BESTSELLERS

PAPERBACKS

1. The Gathering by Anne Enright ($14)

*--* Fiction Weeks on list 1. Diary of a Bad Year by J. M. Coetzee (Viking: $24.95) An 2 aging author falls for his typist -- whose boyfriend has designs on the author’s money. 2. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks (Viking: $25.96) 1 A rare-books expert traces the origins of a priceless Jewish book to 15th century Spain. 3. World Without End by Ken Follett (Dutton: $35) Children 12 jockey for power in 14th century England. 4. The Shooters by W.E.B. Griffin (Putnam: $26.95) A Delta 1 Force officer searches for a missing U.S. agent kidnapped by South American drug dealers. 5. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead: 34 $25.95) Two Afghan women struggle to survive jihad, civil war and Taliban tyranny. 6. Double Cross by James Patterson (Little, Brown: $27.99) 7 A flurry of murders shakes Washington, D.C. 7. The Darkest Evening of the Year by Dean Koontz (Bantam: 5 $27) A woman who runs a golden retriever rescue group is hiding a dark secret. 8. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett (Farrar, Straus 3 & Giroux: $15) Queen Elizabeth meets an avid reader and becomes obsessed by books. 9. Away by Amy Bloom (Random House: $23.95) A survivor of a 8 Russian pogrom arrives in 1920s New York to search for her lost daughter. 10. The Venetian Betrayal by Steve Berry (Ballantine: 2 $25.95) A rare-books dealer and an Asian despot race to find Alexander the Great’s grave. *--*

*--* Nonfiction 1. In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan (Penguin: 1 $21.95) A clear-eyed examination of dietary sacred cows and a manifesto for healthy eating. 2. The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn and Hal Iggulden 34 (HarperCollins: $24.95) Learn how to tie knots, find true north and other skills. 3. The Secret by Rhonda Byrne (Beyond Words: $23.95) 54 Life’s secrets distilled from oral tradition, literature, religion and philosophy. 4. Born Standing Up by Steve Martin (Scribner: $25) The 7 comedian reflects on the evolution of his art. 5. I Am America (and so Can You!) by Stephen Colbert 14 (Grand Central: $26.99) “The Colbert Report” star expounds on the forces destroying America. 6. The Long Embrace by Judith Freeman (Pantheon: $25.95) 4 The tale of Raymond Chandler and the beautiful, much older woman he married. 7. You: Staying Young by Michael F. Roizen and Mehmet C. 9 Oz (Free Press: $26) Doctors explain how the body ages and how to counter those effects. 8. The Nine by Jeffrey Toobin (Doubleday: $27.95) The 9 inner workings of the U.S. Supreme Court. 9. The Daring Book for Girls by Andrea J. Buchanan and 10 Miriam Peskowitz (HarperCollins: $24.95) A girls’ handbook of skills and must-have knowledge. 10. Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks (Knopf: $26) The medical 8 storyteller explores the link between music and its myriad effects on the human brain. *--*

Fiction

2. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett ($24.95)

3. Atonement by Ian McEwan ($14.95)

4. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho ($13.95)

5. No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy ($14)

Nonfiction

1. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert ($15)

2. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin ($15)

3. This Is Your Brain on Music by Daniel J. Levitin ($15)

4. Catching the Big Fish by David Lynch ($12.95)

5. The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan ($16)

Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.