BOOKS

HARDCOVER BEST-SELLERS

Fiction

1. "Under the Dome," by Stephen King (Scribner, $35). When a Maine town is trapped by an invisible force field, a sanctimonious and hypocritical politician takes over.

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

3. "Ford County," by John Grisham (Doubleday, $24). Stories set in rural Mississippi.

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

5. "The Lacuna," by Barbara Kingsolver (Harper/HarperCollins, $26.99). A young American growing up in Mexico becomes friends with artists and radicals; later, in the United States, he is menaced by McCarthyism.

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

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

8. "Ice," by Linda Howard (Ballantine, $22). A brutal ice storm traps a young soldier on leave who has just rescued a woman.

9. "Kindred in Death," by J. D. Robb (Putnam, $26.95). Lt. Eve Dallas investigates the brutal murder of a colleague's daughter; by Nora Roberts, writing pseudonymously.

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

11. "Heat Wave," by Richard Castle (Hyperion, $19.99). An NYPD homicide detective investigates the death of a real estate tycoon and flirts with a magazine journalist.

12. "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.

13. "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.

14. "New York," by Edward Rutherfurd (Doubleday, $30). Characters real and imaginary in the Big Apple, from Dutch colonial days to 2001.

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

16. "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."

Nonfiction

1. "Open," by Andre Agassi (Knopf, $28.95). The tennis champion's autobiography.

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

3. "A Simple Christmas," by Mike Huckabee (Sentinel, $19.95). Christmas memories from the former Arkansas governor and Republican presidential aspirant.

4. "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.

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

6. "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.

7. "Last Words," by George Carlin with Tony Hendra (Free Press, $26.99). The life of the comedian, who died in 2008.

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

9. "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.

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

11. "When the Game was Ours," by Larry Bird and Earvin "Magic" Johnson with Jackie MacMullan (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $26). Two great basketball players discuss their careers, their long rivalry and their eventual friendship.

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

13. "The Audacity to Win," by David Plouffe (Viking, $27.95). Obama's presidential campaign, by the man who managed it.

14. "Eating Animals," by Jonathan Safran Foer (Little, Brown, $25.99). The novelist makes the case for vegetarianism.

15. "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.

16. "The Sellout," by Charles Gasparino (Harper Business/HarperCollins, $27.99). How Wall Street's love affair with risk (and enormous profits) and government mismanagement caused the global economy to implode.

Miscellaneous

1. "Divine Soul Mind Body Healing and Transmission System," by Zhi Gang Sha (Atria, $27.99). The divine way to heal.

2. "It's Your Time," by Joel Osteen (Free Press, $25). Prayers, stories and tools for moving forward in Christian faith.

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

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

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

6. "So Easy," by Ellie Krieger (Wiley, $29.95). Healthy recipes for every meal of the week.

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

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

9. "Ad Hoc at Home," by Thomas Keller (Artisan, $50). The chef behind "The French Laundry Cookbook" serves up cozy dishes from his "casual" Ad Hoc restaurant.

10. "The Dollar Meltdown," by Charles Goyette (Portfolio, $27.95). Why the dollar is likely to plummet, and tips on surviving the crisis with unconventional investments.

The New York Times