I purchased this book as a gift for my daughter, who is learning to bake artisan breads, but has young children and limited time. I like the color photograph illustrations and the recipes seem good, but I do not like the format. The instructions are all in paragraph format and difficult to follow. My daughter says she finds herself reading and rereading several times to remember the order of all the steps. A 1, 2, 3 style list of instructions would have been so much easier to follow. I, too, like to be able to glance at a recipe quickly (while my hands are all floury) without searching through paragraphs, looking for what I need to know. Imagine trying to keep track of steps with 3 little children at your feet...not so easy.
I own the Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart and love it, so I expected this to be in a similar format, just with simpler processes to produce great bread. Bread Baker's Apprentice is laid out with a clear 1, 2, 3, etc. step by step of the instructions. I wish he had done the same with Artisan Breads Every Day.
Another small gripe is that the bakers' percentages are all listed in a table near the back of the book, rather than with each recipe. This is useful, but I would like to have the reference right at hand with the recipe. Some books use a chart format for ingredients, listing the ounces, grams (sometimes cups and spoons volume) as well as bakers' percentage so all is right at hand.
I do like that Artisan Breads Every Day gives measurements in grams as well as ounces and volume. I would like to have seen grams in the Bread Baker's Apprentice. As I make each recipe, I use the unit conversion on my scale and pencil in the grams beside each ingredient. Grams are more universal as well as more precise. I admit that seeing the volume measures, as well, helps my mind's eye to visualize the amount from a lifetime of using this method. So, even though I don't measure by volume, I like that it gives me a rough idea of what is needed to have at hand before I begin a baking project.