Best sellers

April 2, 2008 at 12:26AM

FICTION

1. Change of Heart, by Jodi Picoult. (Atria, $26.95.) Questions about redemption and faith arise when a prisoner on death row begins performing miracles.

2. The Appeal, by John Grisham. (Doubleday, $27.95.) Political and legal intrigue ensue when a Mississippi court decides against a chemical company accused of dumping toxic waste.

3. Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella. (Dial, $25.) A woman wakes up in a London hospital with no memory after an auto accident.

4. 7th Heaven, by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro. (Little, Brown, $27.99.) In San Francisco, detective Lindsay Boxer and the Women's Murder Club hunt for an arsonist and a missing teenager.

5. Killer Heat, by Linda Fairstein. (Doubleday, $26.) Alexandra Cooper, a Manhattan assistant district attorney, tracks a serial killer.

6. A Prisoner of Birth, by Jefrey Archer. (St. Martin's, $27.95.) A poor Londoner, framed for murder by four Cambridge friends, escapes from prison and exacts revenge.

7. Lush Life, by Richard Price. (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $26.) An aspiring writer becomes a suspect in a friend's murder on the Lower East Side.

8. Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana, by Anne Rice. (Knopf, $25.95.) In the second book of Rice's life of Christ, Jesus embraces his prophetic destiny.

9. Strangers in Death, by J.D. Robb. (Putnam, $25.95.) Lt. Eve Dallas investigates a businessman's scandalous death.

NONFICTION

1. Losing It, by Valerie Bertinelli. (Free Press, $26.) A memoir by the actress and former wife of Eddie Van Halen focuses on depression and her effort to lose weight.

2. Beautiful Boy, by David Sheff. (Hoghton Mifflin, $24.) A father struggles with his son's meth addiction.

3. Stori Telling, by Tori Spelling with Hilary Liftin. (Simon Spotlight, $24.95.) The actress' memoir, from her Hollywood childhood through "Beverly Hills, 90210," to her son's birth.

4. In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan. (Penguin Press, $21.95.) A manifesto urges us to "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

5. Liberal Fascism, by Jonah Goldberg. (Doubleday, $27.95.) This "alternative history of American liberalism" reveals its roots in, and commonalities with, classical fascism.

6. Predictably Irrational, by Dan Ariely. (Harper, $25.95.) An MIT behavioral economist shows how emotions and social norms systematically shape our behavior.

7. The Reason for God, by Timothy Keller. (Dutton, $24.95.) A minister addresses common doubts and defends faith in a Christian God.

8. I Am America (And So Can You!), by Stephen Colbert et al. (Grand Central, $26.99.) The wit and wisdom of the mock pundit of Comedy Central's "Colbert Report."

9. The Age of American Unreason, by Susan Jacoby. (Pantheon, $26.) Are Americans hostile to knowledge?

10. Real Change, by Newt Gingrich with Vince Haley and Rick Tyler. (Regnery, $27.95.) How to build a better America, from the former speaker of the House.

ADVICE, HOW-TO AND MISCELLANEOUS

1. The Secret, by Rhonda Byrne. (Atria/Beyond Words, $23.95.) The law of attraction as a key to getting what you want.

2. Stop Whining, Start Living, by Dr. Laura Schlessinger. (Harper/HarperCollins, $24.95.) Changing one's perspective to keep from dwelling on the negative.

3. The Third Jesus, by Deepak Chopra. (Harmony, $24.) What the "cosmic Christ" can teach, regardless of one's religious background.

4. The Age of Miracles, by Marianne Williamson. (Hay House, $22.95.) Psychologically and spiritually reframing midlife so that it's not a time of "crisis," but a time of rejuvenation. (b)

5. Women and Money, by Suze Orman. (Spiegel & Grau, $24.95.) Advice for overcoming one's dysfunctional relationship with money, including a five-month plan for getting finances on track. (b)

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 relflect sales for the week ending Mar. 15 at almost 4,000 bookstores.

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