Just when I thought I could afford a subscription they, unbelievably, discontinued publication of Gourmet magazine, after nearly 70 years. This book devotes a full page photo, a recipe and note for the best cookie/biscuit recipe for each year of publication from 1941 - 2009. If you are in the mood for baking, you couldn't fail to find something to entice.

You know, I'm not a bad baker and I have to say I was disappointed. Yes, this is a pretty book and interesting to look at but the recipes? Meh. Bland, structurally unsound, and all-over-the-place in terms of quantity (some recipes make 8 cookies; some make 8 dozen), this is one to read but not necessarily one to use. I did a whole bunch of these cookies for Christmas 2010 and just ended up going back to my tried-and-true cookbooks to make substitutions every time something didn't work out. Disappointing. ( )

What’s not to like about sixty-eight years of interesting cookie recipes? ‘The Gourmet Cookie Book: Best Single Recipe Each Year 1941-2009’is a collection of the best of the foodie magazine’s best. There are cookies of almost every type - balls, bars, refrigerator, drop, deep fried (deep fried? They promise ‘good‘ not necessarily healthy).

The collection is international in scope with notes that provide a cultural context and tips and preparation/storage notes.

My standard cookbook test is to randomly open the pages five times and see how often I come up with something I like. A random sample here resulted in Chocolate Meringue Biscuits, Scented Fig and Date Swirls, Mini Black and White Cookies, Macadamia Shortbread, and Irish Coffee Crunchies.

While many of the recipes are not for the novice baker, there are simple, easier to prepare versions too. The ingredient lists and instructions, in true ’Gourmet’ fashion, are clear and easy to understand.

Now, about those fried cookies.

The bottom line: Five stars. An interesting collection for those who like to read about food and for those who like to bake.

Review copy provided by the publisher. ( )

This charming cookbook begins with an introduction guaranteed to melt the heart of even the least-likely cook (me) and convince her to give cookies a chance: Buy a cookie, and it's just a bite of sugar, something sweet to get you through the day. Bake a cookie, on the other hand, and you send an instant message from the moment you measure out the flour.

and

We were so captivated by the language of cookies that we have printed the recipes exactly as they originally appeared. In the early years, they are remarkably casual, a kind of mysterious shorthand that assumes that each reader is an accomplished cook who needs very little in the way of guidance. "Bake in a moderate oven until crisp," is a classic instruction. So is "Add flour until the dough is stiff." It's interesting to see numbers creep into the recipes in the form of degrees, minutes, and cups. And it's startling to observe the recipes growing longer and longer as they become increasingly precise.

Each recipe is presented as originally published, along with a color photo, notes to help the modern cook interpret instructions, and tidbits about Gourmet's focus and the place of cookies in the magazine's contents in that particular year.

(Read on the computer as a download from netgalley.com) ( )