Books

HARDCOVER BOOKS

FICTION

1. THE FORCE UNLEASHED, by Sean Williams. (Del Rey, $26.) An apprentice to Darth Vader is dispatched to kill the last of his master's enemies; a "Star Wars" novel.

2. SMOKE SCREEN, by Sandra Brown. (Simon & Schuster, $26.95.) Scandalous deaths thwart the investigation of a fatal fire at police headquarters in Charleston, S.C.

3. THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. (Dial, $22.) After World War II, a journalist travels to the island of Guernsey to meet residents who resisted the Nazi occupation.

4. THE BOURNE SANCTION, by Eric Van Lustbader. (Grand Central, $25.99.) Robert Ludlum's character Jason Bourne pursues the leader of a Muslim terrorist group.

5. THE HOST, by Stephenie Meyer. (Little, Brown, $25.99.) Aliens have taken control of the minds and bodies of most humans, but one woman won't surrender.

6. ACHERON, by Sherrilyn Kenyon. (St. Martin's, $24.95.) Book 12 of the Dark-Hunter paranormal series.

7. MOSCOW RULES, by Daniel Silva. (Putnam, $26.95.) Gabriel Allon, an art restorer and an occasional spy for the Israeli secret service, uncovers a Russian arms sales plot.

8. THE STORY OF EDGAR SAWTELLE, by David Wroblewski. (Ecco, $25.95.) A mute takes refuge with three dogs in the Wisconsin woods after his father's murder.

9. OFF SEASON, by Anne Rivers Siddons. (Grand Central, $24.95.) A widow returns to her hometown in Maine to re-gather the strands of her life.

10. THE LACE READER, by Brunonia Barry. (Morrow, $24.95.) Secrets of a family of Salem women who foresee the future.

11. THE MERCEDES COFFIN, by Faye Kellerman. (Morrow, $25.95.) Decker and Lazarus investigate cases of murder victims found in Mercedes-Benz trunks.

12. BEING ELIZABETH, by Barbara Taylor Bradford. (St. Martin's, $27.95.) A 25-year-old newly in control of her family's corporate empire faces tough choices in business and in love.

13. THE GARGOYLE, by Andrew Davidson. (Doubleday, $25.95.) A hideously burned man is cared for by a sculptress who claims they were lovers seven centuries ago.

14.(x) FOREIGN BODY, by Robin Cook. (Putnam, $25.95.) A medical student investigates a rising number of deaths among medical tourists at foreign hospitals.

15. ROUGH JUSTICE, by Jack Higgins. (Putnam, $25.95.) Violence and intrigue await an American agent in Kosovo.

16.(x) THE ASSASSIN, by Stephen Coonts. (St. Martin's, $26.95.) A top al Qaida terrorist pursues the Western leaders who are trying to defeat him.

NONFICTION

1. THE OBAMA NATION, by Jerome R. Corsi. (Threshold, $28.) The Democratic candidate as an extreme leftist, from the co-author of "Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry." (b)

2. STORI TELLING, by Tori Spelling with Hilary Liftin. (Simon Spotlight, $24.95.) A memoir. (b)

3. ARE YOU THERE, VODKA? IT'S ME, CHELSEA, by Chelsea Handler. (Simon Spotlight Entertainment, $24.95.) Humorous personal essays from the stand-up comedian.

4.(x) THE LIMITS OF POWER, by Andrew Bacevich. (Holt, $24.) A retired Army colonel argues that American citizens are ultimately responsible for the country's military and economic woes. (b)

5. WHEN YOU ARE ENGULFED IN FLAMES, by David Sedaris. (Little, Brown, $25.99.) The humorist's latest essays.

6. THE CASE AGAINST BARACK OBAMA, by David Fredoso. (Regnery, $27.95.) The Democratic candidate as a calculating extreme leftist. (b)

7. THE WAY OF THE WORLD, by Ron Suskind. (Harper, $27.95.) How the Bush administration ignored evidence about Iraq in its rush to war.

8. THE POST-AMERICAN WORLD, by Fareed Zakaria. (Norton, $25.95.) The rise of China and India.

9. FLEECED, by Dick Morris and Eileen McGann. (Harper, $26.95.) Americans are fleeced by government, business, labor unions and lobbyists. (b)

10. TRAFFIC, by Tom Vanderbilt. (Knopf, $24.95.) Why we drive the way we do.

11. THE NIGHT OF THE GUN, by David Carr. (Simon & Schuster, $26.) A New York Times media columnist and culture reporter recounts his former life as a crack addict, cokehead and alcoholic, and how he got back on track.

