- Microbiology (2nd edition), by Bruce D. Fisher, M.D., Richard A. Harvey and Pamela C. Champe, series editors; Lippincott's Illustrated Reviews, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, (Wolters Kluwer), 2001, 2007.
Microbiology: Principles and Applications, 2nd edition (Instructor's Edition) by Jacquelyn G. Black, Prentice Hall, 1991, 1993.
As handy as they will be on my reference shelf they also showed me that I have no interest in chasing infectious diseases. For one thing, it dangerous, even if you have a sterile lab, rather than a home office. I might be interested in viewing prepared slides if I can buy some but it is not high on my list.
Fundamentals of Light Microscopy and Electron Imaging by Douglas B. Murphy, Wiley Liss, 2001.
Like the other two, there was nothing especially compelling in the selection. It seemed like a one semester college survey text and that was what I wanted.
I will say that so much of this information is actively available online that books themselves are classics. They do work when the Internet does not. You can mark them up, annotate them, put sticky-notes inside and such. And you can do that with Kindle edtions, also. I accept that the medium is merely the one that I am used to.