Local bestsellers

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

2. WORST CASE, by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge. (Little, Brown, $27.99.) A New York detective raising 10 children alone investigates a string of kidnapings and killings of teenagers by a villain with unusual motives.

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

4. POOR LITTLE BITCH GIRL, by Jackie Collins. (St. Martin's, $26.99.) Hollywood murder, three beautiful twentysomething high school friends, and a hot New York club owner.

5. WINTER GARDEN, by Kristin Hannah. (St. Martin's, $26.99.) After their father's death, two sisters must cooperate to run his apple orchard and care for their difficult mother.

6. THE MAN FROM BEIJING, by Henning Mankell. (Knopf, $25.95.) A massacre in a tiny Swedish village has roots in the past and on other continents.

7. THE THREE WEISSMANNS OF WESTPORT, by Cathleen Schine. (Sarah Crichton/Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $25.) Two sisters -- one logical, one emotional -- move in with their mother when her ex-husband kicks her out of the family apartment; a tribute to Jane Austen's "Sense and Sensibility."

9. FLIRT, by Laurell K. Hamilton. (Berkley, $23.95.) Anita Blake, vampire hunter, and the males in her life.

10(x). HORNS, by Joe Hill. (Morrow/HarperCollins, $25.99.) After the rape and murder of his girlfriend, a distraught young man discovers that he has grown horns.

1. GAME CHANGE, by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin. (Harper/HarperCollins, $27.99.) Behind the scenes at the 2008 election with Barack Obama, Bill and Hillary Clinton, John and Elizabeth Edwards, John McCain and Sarah Palin.

2. THE POLITICIAN, by Andrew Young. (Thomas Dunne/St. Martin's, $24.99.) A tell-all by John Edwards' closest aide.

3. THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS, by Rebecca Skloot. (Crown, $26.) Race, poverty and science intertwine in the story of a woman whose cancer cells were cultured without her permission in 1951 and have supported a mountain of research undertaken since then.

5. WILLIE MAYS, by James S. Hirsch. (Scribner, $30.) The life and career of a baseball legend.

6(x). ON THE BRINK, by Henry M. Paulson Jr. (Grand Central, $28.99.) The Treasury secretary during the financial meltdown describes the decisions that were made.

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

8(x). 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.

9. STAYING TRUE, by Jenny Sanford. (Ballantine, $25.) The ups and downs of life with South Carolina's Gov. Mark Sanford, by his estranged wife.

1. SWITCH, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. (Broadway, $26.) How everyday people can effect transformative change at work and in life. (b)

2. THE KIND DIET, by Alicia Silverstone. (Rodale, $29.99.) The actress' recipes and insights for going meat- and dairy-free.

3. THE HAPPINESS PROJECT, by Gretchen Rubin. (Harper/HarperCollins, $25.99.) A year spent focusing on the things that really matter.

4. SO LONG, INSECURITY, by Beth Moore. (Tyndale House, $24.99.) The Bible instructor shares her insights for boosting women's self-confidence. (b)

5. 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.