Reddit mentions of The Bread Baker's Apprentice, 15th Anniversary Edition: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread [A Baking Book]

https://www.amazon.com/Bread-Bakers-Apprentice-15th-Anniversary-ebook/dp/B019B6XJQK/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1501285597&sr=1-8&keywords=bread

There's another one that I'm mind blanking on, which I'll kick myself about later. One of the all time great chefs wrote a book titled just 'Bread' or something like that, it's amazing. Actually gifted someone it for reddit secret santa last year. Oh god, this is going to bug me all day. I'll post again if I think of it.

As for the pastry side? I don't actually know any. Most I've seen have been utter shite from a professional perspective. All of my classes were based on assembled workbooks and info assembled by the instructors. I've still got them all on my shelf, beside my wife's collection of celebrity chef recipe books. Guess which ones get used more. :P

Anyway, there's a few professional written recipe books, like Adriano Zumbo's one, but they're not great on teaching the techniques of patissierie. What you want to look for is a book that has good pictures of the techniques used, rather than what the ingredients look like after the technique is used, and for ALL measurements to be in weight. If a book has a volumetric measurement, toss it aside. It was either written by an amateur, or either the author or the editor dumbed down the book so much as to be unusable as a learning text.

I have a butternut squash tagine that I really like a lot. Big winner. I'm also fond of swordfish tostadas.

but really the best stuff is simple, and comfort food always wins. Pick something simple and learn to do it really well. People LOVE Spaghetti and Meatballs. Good home made meatballs are deceptively difficult to get right. Don't just warm them up in with red sauce, and don't just roll ground beef into a ball. You want them crunchy on the outside with a good texture all throughout, not spongy and not dry. You don't NEED to make your own pasta sauce, but try to stay away from the Ragu "might as well be ketchup" stuff.

Edit: I'd also suggest you learn to bake bread. I mean REALLY bake bread. The Bread Baker's apprentice changed my life.