Fiction

1  PLUM LUCKY, by Janet Evanovich.  Stephanie’s mother finds a bag of cash and goes gambling in Atlantic City, pursued by the money’s owner.  

2 PEOPLE OF THE BOOK, by Geraldine Brooks. A rare-book expert unlocks the secrets of a medieval manuscript.

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

4  BEVERLY HILLS DEAD, by Stuart Woods.  Murder and political intrigue during the Hollywood Red scare of the 1940s. 

5 WORLD WITHOUT END, by Ken Follett. Love and intrigue in Kingsbridge, the medieval English cathedral town at the center of Follett’s “Pillars of the Earth.”

6  BLASPHEMY, by Douglas Preston.  A C.I.A. operative tracks scientists with a huge supercollider who are poised to discover the secret of creation. 

7  THE SENATOR’S WIFE, by Sue Miller.  A woman lives with her husband’s persistent infidelity. 

8 THE SHOOTERS, by W. E. B. Griffin. An Army officer on the trail of a missing drug enforcement agent is undermined by the military and intelligence communities.

9 DOUBLE CROSS, by James Patterson. Alex Cross and his new girlfriend, a police detective, confront a boastful Washington killer.

10 T IS FOR TRESPASS, by Sue Grafton. Kinsey Millhone must contend with a woman who has stolen a nurse’s identity in order to take advantage of Kinsey’s elderly neighbor.

Nonfiction

1  TOM CRUISE, by Andrew Morton.  An unauthorized biography. 

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

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

4 I AM AMERICA (AND SO CAN YOU!), by Stephen Colbert, Richard Dahm, Paul Dinello, Allison Silverman et al. The wit and wisdom of the mock pundit of Comedy Central’s “Colbert Report.”

5 AN INCONVENIENT BOOK, by Glenn Beck and Kevin Balfe. Beck, the conservative TV and talk-radio host, offers his solutions to problems including global warming, poverty and political correctness.  

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

7 QUIET STRENGTH, by Tony Dungy with Nathan Whitaker. A memoir by the first black coach to win a Super Bowl (with the Indianapolis Colts in 2007).

8FREE LUNCH, by David Cay Johnston. How lobbyists and lawyers have wangled government subsidies for the wealthy.

9  GEOGRAPHY OF BLISS, by Eric Weiner.  A writer explores to what degree an individual’s happiness is intertwined with a shared geography and culture. 

10  STRONG AT THE BROKEN PLACES, by Richard M. Cohen.  A journalist profiles five people who live with chronic illness.