In this Sunday’s NYT Magazine Frank Bruni profiles Katie Lee, aspiring food celebrity.

She appears regularly on The Early Show. Her cooking column, Eat This Up, appears monthly in Cosmopolitan. She’s published books; a requirement for any food celebrity. The first book even landed her a spot on Oprah (perhaps largely because her husband at the time, Billy Joel, appeared with her).

Sales of Lee’s second book, minus the Oprah effect, have been modest. Lee observes to Bruni that the cookbooks that sell the best are by people who have their own show. Having failed to sell an earlier pilot, she is now working on another one. She also has a contract with S&S for a novel, loosely based on her life with Billy Joel.

Trying to become famous must be exhausting.

The Comfort Table: Recipes for Everyday Occasions Katie Lee Retail Price: $26.00 Hardcover: 272 pages Publisher: Simon Spotlight Entertainment – (2009-10-20) ISBN / EAN: 1439126747 / 9781439126745

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The Comfort Table Katie Lee Retail Price: $25.00 Hardcover: 256 pages Publisher: Simon Spotlight Entertainment – (2008-04-01) ISBN / EAN: 141694835X / 9781416948353

The IACP (International Assoc. of Culinary Professionals) has just announced the finalists for their 2010 Awards.

Publishers Wiley and Oxmoor House were neck and neck, with five nominations each (Oxmoor received nominations for 3 of its books in the Williams-Sonoma series). They were closely followed Artisan, with 4 nominations.

Most of the titles will make your mouth water;

Category — Baking: Sweet or Savory

Rose’s Heavenly Cakes Rose Levy Beranbaum Retail Price: $39.95 Hardcover: 512 pages Publisher: Wiley – (2009-09-22) ISBN / EAN: 0471781738 / 9780471781738

Category — Baking: Sweet or Savory

My Bread: The Revolutionary No-Work, No-Knead Method Jim Lahey Retail Price: $29.95 Hardcover: 224 pages Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company – (2009-10-05) ISBN / EAN: 0393066304 / 9780393066302

Category — International

Seven Fires: Grilling the Argentine Way Francis Mallmann, Peter Kaminsky Retail Price: $35.00 Hardcover: 278 pages Publisher: Artisan – (2009-05-12) ISBN / EAN: 1579653545 / 9781579653545

But one reminds us there is a serious side to food;

Category – Literary Food Writing

Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal Tristram Stuart Retail Price: $27.95 Hardcover: 480 pages Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co. – (2009-10-12) ISBN / EAN: 0393068366 / 9780393068368

Chef Marcus Samuelsson  was born in Ethiopia and raised in Sweden, and is best know for introducing Swedish cuisine to Americans as the chef at Manhattan’s Aquavit.

In his 2006 book The Soul of a New Cuisine, he explored the cuisines of Africa. Recently, he has become interested in American regional cooking and plans to open a restaurant in Harlem which will focus on fresh local food, as featured in the NYT last month. According to the story, Samuelsson is “trying to become a brand in American popular food culture.”

And, what brands a chef better than a book and TV appearances? Samuelsson will appear on The Early Show (CBS) on Wednesday to talk about his latest book The New American Table.

New American Table Marcus Samuelsson Retail Price: $40.00 Hardcover: 368 pages Publisher: Wiley – (2009-10-26) ISBN / EAN: 047028188X / 9780470281888

The rebroadcast yesterday of Oprah’s show with Tal Ronnen, her favorite vegan chef, shot the book up Amazon’s charts (to #3 from #407).

Most libraries are showing heavy holds; 5 to 1 is typical.

The Conscious Cook: Delicious Meatless Recipes That Will Change the Way You Eat Tal Ronnen Retail Price: $29.99 Hardcover: 240 pages Publisher: William Morrow Cookbooks – (2009-10-01) ISBN / EAN: 0061874337 / 9780061874338

We’ve been going a little crazy compiling all the best books lists (over 400 titles on our compilation of the best adult book lists —  Bests — All Adult Titles — Spreadsheet –  and over 100 for best children’s books lists — Bests — All Children’s Titles — Spreadsheet. If you want just the consensus titles, you can download our Bests — Titles Selected by Three or More — Spreadsheet.)

So, we’re happy to see Publishers Weekly do the heavy lifting for cookbooks: A Round-Up of the Round-Ups: Looking at the ‘Best Cookbooks of 2009′ Lists includes 6 “Bests” lists, ranging from blogs to NPR.

A recipe for spicy caramel corn from The Craft of Baking featured in the “Cooking with Dexter” column in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine was all it took to send the book rising on Amazon.

Who could resist that cover?

