i think i'm finally going to get a serious little mixer because i think everyone would cook more if we had one. it would make things so much easier. i know i'd make bread practically every day & work through every recipe (except ones w/mushrooms) my baking books cover-to-cover if i had one. i'm spoiled at work where i use a mixer that can handle ~50kg of dough.
when we move to a bigger location soon we'll have a 160kg diosna mixer also. it's practially a bathtub for mixing dough in. anyway i was thinking of this bare-bones kitchenaid which would be plenty imo:
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00004SGFW.01._AA280_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
books on my list include all the rest of peter reinhart's bread books and.... not sure what else