Fiction

1  CHANGE OF HEART, by Jodi Picoult.  Questions about redemption and faith arise when a prisoner on death row begins performing miracles.   

2  THE APPEAL, by John Grisham.  Political and legal intrigue ensue when a Mississippi court decides against a chemical company accused of dumping toxic waste. 

3  REMEMBER ME?, by Sophie Kinsella.  A woman wakes up in a London hospital after an auto accident with no memory of the previous life-changing three years. 

 4  DEAD HEAT, by Joel C. Rosenberg.  With the world on the brink of war, terrorists plot to assassinate a candidate in a closely fought presidential election. 

5  7TH HEAVEN, by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro.  In San Francisco, Detective Lindsay Boxer and the Women’s Murder Club hunt for an arsonist and a missing teenager.   

6  A PRISONER OF BIRTH, by Jeffrey Archer.  A poor Londoner, framed for murder by four Cambridge friends, escapes from prison and exacts revenge.   

7  A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS, by Khaled Hosseini. A friendship between two women in Afghanistan against the backdrop of 30 years of war.   

8  LUSH LIFE, by Richard Price.  An aspiring writer becomes a suspect in a friend’s murder on the Lower East Side. 

9  KILLER HEAT, by Linda Fairstein.  One August, Alexandra Cooper, a Manhattan assistant district attorney, tracks a serial killer. 

10  BLACK WIDOW, by Randy Wayne White.  An extortionist threatens to release a tape of Doc Ford’s goddaughter’s wild bachelorette party in the 15th Doc Ford novel. 

Nonfiction

2  LOSING IT, by Valerie Bertinelli. A memoir by the actress and former wife of Eddie Van Halen focuses on depression and her effort to lose weight. 

1  BEAUTIFUL BOY, by David Sheff.  A father struggles with his son’s meth addiction. 

3  STORI TELLING, by Tori Spelling with Hilary Liftin.  The actress’s memoir, from her Hollywood childhood through “Beverly Hills, 90210,” to her son’s birth. 

4  IN DEFENSE OF FOOD, by Michael Pollan.  A manifesto urges us to “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” 

6  LIBERAL FASCISM, by Jonah Goldberg.  This "alternative history of American liberalism" reveals its roots in, and commonalities with, classical fascism. 

5  PREDICTABLY IRRATIONAL, by Dan Ariely.  An M.I.T. behavioral economist shows how emotions and social norms systematically shape our behavior. 

7  I AM AMERICA (AND SO CAN YOU), by Stephen Colbert et al.  The wit and wisdom of the mock pundit of Comedy Central’s “Colbert Report.”

8  THE REASON FOR GOD, by Timothy Keller.  A minister addresses common doubts and defends faith in a Christian God.

9  RETRIBUTION, by Max Hastings.  The clash of naval and air forces in the final drive to defeat Japan, 1944-45. 

10  REAL CHANGE, by Newt Gingrich with Vince Haley and Rick Tyler.  How to build a better America, from the former speaker of the House.