The Craft of Baking: Cakes, Cookies, and Other Sweets with Ideas for Inventing Your Own Karen DeMasco, Mindy Fox Retail Price: $35.00 Hardcover: 256 pages Publisher: Clarkson Potter – (2009-10-27) ISBN / EAN: 0307408108 / 9780307408105

Hold the presses! When I did my recent round-up of holiday craft books, I let one slip through the cracks.

My favorite cookie baking book of all time has been Rose’s Christmas Cookies by Rose Levy Beranbaum. Really; it was all that anyone needed for the holidays.

Rose’s Christmas Cookies Rose Levy Beranbaum Retail Price: $29.95 Hardcover: 272 pages Publisher: William Morrow Cookbooks – (1998-11-04) ISBN / EAN: 0688101364 / 9780688101367

Then last year came Cookie Craft: From Baking to Luster Dust, Designs and Techniques for Creative Cookie Occasions by Valerie Peterson  and Janice Fryer. Sweet! I learned how to make fancy cookies like those you see in pastry shops; how to make cookies in beautiful shapes and cool designs that not only looked good but were tasty too. The price of the book was worth it just to for the tips on how to roll out the dough, and when to put it in the fridge. Plus, the professional design techniques are inspiring.

When I was at the Brooklyn Public Library, we had a cookie decorating program that was an amazing success. We could have used Peterson and Frye’s tips on how to make and freeze quantities of cookies for decorating.

With Cookie Craft Christmas, my new rolling pin and a couple of gingerbread people cookie cutters, I am ready to go.

Cookie Craft Christmas: Dozens of Decorating Ideas for a Sweet Holiday Valerie Peterson, Janice Fryer Retail Price: $14.95 Hardcover: 176 pages Publisher: Workman Publishing Company – (2009-10-07) ISBN / EAN: 1603424407 / 9781603424400

UPDATE — Just discovered (thanks to a sharp-eyed reader) that the Hungry Girl book mentioned below is actually recipe cards, which obviously doesn’t work as a library item.

Can you cook food at home that tastes like you bought it at various fast-food chains? Entertainment Weekly put together a panel of judges to see if the latest title in the Top Secret Recipes series, Unlocked produces dishes that taste like the originals.

The book failed; the home-cooked versions tasted too good.

Most libraries own all but this, the ninth title in the series.

Top Secret Recipes Unlocked: All New Home Clones of America’s Favorite Brand-Name Foods Todd Wilbur Retail Price: $15.00 Paperback: 288 pages Publisher: Plume – (2009-11-24) ISBN / EAN: 0452295793 / 9780452295797

Speaking of cookbook franchises, the latest Hungry Girl title lands next month, in time for holiday gift giving.

Hungry Girl Chew the Right Thing: Supreme Makeovers for 50 Foods You Crave Lisa Lillien Retail Price: $16.99 Misc. Supplies: 54 pages Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin – (2009-12-08) ISBN / EAN: 031261036X / 9780312610364

Thanks to a feature in the NYT “Dining & Wine” section today, the University of California’s English-language version of The Pasta Encyclopedia, rose to #24 on Amazon’s sales rankings. Libraries we checked are not showing it on their catalogs.

In addition to demystifying pasta, like “Julia Child demystified French food,” the author attacks some long-held myths. She claims that Italians were eating pasta 200 years before Marco Polo supposedly brought the staple back to his homeland from China.

Encyclopedia of Pasta (California Studies in Food and Culture) Oretta Zanini De Vita Retail Price: $29.95 Hardcover: 400 pages Publisher: University of California Press – (2009-10-15) ISBN / EAN: 0520255224 / 9780520255227

Just in; the sad news that Condé Nast is closing Gourmet. Also getting the axe are Modern Bride, Elegant Bride and Cookie (introduced in 2005).

It seems Bon Appétit, which will continue being published, won out over Gourmet, which has a longer history, but is less profitable.

The bloodletting may not be over. The NYT Media Decoder blog says these are the “first closings” announced since a three-month McKinsey study recommended reducing several magazine budgets by 25%.

At least we have the new Gourmet cookbook to remember the magazine by.

Gourmet Today: More than 1000 All-New Recipes for the Contemporary Kitchen Retail Price: $40.00 Hardcover: 1024 pages Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt – (2009-09-22) ISBN / EAN: 0618610189 / 9780618610181

At number 7 on the Amazon sales rankings and rising is The Pioneer Woman Cooks. It’s been in the top 10 for the last three days even though the book won’t be released until the end of October. Libraries are not showing it on order.

The book comes from a popular Web site, The Pioneer Woman, created by Ree Drummond, featuring her “decade-long transition from spoiled city girl to domestic country wife.” The site is filled with photos and blog posts about the joys of  life on the ranch, proving the old adage, “Converts make the fiercest zealots.”

