Copyright © 2006 by THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW December 24, 2006 The New York Times Best Sellers This Last Weeks This Last Weeks Week FICTIONWeek On List Week NONFICTION Week On List FOR ONE MORE DAY, by Mitch Albom. (Hyperion, 311 THE AUDACITY OF HOPE, by Barack Obama. 28 1 $21.95.) A troubled man gets a last chance to recon- 1 (Crown, $25.) The Illinois junior senator proposes that nect and restore his relationship with his dead mother. Americans move beyond their political divisions. NEXT, by Michael Crichton. (HarperCollins, $27.95.) 22 THE INNOCENT MAN, by John Grisham. (Doubleday, 19 2 The author of “Jurassic Park” describes a not-too-dis- 2 $28.95.) Grisham’s first nonfiction book concerns a man tant future when genetic engineering runs amok. sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit. CROSS, by James Patterson. (Little, Brown, $27.99.) 14 CULTURE WARRIOR, by Bill O’Reilly. (Broadway, $26.) 311 3 Alex Cross, retired from the F.B.I., has a chance to 3 The host of “The O’Reilly Factor” describes a culture track a rapist who may have murdered his wife. war between traditionalists and secular-progressives. DEAR JOHN, by Nicholas Sparks. (Warner, $24.99.) 46 MARLEY & ME, by John Grogan. (Morrow, $29.95 and 460 4 An unlikely romance between a soldier and an idealis- 4 $21.95.) A newspaper columnist and his wife learn tic young woman is tested in the aftermath of 9/11. some life lessons from their neurotic dog. * TREASURE OF KHAN, by Clive Cussler and Dirk Cus- 52 PALESTINE PEACE NOT APARTHEID, by Jimmy 73 5 sler. (Putnam, $27.95.) In his 19th adventure, Dirk Pitt 5 Carter. (Simon & Schuster, $27.) The former presi- confronts a murderous Mongolian tycoon who manipu- dent calls for revitalizing the peace process. lates the oil market and knows the secret of Genghis Khan . I FEEL BAD ABOUT MY NECK, by Nora Ephron. 519 6 (Knopf, $19.95.) A witty look at aging from a novelist HANNIBAL RISING, by Thomas Harris. (Delacorte, 1 and screenwriter (‘‘When Harry Met Sally’’). 6 $27.95.) The childhood and adolescence of Hannibal Lecter shed light on how he became “death’s prodigy.” I LIKE YOU, by Amy Sedaris. (Warner, $27.99.) A 88 7 wacky approach to entertaining from the actress and BROTHER ODD, by Dean Koontz. (Bantam, $27.) With 62 playwright. 7 his ability to see the spirits of the dead, Odd Thomas, a character in two previous novels by Koontz, heads off a THE GOD DELUSION, by Richard Dawkins. 612 catastrophe at a monastery . 8 (Houghton Mifflin, $27.) An Oxford scientist asserts that belief in God is irrational and that religion has NATURE GIRL, by Carl Hiaasen. (Knopf, $25.95.) A 84 done great harm in the world. 8 single mother takes revenge on her lecherous ex-boss and an annoying telemarketer in the Florida Keys. THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE THUNDERBOLT KID, 10 8 9 by Bill Bryson. (Broadway, $25.) A memoir of grow- * WILD FIRE, by Nelson DeMille. (Warner, $26.99.) 75 ing up in mid-America at midcentury by the author of 9 Detective John Corey and his wife, an F.B.I. agent, ‘‘A Short History of Nearly Everything.’’ help to foil a nuclear plot against the United States. THE WORLD IS FLAT, by Thomas L. Friedman. (Far- 13 88 LISEY’S STORY, by Stephen King. (Scribner, $28.) A 10 7 10 rar, Straus & Giroux, $30.) A columnist for The New 10 widow’s journey through grief after the death of her York Times analyzes 21st-century economics and for- husband, a famous novelist with terrible memories. eign policy. THE SHAPE SHIFTER, by Tony Hillerman. (Harper- 93 THE MR. AND MRS. HAPPY HANDBOOK, by Steve 98 11 Collins, $26.95.) Lt. Joe Leaphorn, a tribal detective, 11 Doocy. (Morrow, $23.95.) Humorous observations on tracks down an antique Navajo rug with a complicat- marriage and family life. ed history. FREAKONOMICS, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. 14 83 THE BOLEYN INHERITANCE, by Philippa Gregory. 1 12 Dubner. (Morrow, $27.95.) A maverick scholar and a 12 (Touchstone/Simon & Schuster, $25.95.) Politics and journalist apply economic theory to everything from treachery in the court of Henry VIII, narrated by three cheating sumo wrestlers to abortion and the falling women, two of them his sometime wives. crime rate. SANTA CRUISE, by Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Hig- 11 4 A PHOTOGRAPHER’S LIFE, by Annie Leibovitz. 16 3 13 gins Clark. (Scribner, $22.) Passengers on a Christmas 13 (Random House, $75.) More than 300 images, 1990- cruise for charity, including an amateur sleuth, manage 2005, mixing Leibovitz’s trademark celebrity photos to foil two escaping felons. with intensely personal work. THIRTEEN MOONS, by Charles Frazier. (Random 15 10 THE BLIND SIDE, by Michael Lewis. (Norton, $24.95.) 