Best sellers

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.

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.

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)

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.

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.

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.