The book went into Amazon’s top ten after Drummond announced it on her site on Wednesday.

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl Ree Drummond Retail Price: $27.50 Hardcover: 256 pages Publisher: William Morrow Cookbooks – (2009-11-01) ISBN / EAN: 0061658197 / 9780061658198

Just heard on NPR Morning edition that Sheila Lukins died. She’s an iconic figure who, with her partner Julie Russo, changed the way America cooked in the early 1980’s.  As a young pup librarian the most popular section of our little branch library until tax season was cooking (the first call number that rolled off the tip of my tongue without looking it up was 641.5).

Many of you have replaced and ordered additional copies of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking to meet recent demand. Take a look, it may be time to replace those tattered Silver Palate Cookbooks.

P.S. As a newlywed The Silver Palate was it for me. I never knew that soup started with stock that you made, not a can of Campbells.

Silver Palate Cookbook 25th Anniversary Edition Julee Rosso, Sheila Lukins Retail Price: $29.95 Hardcover: 480 pages Publisher: Workman Publishing Company – (2007-04-30) ISBN / EAN: 0761145982 / 9780761145981

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The New Basics Cookbook Julee Rosso, Sheila Lukins Retail Price: $19.95 Paperback: 864 pages Publisher: Workman Publishing Company – (1989-01-10) ISBN / EAN: 0894803417 / 9780894803413

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The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook Julee Rosso, Sheila Lukins, Sarah Leah Chase Retail Price: $15.95 Paperback: 416 pages Publisher: Workman Publishing Company – (1985-01-04) ISBN / EAN: 0894808311 / 9780894808319

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Ten: All the Foods We Love and Ten Perfect Recipes for Each Sheila Lukins Retail Price: $32.95 Hardcover: 416 pages Publisher: Workman Publishing Company – (2008-11-15) ISBN / EAN: 0761151257 / 9780761151258

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Sheila Lukins All Around the World Cookbook Sheila Lukins Retail Price: $18.95 Paperback: 591 pages Publisher: Workman Publishing Company – (1994-01-05) ISBN / EAN: 1563052377 / 9781563052378

A new Cake Mix Doctor is making house calls beginning 9/24; most libraries we checked do not have it on order yet. Although it won’t be published for three weeks, it is currently at #50 on Amazon.

The Cake Mix Doctor Returns!: With 160 All-New Recipes Anne Byrn Retail Price: $15.95 Paperback: 502 pages Publisher: Workman Publishing Company – (2009-09-24) ISBN / EAN: 0761129618 / 9780761129615

On NPR’s All Things Considered, novelist Elizabeth Berg recommended the cookbook Beat This! by Ann Hodgman, along with its companion, Beat That!, propelling the books to #124 and #128 on Amazon. However, they’re 1999 titles that are currently out of stock; no word yet from the publisher on whether or not they will reprint, but we’ll let you know what we hear.  At least 127 libraries have Beat This! and 272 libraries have Beat That!, according to World Cat.

Berg said she has probably recommended Beat This! more often than any other book, calling it ”a humor book and a self-help book and a security blanket and a kind of bible.” The bulk of the recipes are for ”familiar and beloved foods,” but Hodgman “makes them better,” she explains. Plus Hodgman has wit, according to Berg: when it comes to her buttercrunch, Hodgman says, “Master this recipe, and you control the world.”

Berg even manages to get in some further book recommendations when she offers the following recipe: 1. Buy Beat This! 2. Go to page 64, and make that roast chicken. 3. While it’s in the oven, lie on the sofa and read Susan Fletcher’s exquisite novel Oystercatchers. Or Flaubert’s Madame Bovary. Or any short story by Alice Munro. Or Rita Dove’s poetry. Or E.B. White’s essays.

Beat This! Cookbook Ann Hodgman Retail Price: $16.00 Paperback: 208 pages Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt – (1999-10-07) ISBN / EAN: 0395971772 / 9780395971772

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Beat That! Cookbook Ann Hodgman Retail Price: $15.00 Paperback: 208 pages Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt – (1999-10-07) ISBN / EAN: 0395971780 / 9780395971789

Many Americans are questioning their fast food diets. At the same time, it appears that many others want to make dishes from KFC, Red Lobster and other chains at home: a book that enables them to do just that, America’s Most Wanted Recipes,  lands at #6 on the  8/9 NYT Paperback Advice and How-To best seller list.

Few libraries own it; those that do are showing holds (40 on 3 copies in one large library system).

The book is currently out of stock, but is being reprinted.

America’s Most Wanted Recipes: Delicious Recipes from Your Family’s Favorite Restaurants Ron Douglas Retail Price: $15.00 Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Atria – (2009-07-07) ISBN / EAN: 143914706X / 9781439147061