Fiction

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

2  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. 

3  DUMA KEY, by Stephen King. A Minnesota contractor moves to Florida to recover from an injury and begins to create paintings with mysterious power.

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

5  STRANGER IN PARADISE, by Robert B. Parker. Jesse Stone, the police chief of Paradise, Mass., must protect a hit man’s intended victim.   

6  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.”

7  THE KILLING GROUND, by Jack Higgins.  A spy helps a man whose family has terrorist ties.  

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

9  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.  

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

Nonfiction

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

2  RECONCILIATION, by Benazir Bhutto.  A posthumous look at Islam, democracy and the West 

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

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

5  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.”

6  THE AGE OF AMERICAN UNREASON, by Susan Jacoby.  Are Americans hostile to knowledge? 

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

8  HOPE’S BOY, by Andrew Bridge. A memoir of a childhood in foster care by an advocate for poor children. 

9  THIS REPUBLIC OF SUFFERING, by Drew Gilpin Faust.  The impact of the Civil War’s enormous death toll, from the new president of Harvard.

10  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).