "2023-03-08T09:47:21Z")
It used to be **The New England Journal of Medicine** , but now that I’m retired, it’s the **IMDb**. Before I commit my time to a movie, I want to read some positive reviews about it. If I’m in a cooking mood, I usually browse **AllRecipes**.com first for inspiration. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-personal-bible/980849/23 "2023-03-08T13:09:06Z")
**Joy of Cooking** was my first cookbook and I still refer to it from time to time. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-personal-bible/980849/24 "2023-03-08T13:45:57Z")
**This book** had a profound influence on me at the age of 16. I currently have a copy of the December 1989 printing, and I refer to it constantly. > **[The Making of Star Trek](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/The_Making_of_Star_Trek)** > > The Making of Star Trek is a behind-the-scenes description of the creation of Star Trek: The Original Series, the first Star Trek series. A multi point of view reference book, in which input from a wide range of production contributors, from studio... ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-personal-bible/980849/25 "2023-03-08T14:03:01Z")
_The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_. When I got a H2G2 tattoo last year, I explained to folks that it was the closest thing to a holy text that I’ve got. Also might add _Psychotic Reactions and Carburator Dung_, or the last two print editions of the _Trouser Press Record Guide_. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-personal-bible/980849/26 "2023-03-08T15:16:51Z")
The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery. It’s at least 50 years old, a real doorstop of a book printed on cheap pulpy paper (though I’m sure there are better versions available now). Written with the homesteader in mind, it tells you how to do it all: how to find land, how to raise, slaughter, and cook any livestock, how to raise rabbits and chickens, what to do with hundreds of eggs and gallons of milk, absolutely everything about planting a garden. It’s fascinating reading. I used to browse through it on anxiety-ridden, sleepless nights. Fantasize about farm-living, lol, not as easy as one would think. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-personal-bible/980849/27 "2023-03-08T15:51:34Z")
Two more faithful companions that got me through long winter nights in Moscow: [![](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/516vOnKSm-L._SY264_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_ML2_.jpg) ](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/516vOnKSm-L._SY264_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_ML2_.jpg) [![](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51ptgV-DePL._SX218_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_FMwebp_.jpg) ](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51ptgV-DePL._SX218_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_FMwebp_.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-personal-bible/980849/28 "2023-03-08T16:02:59Z")
How about the Periodic Table? Though it’s not exactly a book. The Chemical Rubber Company used to publish a very comprehensive book of chemical and physical information which was often referred to as ‘the bible’, perhaps because it was a very fat book bound in dark covers which resembled a family bible. Actually, now I look it up, they still do. For computer folks, there’s Knuth, of course. Though I will confess that despite having had a long software engineering career, I have never read it. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-personal-bible/980849/29 "2023-03-08T17:32:49Z")
I am not going to name one book-instead I am going to list my “personal bookshelf”–the list of books I have read the most: 1. the first five Straight Dope books 2. the first three Book of Lists by Irving Wallace, David Wallechinsky, and Amy Wallace 3. Big Secrets, Bigger Secrets, and Biggest Secrets by William Pounstone 4. Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science by martin gardner 5. the gift of fear by gavin de becker 6. the latest copy of The Guinness Book of World Records (I buy it annually and still have about 30 years worth of editions) My favorite genre to collect are trivia books and especially the “book of lists” type. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-personal-bible/980849/30 "2023-03-08T17:36:50Z")
I’ve found my probable future Bible, does that count? _Everything Elephants_ by Michael Don Knapik. I hope it’s good! ---
**Author:** ![Redcanoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b487fb/32.png) [@Redcanoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Redcanoe)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-personal-bible/980849/31 "2023-03-08T17:46:42Z")
The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-personal-bible/980849/32 "2023-03-08T17:55:44Z")
