LOS ANGELES TIMES LIST FOR NOV. 2, 2005

Rankings are based on a Times poll of national and independent booksellers.

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*--* 1 Everyday Italian: 125 Simple and Delicious Recipes by Giada De Laurentiis (Clarkson Potter, $30) A strong seller for several months from the Food Network star.

2 Julie and Julia by Julie Powell (Little, Brown, $24) The blogger who shared her adventures in cooking her way through “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” expands her account in print.

3 The Best American Recipes 2005-2006: The Year’s Top Picks from Books, Magazines, Newspapers and the Internet edited by Fran McCullough and Molly Stevens (Houghton Mifflin, $26) The authors of (respectively) “The Low-Carb Cookbook” and “All About Braising” select recipes from wide-ranging sources for this yearbook.

4 The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman (Broadway, $30) An encyclopedic (1,000 recipes) collection drawing on international culinary traditions from the New York Times columnist.

5 Molto Italiano: 327 Simple Italian Recipes to Cook at Home by Mario Batali (Ecco, $35) Drawn from 10 years of “Molto Mario” TV shows.

6 Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, Limited Edition “Pink Plaid: For Breast Cancer Awareness” edited by Tricia Laning (Better Homes and Gardens, $30) The 12th edition of this all-around basic ringed-binder cookbook, updated with a 64-page healthy-eating section.

7 The Arab Table: Recipes and Culinary Traditions by May S. Bsisu (Morrow Cookbooks, $35) More than 160 recipes for dishes from Morocco, Tunisia, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestinian territories, Yemen and the Arabian Gulf, with essays on holidays and traditions.

8 Artisanal Cooking: A Chef Shares His Passion For Handcrafting Great Meals at Home by Terrance Brennan and Andrew Friedman (Wiley, $35) A first cookbook from Brennan, with recipes for signature dishes from his New York restaurants Picholine and Artisanal.

9 Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain (Harper Perennial, $14) Now a television series.

10 The Seasoning of a Chef by Doug and Michael Psaltis (Broadway, $35) The first-person account of an ambitious, driven young chef’s climb to some of the finest kitchens in the country.

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