Does anyone else seem to get carried away when they are on Amazon? Someone metioned the 'Hello Cupcakes' book earlier. So, I went to check it out and suddenly have a whole shopping cart of cake/cupcake books.

I can't decide if they are worth the money considering all of the endless free resoucres we have access to.

Anyone have some recommendations for the good or bad?

Here is one that I love....(pretty party cakes)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0307337073/?tag=cakecentral-20

no one with book recommendations? perhaps i should avoid spending the money.

I would love to have every book out there!

I have a whole wish list of books I want!!

You might check ebay though.. You might find them cheaper!!!

I too have a shopping cart full of books with Amazon. All of the ones I have purchased are wonderful. They all have certain tidbits of information that is helpful plus TONS of wonderful cakes to look at.

Good luck with choosing and have fun.

I love Lindy Smith's books.

I am right there with you. I have a serious book habit, in particular cookbooks and now cake decorating books. Here are some I have which I love.

Pretty Party Cakes and Romantic Cakes by Peggy Porchen
Spectacular Cakes and Party Cakes by Mitch Turner
A whole stack of books by Colette Peters
50 Easy Party Cakes and Enchanted Cakes for Children ( + the new wedding cake book which is on order) by Debbie Brown
The Whimsical Bakehouse Book, the Little Cakes book by WBH and the Christmas Cookies book by WBH, by Kay and Liv Hansen
The Wedding Cake book and the Cookies book by Martha Stewart
Confetti Cakes and Confetti Cakes for Kids by Elisa Strauss.

I have a lot more but the above books is what I refer to for inspiration and ideas. The Whimsical Bakehouse recipes are good and Mitch Turner's recipes are excellent.

Before buying books online have you thought about going to the local book stores and looking? Barns and Nobles carries many cake decorating books. I have personally had better luck when I get to look through the books first. While others can give a book rave reviews it just may not be my thing or something helpful to me.

You can also find cake books at Michaels. There aren't a ton of them but there are some on cakes, cupcakes and cookies that are not Wilton.

You can also try the libarary as well.

I LOVE buying books, but am running out of room in my cookbook bookcase (yes, I have an entire bookcase dedicated to cookbooks - love it!) Out of necessity, I'm now borrowing the books from the library first. If I love it, then I'll buy it.

I have a passion for good cake/cookie books. My daughter is even worse as she buys me every book she finds a nice cake or good recipe in. I personally don't think you can get enough of them. I may only find one or two tips/recipes/ideas in each book but I still feel they are totally worth it. They are an awesome resourse. My problem is finding a place to store all these books. If I ever get to open my "dream" bakery I'll create a place for them. I remember when I lived in either Portland, OR or in the Los Angeles area there was a little restaurant that had their cookbooks out for people to look at. I just loved the ambiance that it created.

Blondiezbakery-

I agree with everyone that different cookbooks have all kinds of tips. I too get crazy when I go to Amazon, I put all the books in the cart then I emty it hoping I made the right decision. Go to your local library and look for cake books, if you like any in particular then order them. I hope this helps. Also the book you like is at Michaels for $30, but with their 50% coupon you can get it for $15

I order all of my books from Amazon and I have about 20 books in my cart and my husband tells me that i can't order any of them because he'll have to build me another book shelf I personally want the Pretty Party Cakes book (i hear alot of people talk about it) and I want Collette Peters book Cakes to dream on.

Build your own dang bookshelf.

yes. I purchased about $350 in cake/cookie/cupcake books for my birthday back in August. They kept suggest a new book and I kept adding them to my cart. LOL

However Amazon did fail me. They couldn't locate one of Lindy Smith's books and finally cancelled the order on monday....four months later!

I have hello cupcake in my cart. Because I am in Australia I am hoping my local cake decorating store will finally get it in (which they said they are) so I dont have to pay for international shipping!

I'm not such a fan of Lindsay Smith's books. Her cakes are beautiful but seem to need a lot of special equipment and tools, and are extremely fiddly.

I love to look at Debbie Brown's books but I think her cakes look deceptively simple - plus the Madeira cake recipe she uses is gross!

I would suggest browsing at local bookstore if only to find the cake decorator that reflects your personal style.

It would have to be book shelves, chutzpah. We're talking many, many books. My house won't accomodate them, limited wall space. That's the reason they'll be moving to the bakery once it comes to be!

LOLOL!!

Build your own dang BOOKCASE, then!

I hear ya. I have hundreds of cake/cookbooks.

I am pretty addicted...I was in JoAnn's today and saw a few, and I feel like I MUST have them. I have starting to see my paychecks dissapear before my eyes. (not to mention, I am not really charging for my cakes right now, b/c it is a hobby).

When I was engaged I did the same thing with Bridal magazines...I blew hundreds of dollars for the 'latest magazine'.

Yikes..

Well...if anyone has any 'must haves'...please list them so I can continue to add it to my growing list.

I have the cake mix doctor and chocolate cake mix doctor I have glanced through them but I have only used about two of the recipes! They are looking for new homes since I don't use them and they are collecting dust!