History and maps are my wheelhouse and so over the decades I have filled a room full of expensive and rare Historical Atlases to prove it. But [The Penguin Atlas of World History, Vol. 1](https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-anchor-atlas-of-world-history-vol-1-from-the-stone-age-to-the-eve-of-the-french-revolution_werner-hilgemann_hermann-kinder/333960/item/8649623/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAgaGgBhC8ARIsAAAyLfGFiIemv2Pl-agV99LgFkMbYFrbRwBHK6uvtxY013cLQgRvXMPxuTwaAn_sEALw_wcB#idiq=8649623&edition=1922060) (It’s also called The Anchor series as well as others, but still in print) and it’s brother Vol 2 are all anyone really needs. There is so much in those little books they are gold to me no matter the topic, or era, or place on this planet. Penguin has you covered with more detail and more nuance than anything you can buy in any American bookstore at the very least. Everyone remotely interested in history or has to take a class on any time period would do well to have those two small cheap books on their shelf. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-personal-bible/980849/33 "2023-03-08T18:07:41Z")
[![](https://img.thriftbooks.com/api/images/l/be03fccb138cc77b15e8aece1ad5d0b3a3a29421.jpg) ](https://img.thriftbooks.com/api/images/l/be03fccb138cc77b15e8aece1ad5d0b3a3a29421.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-personal-bible/980849/34 "2023-03-08T18:10:52Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > [https://img.thriftbooks.com/api/images/l/be03fccb138cc77b15e8aece1ad5d0b3a3a29421.jpg](https://img.thriftbooks.com/api/images/l/be03fccb138cc77b15e8aece1ad5d0b3a3a29421.jpg) Great book, would have been mine also if I self identified as ‘Gardener’ for this. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-personal-bible/980849/35 "2023-03-08T18:36:22Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > I’ve found my probable future Bible, does that count? _Everything Elephants_ by Michael Don Knapik. I hope it counts, because my bible is still being written too! The forthcoming [Sam Jaffe’s Caterpillars of New England.](https://www.thecaterpillarlab.org/art) But David Wagner’s Caterpillars of Eastern North America has been doing a great job of filling the bible role for several years now. [ETA: Oh wait, you meant that’s your future bible because you intend to get into that subject, not because the book hasn’t yet come out (2002 publication date).] ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-personal-bible/980849/36 "2023-03-08T20:00:47Z")
_In Search of Wonder_ by Damon Knight. One of the first collections of critical articles about science fiction. Of especial note to me were the sections on “Chuckleheads” – SF stories that were poorly conceived.\* I made sure I didn’t make the mistakes Knight pointed out. Second is _Techniques of the Selling Writer_ by Dwight V. Swain, which is a great writing guide that’s unlike any other. The odd thing is that I had already developed his technique on my own, but it’s still a great guide, especially if you’re a pantser (i.e., make things up as you go along, without planning). \*My favorite comment “‘This eloquent novel’ begins the blurb for X, making two errors of fact in three words.” ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-personal-bible/980849/37 "2023-03-08T20:09:40Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > [ETA: Oh wait, you meant that’s your future bible because you intend to get into that subject, not because the book hasn’t yet come out (2002 publication date).] Kinda. I’ve been collecting elephant figurines for awhile, and it’s great to know there’s a book about it. And maybe I’ll find some hidden treasure! ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-personal-bible/980849/38 "2023-03-08T20:19:34Z")
Before the Internet, I’d use the _World Almanac_ nearly daily. I still buy it, but mostly for completeness sake. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-personal-bible/980849/39 "2023-03-08T20:52:07Z")
It’s a toss-up between _Shoes and Pattens (Medieval Finds from Excavations in London)_ - Grew & De Neergaard or _Patterns of Fashion 3 : the cut and construction of clothes for men and women 1560–1620_ - Arnold or _The Forme of Cury_ - various. Depending on if I’m doing leatherwork, clothes or food. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-personal-bible/980849/40 "2023-03-08T22:30:57Z")
Closest I get would be dictionaries, I guess. I have a two volume Shorter Oxford (it ain’t that short) as a go-to; and most of the works of Eric Partridge, amongst a scattering of other things. > **[Eric Partridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Partridge)** > > Eric Honeywood Partridge (6 February 1894 – 1 June 1979) was a New Zealand–British lexicographer of the English language, particularly of its slang. His writing career was interrupted only by his service in the Army Education Corps and the RAF correspondence department during World War II. > Partridge was born in the Waimata Valley, near Gisborne, on the North Island of New Zealand to John Thomas Partridge, a grazier, and his wife Ethel Annabella Norris. In 1908 the family moved to Queensland, ... I have quoted his various dictionaries several times on these boards. j [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-personal-bible/980849.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-personal-bible/980849.md?page=3)