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Hornady, Lyman, Speer. I would get the most current version of each.

I augment my manuals with print outs from Winchester/Hogdon's website and other powder manufacturers. These are available by caliber, so I set up a binder with tabs for the different calibers. Not a lot of data out there in the loading manuals for .458 Socom, .300 blackout, 6.8 SPC, and a few other specialty calibers I shoot that are not widely published, so the binder is a fool proof way for me to keep track of data from other sources, and it works in a power outage.

Sierra, Speer, Hornady, Lee, Lyman, Nosler, Hogdon annual, they all have weaknesses that make it worth it to own them all.

I found the 2nd edition Lee extremely insightful. It went very in depth, which was kind of comforting since I was pretty scared of my first batch of reloads (even though I had no reason to be). That is the only manual I used, the rest of my knowledge came from waguns or Google searchs.

Depends on what type of loads you want.
Fun shooting/range loads, then use the "Start" load data.
Serious "Match " loads, near "Maximum" in the data, approach with care.

The older editions were published years ago with powders you sometime no longer see today..
They did not have the pressure testing methods available today and
some data is near or above "Max" loads. They often put out data that had been used by someone and not pressure tested in any way. Some of the data was simply a "WAG".

I have many old manuals from back intro the 30's. They are fun to look at and often full of
" Old time" wisdom hints that are good ideas for today.
Willing to let you look at them, but not for sale.

New manuals:
Speer is my start looking book, tends to be a bit conservative in their data.
Lee has a whole bunch of data, but does not develop the data he lists, but rather "collects" it from
other sources.
Lyman and Sierra have been around for years and are good. Often have data for "Older" calibers.
The "Online" powder and bullet maker info is very helpful. Tends to be caliber specific and often limited in the powder selection.

Years ago many of the powder and bullet makers would publish thin booklets on their products and these were free at sporting goods stores. But have not seen any for a long time now.

cootduster

Also, if you are looking for load data, Hodgdon (covers IMR and Winchester powders as well) has a great website with load data and Accurate (and their sub powders Ramshot etc) has a downloadable PDF with their data.

If you are really into one caliber, the single caliber books are fun.

Some books alone just get me cranky. For example, even the Hogdon annual, which is pretty decent, is super sparse on 10mm loads. But between the web, single caliber book, and all my other books, I have a nice compendium of written data. Next caliber, 6.8SPC, and so own.

I have many manuals, starting with Lyman 41(I've been loading for a while ) thru 49, Sierra, Speer, Hornady, etc. I usually buy new manuals as they come out, but often refer back to the older manuals especially when loading for a new to me caliber. One of the books I really like is Pet Loads by Ken Waters. It gives minute detail on almost every caliber, the when and why a caliber was developed, the history of the caliber, issues with loading, best bullets and powders, etc. Some complain that the loading data is a bit dated, but that info can be found in more recent manuals. IMO, this book is a great reference, a book necessary for anyone who loads a lot of different calibers and is interested in the details of producing quality ammo.

I have a couple handgun specific books. I really like the Lyman 2nd Edition. One of the few books with 9x25. But it has lots of good other cartridges. Some books seem a LOT more rifle specific, which is fine - but in my case I tend to have lots of handguns in multiple calibers, vs tons and tons of rifles in "odd" calibers.

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I guess I fit the definition of experienced and lifelong, that is if half a century qualifies me.

I don't even look in books anymore. Oh, I do have a Lee 2nd Edition but I merely use it now for Cartridge drawings.

There is a wealth of information available online from the powder and bullet manufacturer's websites. There are uncounted forums that have useful information regarding all aspects of reloading.

I now use my computer for anything I need to research and when it comes to powder, the data I get from the manufacturer's sites is up to date, unlike many of the manuals that are published. Considering the lead time from submission of the "book" to the publisher, then printer, a brand new book on the shelf is already 2 years out of date. This is even worse if you buy your books at garage sales.

Considering the cost of 3-4 manuals, just purchase QuickLoad and you'll even have data for that cartridge you just created on your own.

Now if you want something that you can read while sitting on the can, a good Tom Clancy novel or maybe something by Jeffrey Deaver would be more interesting

My first go-to manual is Lyman 49. I shoot mostly my own cast bullets, and Lyman seems to have the most information available for cast. I do comparisons between that one and Lyman #45. While I do have Lyman's cast bullet manuals, as well as their pistol and revolver manuals, I find that the information is pretty much the same as their other manuals. I seldom refer to those two. I have found that the Lee #2 is a good reference, and a good double check when trying new bullets or loads. I know that most of their information is copied from other manuals, but it does give a good cross reference.
When I am loading jacketed bullets, I refer to the manual matching the brand of bullets I am using. Since I usually shoot Sierra, I pull their manuals first. I will do comparisons between their old manuals and the current issue. I prefer the Sierra manual over the Hornady and Speer. IMO, it has better additional information than the others, but maybe it is just because I use their manuals a lot.
When I am loading something new like a new bullet, powder or cartridge, I always have at least two manuals open and do comparasions. Just being OCD or extra careful, who knows. I do use some of the powder manuals, as well as on-line references, but always as a double check and never as a first look at a load. Again, just being OCD.
I think you will find Pet Loads to be a good read. Lots of good background info into the development of a cartridge, and what did and didn't work in load development. Ken Waters did more testing on individual cartridges than 95% of us will ever do.

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while I Have several manuals....

Google is my go to manual.... but i dont just go withone aource... i do a lot of forum search to get a good idea of what people are using

Considering that you still have to work up your load both for safety and accuracy, this is the best way to go.