BOOKS

HARDCOVER BEST-SELLERS

Fiction

1. "The Gathering Storm," by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson (Tor/TomDoherty, $29.99). Book 12 of the Wheel of Time fantasy series.

2. "The Lost Symbol," by Dan Brown (Doubleday, $29.95). Robert Langdon among the Masons.

3. "True Blue," by David Baldacci (Grand Central, $27.99). An ex-cop in Washington struggles to clear her name.

4. "Last Night in Twisted River," by John Irving (Random House, $28). A loggers' cook and his son are on the run from the law, for decades.

5. "Pursuit of Honor," by Vince Flynn (Atria, $27.99). The counterterrorism operative Mitch Rapp must teach politicians about national security following a new Qaida attack.

6. "The Scarpetta Factor," by Patricia Cornwell (Putnam, $27.95). Apparent threats on Kay Scarpetta's life make her hesitate when a TV producer wants her to star in a show.

7. "The Help," by Kathryn Stockett (Amy Einhorn/Putnam, $24.95). A young white woman and two black maids in 1960s Mississippi.

8. "Nine Dragons," by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown, $27.99). The Los Angeles detective Harry Bosch fights crime at home and in Hong Kong.

9. "Grave Secret," by Charlaine Harris (Berkeley Prime Crime, $24.95). Harper Connelly and her stepbrother Tolliver head for Texas and into family trouble.

10. "Wolf Hall," by Hilary Mantel (Holt, $27). Thomas More and Thomas Cromwell clash in the turbulent court of Henry VIII.

11. "The Last Song," by Nicholas Sparks (Grand Central, $24.99). A 17-year-old girl spends the summer with her divorced father in North Carolina and finds many kinds of love.

12. "Half Broke Horses," by Jeannette Walls (Scribner, $26). A re-creation of the life of the author's grandmother in the Southwest, by the author of "The Glass Castle."

13. "Angel Time," by Anne Rice (Knopf, $25.95). A contract killer goes back to 13th century England in search of redemption.

14. "Southern Lights," by Danielle Steel (Delacorte, $28). When a New York prosecutor's daughter is threatened, she sends her back to the Charleston world she herself fled.

15. "A Touch of Dead," by Charlaine Harris (Ace, $23.95). The complete Sookie Stackhouse stories.

Nonfiction

1. "The Book of Basketball," by Bill Simmons (Ballantine, $30). ESPN.com's Sports Guy crunches big questions in NBA history.

2. "Superfreakonomics," by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner (Morrow/HarperCollins, $29.99). A scholar and a journalist apply economic thinking to everything: the sequel.

3. "Have a Little Faith," by Mitch Albom (Hyperion, $23.99). A suburban rabbi and a Detroit pastor teach lessons about the comfort of belief.

4. "What the Dog Saw," by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown, $27.99). A decade of New Yorker essays.

5. "Arguing With Idiots," written and edited by Glenn Beck, Kevin Balfe and others (Mercury Radio Arts/Threshold Editions, $29.99). The case against big government.

6. "Too Big to Fail," by Andrew Ross Sorkin (Viking, $32.95). The 2008 financial implosion on Wall Street and in Washington, by a New York Times reporter and columnist.

7. "Outliers," by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown, $27.99). Why some people succeed, from the author of "Blink."

8. "True Compass," by Edward M. Kennedy (Twelve, $35). The late senator's autobiography.

9. "Highest Duty," by Chesley B. Sullenberger and Jeffrey Zaslow (Morrow/HarperCollins, $25.99). The importance of preparing for the unexpected, by the pilot-hero of Flight 1549.

10. "Eating the Dinosaur," by Chuck Klosterman (Scribner, $25). Essays about pop culture.

11. "The Big Burn," by Timothy Egan (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $27). The heroism displayed in fighting a huge forest fire in 1910 won public support for Theodore Roosevelt's conservation efforts; by a New York Times columnist.

12. "My Life Outside the Ring," by Hulk Hogan with Mark Dagostino (St. Martin's, $25.99). The professional wrestler writes about his son's car accident, his own divorce and other personal matters.

13. "Where Men Win Glory," by Jon Krakauer (Doubleday, $27.95). The story of Pat Tillman and the Army's cover-up of his death by friendly fire in Afghanistan.

14. "You Better Not Cry," by Augusten Burroughs (St. Martin's, $21.99). Humorous stories about Christmas.

15. "The Queen Mother," by William Shawcross (Knopf, $40). The official biography of Queen Mother Elizabeth of Britain, who died in 2002 at age 101.

16. "Born to Run," by Christopher McDougall (Knopf, $24.95). Secrets of distance running from a Mexican Indian tribe.

Miscellaneous

1. "The Pioneer Woman Cooks," by Ree Drummond (Morrow/HarperCollins, $27.50). Cowboy-tested recipes from the proprietor of ThePioneerWoman.com.

2. "Knockout," by Suzanne Somers (Crown, $25.99). Advice and interviews with doctors offering innovative cancer treatments.

3. "The Conscious Cook," by Tal Ronnen (Morrow/HarperCollins, $29.99). Vegan recipes to appeal to meat-eaters.

4. "Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul," by Deepak Chopra (Harmony, $25). Ten steps for self-transformation.

5. "Guinness World Records 2010," edited by Craig Glenday (Guinness, $28.95). Tallest, fastest, youngest, most.

6. "Jim Cramer's Getting Back to Even," by James J. Cramer with Cliff Mason (Simon & Schuster, $26). The "Mad Money" host offers advice for investing in a changed market.

7. "Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man," by Steve Harvey with Denene Millner (Amistad/HarperCollins, $23.99). Relationship tips from the comedian and host of "The Steve Harvey Morning Show."

8. "Crush It!" by Gary Vaynerchuk (HarperStudio/HarperCollins, $19.99). How the Web can help turn your passion into a business.

9. "The Kind Diet," by Alicia Silverstone (Rodale, $29.99). The actress' recipes and insights for going meat- and dairy-free.

10. "How to Raise the Perfect Dog," by Cesar Millan with Melissa Jo Peltier (Harmony, $25.99). Advice on puppyhood from the dog behavior expert.

The New York Times