3 14 House, $26.95.) A man raised in the North Carolina 14 The evolving business of football, viewed through the wilderness travels America in defense of his adopted rise of the left tackle Michael Oher. Indian people and broods over an elusive woman. STATE OF DENIAL, by Bob Woodward. (Simon & Schus- 11 11 * FIRST IMPRESSIONS, by Nora Roberts. (Silhouette, 14 7 15 ter, $30.) The third “Bush at War” volume by the long- 15 $17.95.) Seeking peace, a wealthy businessman re- time Washington Post reporter and editor describes a treats to a small town but his lovely and charitable dysfunctional administration’s inept conduct of the in- neighbor won’t stay away; reprint of a 1984 novel. vasion and occupation of Iraq. Rankings reflect sales, for the week ended December 9, at almost 4,000 bookstores plus wholesalers serving 50,000 other retailers, statistically weighted to represent all such outlets nationwide. An asterisk (*) indicates that a book’s sales are barely distinguishable from those of the book above. A dagger (†) indicates that some bookstores report receiving bulk orders. Expanded rankings are available at The New York Times on the Web: nytimes.com/books. Copyright © 2006 by December 24, 2006 The New York Times THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW Paperback Best Sellers This Weeks This Weeks Week FICTIONOn List Week NONFICTION On List THE MEMORY KEEPER’S DAUGHTER, by Kim 25 1 Edwards. (Penguin, $14.) A doctor’s decision to THE IRAQ STUDY GROUP REPORT, by James A. 1 secretly send his newborn daughter, who has Down 1 Baker III and Lee H. Hamilton et al. (Vintage, syndrome, to an institution haunts everyone involved. $10.95.) An assessment of America’s involvement in the Iraq war with proposals for a plan of action. CELL, by Stephen King. (Pocket Star, $9.99.) What 3 2 remains of humanity fights to survive after a RUNNING WITH SCISSORS, by Augusten 122 mysterious force scrambles cellphone users’ brains. 2 Burroughs. (Picador, $14 and $7.99.) In the 1970s, a young boy lives with a crazy psychiatrist in a squalid S IS FOR SILENCE, by Sue Grafton. (Berkley, 2 household. 3 $7.99.) Kinsey Millhone searches for a woman who disappeared 34 years ago. FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS, by James Bradley with 22 3 Ron Powers. (Bantam, $14 and $7.99.) The story of THE TENTH CIRCLE, by Jodi Picoult. (Washington 6 the six men who raised the flag at Iwo Jima. 4 Square, $15.) When his teenage daughter is date- raped, a comic-book artist is overwhelmed by rage. THE GLASS CASTLE, by Jeannette Walls. (Scribner, 48 4 $14.) The author recalls a bizarre childhood during ON THE RUN, by Iris Johansen. (Bantam, $7.99.) A 2 which she and her siblings were constantly moved. 5 girl and her mother, a horse trainer who once worked for the C.I.A., are targets of a Middle Eastern magnate. THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS, by Chris Gardner 3 5 with Quincy Troupe and Mim Eichler Rivas. * READY FOR LOVE, by Debbie Macomber. (Mira, 2 (Amistad/HarperCollins, $14.95.) Gardner’s life 6 $7.50.) Reprints of two romances involving two story, from a grim childhood to homelessness to, brothers. finally, the success he had long sought. TURNING ANGEL, by Greg Iles. (Pocket, $9.99.) To 2 DREAMS FROM MY FATHER, by Barack Obama. 55 7 defend a friend wrongly accused of murder, a 6 (Three Rivers, $13.95.) The Democratic senator Mississippi lawyer must investigate local students. from Illinois reflects on life as the son of a black African father and white American mother. THE LAST TEMPLAR, by Raymond Khoury. (Signet, 2 8 $9.99.) A coding device stolen from an exhibit of AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, by Al Gore. (Rodale, 24 Vatican artifacts may hold clues to the medieval 7 $21.95.) The former vice president sounds an alarm Knights Templar’s lost treasure — and their secrets. about global warming. VALLEY OF SILENCE, by Nora Roberts. (Jove, $7.99.) 6 AMERICA (THE BOOK), by Jon Stewart, Ben Karlin, 6 9 The circle of six go into battle to save humans from the 8 David Javerbaum et al. (Warner, $15.99.) ‘‘The Daily vampire Lilith in the final Circle Trilogy book. Show’’ offers an illustrated parody of a civics text. * DROP DEAD GORGEOUS, by Linda Howard. 2 * TEAM OF RIVALS, by Doris Kearns Goodwin. 11 10 (Ballantine, $7.99.) As she prepares for her wedding, 9 (Simon & Schuster, $19.95.) The genius of Abraham Blair Mallory becomes the target of a killer. Lincoln revealed in his relationship with his cabinet. REBELLION, by Nora Roberts. (Silhouette, $7.99.) A 2 THE TIPPING POINT, by Malcolm Gladwell. (Back 122 11 reprint of an early historical romance about a Scottish 10 Bay/Little, Brown, $14.95.) A journalist’s study of beauty who finds love in the enemy camp.