12.(x) THE DARK SIDE, by Jane Mayer. (Doubleday, $27.50.) How the Bush administration embraced the practice of torture.

13. THE WRECKING CREW, by Thomas Frank. (Metropolitan/Holt, $25.) The deliberate mismanagement of Republican rule.

14. HAVANA NOCTURNE, by T. J. English. (Morrow, $27.95.) When American gangsters controlled Cuba's casinos.

15. WAITER RANT, by the Waiter. (Ecco, $24.95.) An anonymous New York waiter with a popular blog describes customers' outrageous behavior.

16.(x) AHEAD OF THE CURVE, by Philip Delves Broughton. (Penguin Press, $25.95.) An account of the author's years at Harvard Business School.

ADVICE, HOW-TO AND MISCELLANEOUS

1. THE LAST LECTURE, by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow. (Hyperion, $21.95.) Thoughts on the importance of "seizing every moment" from Pausch, a professor who died of pancreatic cancer at age 47.

2. THE SECRET, by Rhonda Byrne. (Atria/Beyond Words, $23.95.) The law of attraction as a key to getting what you want.

3. YOU: STAYING YOUNG, by Michael F. Roizen and Mehmet C. Oz et al. (Free Press, $26.) The principles of longevity and how to combat the effects of aging.

4. THE 4-HOUR WORKWEEK, by Timothy Ferriss. (Crown, $19.95.) Reconstructing your life so that it's not all about work.

5. SIX DISCIPLINES EXECUTION REVOLUTION, by Gary Harpst. (Six Disciples Publishing, $12.95.) Strategies for small and midsize businesses. (b)

6. KILLING SACRED COWS, by Garrett B. Gunderson with Stephen Palmer. (Greenleaf, $21.95.) Debunking myths about money and saving for retirement. (b)

7. THE SOUTH BEACH DIET SUPERCHARGED, by Arthur Agatston with Joseph Signorile. (Rodale, $25.95.) A guide to faster weight loss.

8. GOODNIGHT BUSH, by Erich Origen and Gan Golan. (Little, Brown, $14.99.) A requiem for the Bush administration, based on the children's book "Goodnight Moon."

9.(x) DECEPTIVELY DELICIOUS, by Jessica Seinfeld. (Collins/HarperCollins, $24.95.) Tips and recipes to fool children into eating right.

10. JUST WHO WILL YOU BE?, by Maria Shriver. (Hyperion, $14.95.) Shriver's message: "What you do in your life isn't what matters. It's who you are."

HARDCOVER BOOKS

TRADE FICTION

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. (b)

2. THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES, by Sue Monk Kidd. (Penguin, $14.) In South Carolina in 1964, a teenage girl tries to discover the secret to her mother's past.

3. THE CHOICE, by Nicholas Sparks. (Grand Central, $13.99.) How a North Carolina man's choices play out.

4. BAREFOOT, by Elin Hilderbrand. (Back Bay/Little, Brown, $13.99.) Three women with various problems spend a transformative summer together on Nantucket.

5. THE KITE RUNNER, by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead, $15.95 and $14.) An Afghan-American returns to Kabul to learn how a childhood friend has fared.

6. THE ALCHEMIST, by Paulo Coelho. (HarperOne, $13.95) A Spanish shepherd boy travels to Egypt in search of treasure.

7.(x) THE ROAD, by Cormac McCarthy. (Vintage, $14.95.) A father and son travel in post-apocalypse America.

8. WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, by Sara Gruen. (Algonquin, $13.95.) A young man — and an elephant — save a Depression-era circus.

9. BRIDGE OF SIGHS, by Richard Russo. (Vintage, $14.95.) The entangled lives of an upstate New York couple and their friend.

10. RUN, by Ann Patchett. (Harper Perennial, $14.95.) Two young black men, adopted in childhood by a Boston politician, encounter their birth mother and sister.

11. NINETEEN MINUTES, by Jodi Picoult. (Washington Square, $15.) The aftermath of a high school shooting reveals the fault lines in a small New Hampshire town.

12. THE FRIDAY NIGHT KNITTING CLUB, by Kate Jacobs. (Berkley, $14.) A group of women meet weekly at a New York City yarn shop.

13. MY SISTER'S KEEPER, by Jodi Picoult. (Washington Square, $14.) A girl sues her parents after learning they want her to donate a kidney to her sibling.

14.(x) SECOND CHANCE, by Jane Green. (Plume, $15.) A group of 30-something friends reconsider their lives after one of their number is killed in a terrorist attack.

