FICTION

1. THE LOST SYMBOL, by Dan Brown. (Doubleday, $29.95.) Robert Langdon among the Masons.

2. I, ALEX CROSS, by James Patterson. (Little, Brown, $27.99.) Tracking the murderer of a relative, Alex Cross discovers a wild Washington scene with explosive secrets.

3. UNDER THE DOME, by Stephen King. (Scribner, $35.) When a Maine town is trapped by an invisible force field, a sanctimonious and hypocritical politician takes over.

4. THE HELP, by Kathryn Stockett. (Amy Einhorn/Putnam, $24.95.) A young white woman and two black maids in 1960s Mississippi.

5. U IS FOR UNDERTOW, by Sue Grafton. (Putnam, $27.95.) Kinsey Millhone investigates the case of a 4-year-old girl who disappeared 21 years earlier.

6. PIRATE LATITUDES, by Michael Crichton. (Harper/HarperCollins, $27.99.) In the 17th-century Caribbean, a British pirate attacks a Spanish galleon; this manuscript was found in Crichton's files after his death in 2008.

7(x). FORD COUNTY, by John Grisham. (Doubleday, $24.) Stories set in rural Mississippi.

8. THE LAST SONG, by Nicholas Sparks. (Grand Central, $24.99.) A 17-year-old girl spends the summer with her divorced father in North Carolina and finds many kinds of love.

9. THE CHRISTMAS SWEATER, by Glenn Beck with Kevin Balfe and Jason Wright. (Threshold Editions, $19.99.) A boy learns from his disappointment with his mother's gift.

10. THE LACUNA, by Barbara Kingsolver. (Harper/HarperCollins, $26.99.) A young American growing up in Mexico becomes friends with artists and radicals; later, in the United States, he is menaced by McCarthyism.

NONFICTION

1. GOING ROGUE, by Sarah Palin. (Harper/HarperCollins, $28.99.) A memoir by the former Alaska governor and vice-presidential candidate.

2. HAVE A LITTLE FAITH, by Mitch Albom. (Hyperion, $23.99.) A suburban rabbi and a Detroit pastor teach lessons about the comfort of belief.

3. ARGUING WITH IDIOTS, written and edited by Glenn Beck, Kevin Balfe and others. (Mercury Radio Arts/Threshold Editions, $29.99.) The case against big government. (b)

4. STONES INTO SCHOOLS, by Greg Mortenson. (Viking, $26.95.) Building schools, many of them for girls, in northeast Afghanistan; takes up where "Three Cups of Tea" left off.

5. OPEN, by Andre Agassi. (Knopf, $28.95.) The tennis champion's autobiography.

6. SUPERFREAKONOMICS, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. (Morrow/HarperCollins, $29.99.) A scholar and a journalist apply economic thinking to everything: the sequel.

7. TRUE COMPASS, by Edward M. Kennedy. (Twelve, $35.) The late senator's autobiography.

8. WHAT THE DOG SAW, by Malcolm Gladwell. (Little, Brown, $27.99.) A decade of New Yorker essays.

9. A BOLD FRESH PIECE OF HUMANITY, by Bill O'Reilly. (Broadway, $26.) The Fox News commentator on his upbringing and career.

10. OUTLIERS, by Malcolm Gladwell. (Little, Brown, $27.99.) Why some people succeed, from the author of "Blink."

11(x). WHEN THE GAME WAS OURS, by Larry Bird and Earvin "Magic" Johnson with Jackie MacMullan. (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $26.) Two great basketball players discuss their careers, their long rivalry and their eventual friendship.

ADVICE, HOW-TO AND MISCELLANEOUS

1. GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS 2010, edited by Craig Glenday. (Guinness, $28.95.) Tallest, fastest, youngest, most.

2. MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING, VOL. 1, by Julia Child, Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle. (Knopf, $40.) A reissue of the book that started Julia Child's career.

3. THE PIONEER WOMAN COOKS, by Ree Drummond. (Morrow/HarperCollins, $27.50.) Cowboy-tested recipes from the proprietor of ThePioneerWoman.com. (b)

4. THE 4-HOUR WORKWEEK, by Timothy Ferriss. (Crown, $22.) Reconstructing your life so that it's not all about work.

5(x). IT'S YOUR TIME, by Joel Osteen. (Free Press, $25.) Prayers, stories and tools for moving forward in Christian faith.

An (x) indicates that a book's sales are barely distinguishable from those of the book above. A (b) indicates that some bookstores report receiving bulk orders. Rankings reflect sales for the week ending Dec. 19 at thousands of venues.