books

FICTION

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

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

3. KINDRED IN DEATH, by J.D. Robb. (Putnam, $26.95.) Lt. Eve Dallas investigates the brutal murder of a colleague's daughter; by Nora Roberts, writing pseudonymously.

4. THE GATHERING STORM, by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. (Tor/Tom Doherty, $29.99.) Book 12 of the Wheel of Time fantasy series.

5. THE LACUNA, by Barbara Kingsolver. (Harper/HarperCollins, $26.99.) A young American growing up in Mexico becomes friends with Diego Rivera, Frieda Kahlo and Leon Trotsky; later, in the United States, he is menaced by McCarthyism.

6. TRUE BLUE, by David Baldacci. (Grand Central, $27.99.) An ex-cop in Washington struggles to clear her name.

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

8. PURSUIT OF HONOR, by Vince Flynn. (Atria, $27.99.) Counterterrorism operative Mitch Rapp must teach politicians about national security following a new Al-Qaida attack.

9. THE SCARPETTA FACTOR, by Patricia Cornwell. (Putnam, $27.95.) Apparent threats on Kay Scarpetta's life make her hesitate when a TV producer wants her to star in a show.

10. LAST NIGHT IN TWISTED RIVER, by John Irving. (Random House, $28.) A loggers' cook and his son are on the run from the law, for decades.

NONFICTION

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

2. 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.

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

4. 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)

5. THE BOOK OF BASKETBALL, by Bill Simmons. (Ballantine/ESPN, $30.) ESPN.com's Sports Guy crunches big questions in NBA history.

6. THE AUDACITY TO WIN, by David Plouffe. (Viking, $27.95.) Obama's presidential campaign, by the man who managed it.

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

8. THE SELLOUT, by Charles Gasparino. (Harper Business/HarperCollins, $27.99.) How Wall Street's love affair with risk (and enormous profits) and government mismanagement caused the global economy to implode.

9. TOO BIG TO FAIL, by Andrew Ross Sorkin. (Viking, $32.95.) The 2008 financial implosion on Wall Street and in Washington, by a New York Times reporter and columnist.

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

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

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

4. KNOCKOUT, by Suzanne Somers. (Crown, $25.99.) Advice and interviews with doctors offering innovative cancer treatments.

5. REINVENTING THE BODY, RESURRECTING THE SOUL, by Deepak Chopra. (Harmony, $25.) Ten steps for self-transformation.

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 Nov. 7 at thousands of venues.