Bestsellers

PAPERBACKS

Fiction

*--* Fiction weeks on list 1. The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Doubleday: 4 $26.95) A novelist in 1920s Barcelona takes a dangerous writing assignment. 2. Shanghai Girls by Lisa See (Random House: $25) Two 7 sisters from Shanghai encounter tragedy and heartbreak as they are sold into arranged marriages in 1930s Los Angeles. 3. Black Hills by Nora Roberts (Putnam: $26.95) Two 2 childhood friends return to South Dakota to find love and revisit an unsolved murder. 4. The Help by Kathryn Stockett (Putnam: $24.95) The lives 7 of a maid, a cook and a college graduate become intertwined while changing a Mississippi town. 5. Finger Lickin’ Fifteen by Janet Evanovich (St. Martin’s: 4 $27.95) A witness enters a barbecue competition to uncover the killer of a contestant. 6. Swimsuit by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro (Little, 3 Brown: $27.99) A supermodel disappears from a photo shoot in Hawaii. 7. The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown: 7 $27.99) A recently downsized reporter investigates a serial killer who uses his computer job to find his victims. 8. Doomsday Key by James Rollins (William Morrow: $27.99) 3 Three murders reveal an ancient secret threatening the existence of mankind. 9. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown: $22.99) 50 The final book in the “Twilight” saga finds Bella choosing immortality. 10. Pygmy by Chuck Palahniuk (Doubleday: $24.95) Terrorists 6 disguised as foreign exchange students living with American families plot mass destruction. *--*

*--* Nonfiction 1. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown: $27.99) 33 An exploration of the background of high achievers. 2. A Bright and Guilty Place by Richard Rayner 2 (Doubleday: $25) The intertwined stories of an ambitious young lawyer, prime suspect in a mob murder and a police photographer paint a picture of early 20th century L.A. 3. Crazy for the Storm by Norman Ollestad (Ecco: 5 $25.99) The son of a daredevil tells of his life on the edge and how he survived a deadly plane crash. 4. Catastrophe by Dick Morris and Eileen McGann 4 (Harper: $26.99) A call to prevent President Obama from transforming America into a socialist state. 5. The Waxman Report by Henry Waxman with Joshua Green 2 (Twelve: $24.99) The congressman from L.A. gives insight on his 35 years in the House. 6. Liberty and Tyranny by Mark R. Levin (Threshold 16 Editions: $25) The talk-radio personality’s call to revitalize the conservative vision in America. 7. The Secret by Rhonda Byrne (Beyond Words: $23.95) 116 Life’s secrets, distilled. 8. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow 63 (Hyperion: $21.95) A professor’s terminal cancer inspires a call to seize life’s moments. 9. Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man by Steve Harvey 24 (Amistad: $23.99) The talk-show host lets women inside the mind-set of a man. 10. Horse Soldiers by Doug Stanton (Scribner: $28) A 7 unit of Special Forces soldiers pursues the Taliban in Afghanistan after 9/11. *--*

1. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson ($14.95)

2. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows ($14)

3. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery ($15)

4. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout ($14)

5. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith ($12.95)

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Nonfiction

1. Glenn Beck’s Common Sense by Glenn Beck ($11.99)

2. Julie & Julia by Julie Powell ($14.99)

3. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin ($15)

4. When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris ($15.99)

5. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert ($15)

Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores. --

latimes.com/books

Endless adventures Word Play: Arnold Lobel’s “Frog and Toad” series. Off the Shelf: Dani Shapiro on the line between memoir and memory. Jacket Copy: Would you fire Jeffrey Eugenides?