15. NIGHTS IN RODANTHE, by Nicholas Sparks. (Grand Central, $13.99.) Romance ignites between a middle-aged man and woman at a North Carolina inn.

16. THE LAST SUMMER (OF YOU AND ME), by Ann Brashares. (Riverhead, $14.) The bond between two sisters is tested by a romance with an old friend.

17.(x) THE MEMORY KEEPER'S DAUGHTER, by Kim Edwards. (Penguin, $14.) A doctor's decision to secretly send his newborn daughter, who has Down syndrome, to an institution haunts everyone involved.

18. IN THE WOODS, by Tana French. (Penguin, $14.) An Irish detective investigating the murder of a 12-year-old girl returns to the woods where he experienced a terrible ordeal as a child.

19. OUT STEALING HORSES, by Per Petterson. (Picador, $14.) In a remote cabin, a Norwegian man circles around his memories of the past.

20.(x) LOVING FRANK, by Nancy Horan. (Ballantine, $14.) A story of the romance between Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Borthwick Cheney.

MASS-MARKET FICTION

1. PLAYING FOR PIZZA, by John Grisham. (Deli, $7.99.) An American third-string quarterback joins the Italian National Football League's Parma Panthers.

2. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED, by James Patterson and Howard Roughan. (Vision, $9.99.) An aspiring photographer working as a nanny has terrible visions.

3. NIGHTS IN RODANTHE, by Nicholas Sparks. (Grand Central, $7.99.) Romance ignites between a middle-aged man and woman at a North Carolina inn.

4. THE BOOK OF SCANDAL, by Julia London. (Pocket, $6.99.) A battle of wills in 19th-century England.

5. PLAY DIRTY, by Sandra Brown. (Pocket, $9.99.) A fallen football star agrees to secretly father a child for a woman and her wealthy paraplegic husband.

6. LEFT TO DIE, by Lisa Jackson. (Zebra, $7.99.) A woman wakes from a car accident in the Montana woods, where a serial killer is on the loose.

7. STRANGERS IN DEATH, by J.D. Robb. (Berkley, $7.99.) Lt. Eve Dallas investigates a businessman's death: by Nora Roberts, writing pseudonymously.

8. THE BURNT HOUSE, by Faye Kellerman. (Harper/ HarperCollins, $7.99.) After a plane crash in Southern California, Detective Peter Decker and his wife, Rina, investigate the fate of a flight attendant who remains unaccounted for.

9. CRY WOLF, by Patricia Briggs. (Ace, $7.99.) A werewolf enforcer and the woman he insists is his mate go in search of a rogue werewolf bound in dark magic.

10. THE MANNING BRIDES, by Debbie Macomber. (Mira, $7.99.) A reprint of two stories from 1992, "Marriage of Inconvenience" and "Stand-In Wife."

11.(x) THE SANCTUARY, by Raymond Khoury. (Signet, $9.99.) A geneticist and a CIA agent try to discover the meaning of a mysterious symbol connected to centuries of destruction.

12. INTO THE FLAME, by Christina Dodd. (Signet, $7.99.) A cop who can change into a cougar seeks answers about his origins.

13. SHADOWFIRES, by Dean Koontz. (Berkley, $7.99.) A woman is stalked by her supposedly deceased husband.

14.(x) TURBULENT SEA, by Christine Feehan. (Jove, $7.99.) When a rock 'n' roll goddess is threatened on tour, she turns to the arms of her bodyguard.

15. THE RACE, by Richard North Patterson. (St. Martin's, $9.99.) A war hero turned maverick senator battles fierce opponents for his party's presidential nomination.

16. SWEET SPOT, by Susan Mallery. (HQN, $6.99.) Nicole Keyes, who has sacrificed her freedom to run the family bakery, finds excitement with a former football player.

17.(x) THE BONE GARDEN, by Tess Gerritsen. (Ballantine, $7.99.) A woman finds a skull in her garden, while in the 1830s, a medical student tracks a killer.

18. BEYOND REACH, by Karin Slaughter. (Dell, $7.99.) In defending herself from murder charges, a police officer must confront her past.

19. THE GHOST, by Robert Harris. (Pocket Star, $7.99.) A ghostwriter for a former prime minister discovers more secrets than the powerful man intends to reveal.

20. SUMMER BY THE SEA, by Susan Wiggs. (Mira, $7.99.) A pizza-shop owner reunites with the man she fell in love with 10 years before; a reissue of a 2004 book.

NONFICTION

1. THREE CUPS OF TEA, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. (Penguin, $15.) A former climber builds schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

2. A LONG WAY GONE, by Ishmael Beah. (Sarah Crichton/Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $12.) A former child soldier from Sierra Leone describes his drug-crazed killing spree and his return to humanity.

