This year was a bumper crop of stellar cookbooks. I’ve put together a brief list of some of my favorites and, of course, my biases come through.

I love ethnic food and I’m becoming more and more fascinated with inventive and imaginative vegetarian cuisine. Below are six of the best cookbooks that were published in 2013.

[6]Jeff Koehler’s [7]Spain: Recipes and Traditions From the Verdant Hills of the Basque Country to the Coastal Waters of Andalucia [8] is a tour de force of Spanish cuisine in all its variations.

The book is divided into chapters by food-type -- shellfish, eggs, meats, etc. -- and highlights recipes from each region for said ingredients. Beautiful photographs fill the book and Koehler spotlights essential Iberian ingredients throughout.

Having recently visited Spain where each day was a culinary revelation – this book makes me want to return now!

[9]Fuchsia Dunlop’s [10] Every Grain of Rice: Simple Chinese Home Cooking [11] is one of the best introductions to Chinese cooking I have seen in a while. Chinese cooking can be intimidating on many levels from difficult to obtain ingredients to foreign ways of preparation.

Fuchsia has written a book that presents the healthy aspects of Chinese cooking focusing heavily on vegetables but not eliminating beef, chicken and pork. The book starts with a wonderful section on the basics explaining in detail the essential ingredients, methods of preparation, equipment and menu planning.

[12]Andy Ricker [13] is arguably one of the most recognizable names when it comes to authentic Thai food in America. His flagship restaurant Pok Pok [14]in Portland, Ore., has been written about more times than you can shake a long stalk of lemongrass at.

Pok Pok: Food and Stories From the Streets, Homes, and Roadside Restaurants of Thailand [15] is bursting with many of the recipes that have made his restaurant(s) so memorable. These recipes are the real deal and may require a full day shopping for many of the difficult-to-obtain ingredients.

Thankfully, Ricker provides detailed explanations of key ingredients and mail-order sources.

This is a must read for any fan of Thai cuisine and culture.

[16]Two of the grande dames of the food movement returned this year with truly inspiring and inventive books focusing on vegetarian cooking. The first is Deborah Madison’s [17] Vegetable Literacy: Cooking and Gardening With Twelve Families From the Edible Plant Kingdom, With Over 300 Deliciously Simple Recipes [18]. Madison’s beautifully photographed book is nothing short of encyclopedic. She groups like vegetables into twelve family categories and provides information on their varieties, care, preparation, as well as many spectacular recipes.

[19]The second is Mollie Katzen’s [20] The Heart of the Plate: Vegetarian Recipes for a New Generation. [21]

Katzen is best known as the author of the classic Moosewood cookbook [22], which was published in 1977 and revised in 1992. While not as in-depth as Madison’s book, Katzen’s book is full of uncomplicated recipes focusing on fresh ingredients often with an international twist. She provides a nice section on vegetarian and vegan menu planning.

[23]Finally, One Good Dish [24] by New York Times columnist David Tanis [25] focuses on just that: Instead of worrying about an elaborate three-course meal, focus on one good dish. Tanis’s volume contains seductively easy to prepare recipes for snacks, condiments, sandwiches and “pleasures in a bowl."

The book has some standouts including waffle-iron grilled cheese which, in the middle of the current Polar Vortex, sounds just about right.

These are only six of what was really a standout year for cookbooks. Check out the library’s collection for other amazing titles. Here’s to 2014 and a lot more to come!