@Poser: I really like Alton Brown for the reasons you’ve stated. I have three of his books and refer to them often. But those books don’t have a lot of recipes. There’s a lot of explanation and a few recipes. This is really good if you’ve got some experience and want to go further in your cooking toward crafting your own recipes.
I think for a beginner I’d recommend The Joy of Cooking. It’s been around for decades but they keep updating it. (It’s something my family usually gives to young folks either as a wedding gift or a housewarming.) There’s loads of recipes, and if you want explanations there are a lot of starter explanations at the beginning of each new section. It’s broad in cultures as well as courses. So, you can find traditional American, Italian, Hungarian, Mexican, etc. You can also find salads, soups, main courses, breakfasts, pastries, cakes, breads, etc. It’s pretty complete.
Some recipes are super easy and some are more complicated, but it’s pretty easy to follow. It you don’t know what something in a more complex recipe means they’ll have a place where they explain it.