| This Week | Weeks on List | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | THE SHACK, by William P. Young.
(Windblown Media, $14.99.) A man whose daughter was abducted is invited to an isolated shack, apparently by God. (†) Excerpt |
83 |
| 2 | THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, by Stieg Larsson.
(Vintage, $14.95.) A hacker and a journalist investigate the disappearance of a Swedish heiress. |
26 |
| 3 | PUSH, by Sapphire.
(Vintage, $12.95.) An abused, illiterate 16-year-old in Harlem meets a teacher who helps change her life; the basis for the film “Precious.” |
17 |
| 4 | THE PIANO TEACHER, by Janice Y.K. Lee.
(Penguin, $15.) An Englishwoman in 1950s Hong Kong discovers devastating secrets from the years of the Japanese occupation. |
5 |
| 5 | THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.
(Dial, $14.) A journalist meets the island’s old Nazi-resisters. |
33 |
| 6* | THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN, by Garth Stein.
(Harper Paperbacks, $14.99.) An insightful Lab-terrier mix helps his owner, a struggling race car driver. |
28 |
| 7 | THE LOVELY BONES, by Alice Sebold.
(Back Bay, $14.99.) A girl looks down from heaven as she describes the aftermath of her kidnapping and murder. |
14 |
| 8 | OLIVE KITTERIDGE, by Elizabeth Strout.
(Random House, $14.) A seventh-grade math teacher is the link in 13 stories set on the Maine coast; a 2009 Pulitzer winner. |
35 |
| 9 | THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE, by Audrey Niffenegger.
(Harvest/Harcourt, $14.95.) Life with a dashing librarian who travels back and forth through time. |
27 |
| 10* | PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES, by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith.
(Quirk, $12.95.) The classic story, retold with “ultraviolent zombie mayhem.” |
38 |
| 11 | THE ROAD, by Cormac McCarthy.
(Vintage, $14.95.) A father and son travel in post-apocalypse America. |
72 |
| 12 | LET THE GREAT WORLD SPIN, by Colum McCann.
(Random House, $15.) Philippe Petit’s 1974 high-wire walk between the twin towers is pivotal to the lives in this novel, a winner of the 2009 National Book Award. Excerpt |
3 |
| 13 | SARAH’S KEY, by Tatiana de Rosnay.
(St. Martin’s Griffin, $13.95.) A contemporary American journalist investigates what happened to a little girl and her family during the roundup of Jews in Paris in 1942. |
45 |
| 14 | BED OF ROSES, by Nora Roberts.
(Berkley, $16.) A wedding florist has her eye on her business partner’s brother’s best friend; Book 2 in the Bride Quartet. |
8 |
| 15 | THE ELEGANCE OF THE HEDGEHOG, by Muriel Barbery.
(Europa, $15.) A young girl and a widowed concierge, both closet intellectuals, become friends. |
49 |
| 16* | THE ALCHEMIST, by Paulo Coelho.
(HarperOne, $13.95.) A Spanish shepherd boy travels to Egypt in search of treasure. |
118 |
| 17 | DEAR JOHN, by Nicholas Sparks.
(Warner, $13.99.) An unlikely romance between a soldier and an idealistic young woman is tested after 9/11. |
15 |
| 18* | SAY YOU’RE ONE OF THEM, by Uwem Akpan.
(Back Bay/Little, Brown, $14.99.) Stories set in Africa, told from the point of view of wise and resilient children. Excerpt |
14 |
| 19 | HANDLE WITH CARE, by Jodi Picoult.
(Washington Square, $16.) A woman whose daughter has a dangerous birth defect must decide whether to sue her obstetrician, an old friend. |
12 |
| 20 | THE STORY OF EDGAR SAWTELLE, by David Wroblewski.
(Ecco, $16.99.) A mute takes refuge with dogs in the Wisconsin woods after his father’s death. Excerpt |
14 |
| Also Selling | ||
| 21 | SENSE AND SENSIBILITY AND SEA MONSTERS, by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters
(Quirk) |
|
| 22 | NIGHTLIGHT, by The Harvard Lampoon
(Vintage) |
|
| 23 | THE GIVEN DAY, by Dennis Lehane
(Harper Perennial) |
|
| 24 | CITY OF THIEVES, by David Benioff
(Plume) |
|
| 25 | VISION IN WHITE, by Nora Roberts
(Berkley) |
|
| 26 | HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET, by Jamie Ford
(Ballantine) |
|
| 27 | IN THE WOODS, by Tana French
(Penguin) |
|
| 28 | THE LUCKY ONE, by Nicholas Sparks
(Grand Central) |
|
| 29 | THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES 2009, edited by Alice Sebold with Heidi Pitlor
(Mariner) |
|
| 30 | WORLD WAR Z, by Max Brooks
(Three Rivers) |
|
| 31 | WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, by Sara Gruen
(Algonquin) |
|
| 32 | SHADES OF BLUE, by Karen Kingsbury
(Zondervan) |
|
| 33 | THE PRIVATE PATIENT, by P. D. James
(Vintage) |
|
| 34 | HALO: EVOLUTIONS, by Various Authors
(Tor) |
|
| 35 | THE KITE RUNNER, by Khaled Hosseini
(Riverhead) |
|
These lists are an expanded version of those appearing in the January 3 print edition of the Book Review.
Rankings reflect sales, for the week ending December 19, at many thousands of venues where a wide range of general interest books are sold nationwide. These include hundreds of independent book retailers (statistically weighted to represent all such outlets); national, regional and local chains; online and multimedia entertainment retailers; university, gift, supermarket, discount department stores and newsstands. An asterisk (*) indicates that a book’s sales are barely distinguishable from those of the book above. A dagger (†) indicates that some bookstores report receiving bulk orders. Among those categories not actively tracked are: perennial sellers; required classroom reading; text, reference and test preparation guides; journals and workbooks; calorie counters; shopping guides; comics and crossword puzzles. Click here for an explanation of the difference between trade and mass-market paperbacks.
Excerpt from: Paperback Trade Fiction (New York Times)