3. EAT, PRAY, LOVE, by Elizabeth Gilbert. (Penguin, $15.) A writer's yearlong journey in search of self.

4. THE GIFT OF FEAR, by Gavin de Becker. (Delta, $15; Dell, $7.99.) Intuitive signals that can protect us from becoming the victims of violence.

5. THE GLASS CASTLE, by Jeannette Walls. (Scribner, $15.) The author recalls a bizarre childhood during which she and her siblings moved constantly.

6. THE AUDACITY OF HOPE, by Barack Obama. (Three Rivers, $14.95; Vintage, $7.99.) The Illinois senator proposes that Americans move beyond their political divisions.

7. 90 MINUTES IN HEAVEN, by Don Piper with Cecil Murphey. (Revell, $12.99.) A minister on the otherworldly experience he had after an accident.

8. I HOPE THEY SERVE BEER IN HELL, by Tucker Max. (Citadel, $12.95.) Life as a drunken womanizer.

9. MY HORIZONTAL LIFE, by Chelsea Handler. (Bloomsbury, $14.95.) A memoir of one-night stands.

10. MARLEY & ME, by John Grogan. (Harper, $13.95.) Lessons learned from a neurotic dog.

11. ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, MIRACLE, by Barbara Kingsolver with Steven L. Hopp and Camille Kingsolver. (Harper Perennial, $14.95.) The novelist and her family spend a year eating homegrown or local food.

12. STUFF WHITE PEOPLE LIKE, by Christian Lander. (Random House, $14.) A list of 150 things, from the creator of the Web site with the same name.

13.(x) THE TIPPING POINT, by Malcolm Gladwell. (Back Bay/Little, Brown, $14.95.) A study of social epidemics, otherwise known as fads.

14. GENERATION KILL, by Evan Wright. (Berkley Caliber, $15.) The story of the marines of the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, an early combat unit in Iraq.

15.(x) THE OMNIVORE'S DILEMMA, by Michael Pollan. (Penguin, $16.) Tracking food from soil to plate.

16. DREAMS FROM MY FATHER, by Barack Obama. (Three Rivers, $14.95.) The senator on life as the son of a black African father and a white American mother.

17. BIG RUSS AND ME, by Tim Russert. (Miramax/ Hyperion, $13.95.) Russert remembers his father and the other important teachers in his life.

18. LONE SURVIVOR, by Marcus Luttrell with Patrick Robinson. (Back Bay/Little, Brown, $15.) The only survivor of a Navy SEAL operation in Afghanistan describes the battle, his comrades and his escape.

19. THE INNOCENT MAN, by John Grisham. (Delta, $16; Dell, $7.99.) Grisham's first nonfiction book concerns a man wrongly sentenced to death.

20. THE WORLD WITHOUT US, by Alan Weisman. (Picador, $15.) Imagining Earth if humans vanished.

ADVICE, HOW-TO AND MISCELLANEOUS

1. A NEW EARTH, by Eckhart Tolle. (Plume, $14.) A spiritual teacher prescribes letting go of the ego to help end conflict and suffering.

2. THE POWER OF NOW, by Eckhart Tolle. (New World Library, $14.) A guide to personal growth and spiritual enlightenment.

3. SKINNY BITCH, by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. (Running Press, $13.95.) Vegan diet advice from the world of modeling.

4. WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU'RE EXPECTING, by Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel. (Workman, $14.95.) Advice for parents-to-be. (b)

5. THE PURPOSE-DRIVEN LIFE, by Rick Warren. (Zondervan, $14.99.) Finding meaning in one's life through God.

6. MONEY, AND THE LAW OF ATTRACTION, by Esther and Jerry Hicks. (Hay House, $16.95.) Improving your physical and financial well-being through the teachings of Abraham. (b)

7. THE FIVE LOVE LANGUAGES, by Gary Chapman (Northfield, $13.99.) How to communicate love in a way a spouse will understand.

8. SOUL WISDOM, by Zhi Gang Sha. (Atria, $16.) A doctor of Western and traditional Chinese medicine explains how to harness the power of the soul for healing and personal transformation. (b)

9. THE SPEED OF TRUST, by Stephen M.R. Covey with Rebecca R. Merrill. (Free Press, $15.) How to cultivate trust in politics, business and personal relationships.

10. WILL WORK FROM HOME, by Tory Johnson and Robyn Freedman Spizman. (Berkley, $14.) Business plans for creating a more flexible work schedule. (b)