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

3. KISSER, by Stuart Woods. (Putnam, $25.95.) Stone Barrington, the New York cop turned lawyer, pursues a case of financial fraud on the Upper East Side.

4. BLOOD TIES, by Kay Hooper. (Bantam, $26.) FBI agent Noah Bishop and his special crimes unit pursue a brutal enemy.

5(x). THE FIRST RULE, by Robert Crais. (Putnam, $26.95.) Elvis Cole and his partner, Joe Pike, set out to clear the reputation of a former military contractor who has been murdered.

6. THE SWAN THIEVES, by Elizabeth Kostova. (Little, Brown, $26.99.) A psychiatrist who treats a man who slashed a canvas in the National Gallery is drawn into the world of French Impressionism; from the author of "The Historian."

7. 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.

9. THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE, by Stieg Larsson. (Knopf, $25.95.) A Swedish hacker becomes a murder suspect.

10(x). ROSES, by Leila Meacham. (Grand Central, $24.99.) Three generations in a small East Texas town.

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. I AM OZZY, by Ozzy Osbourne with Chris Ayres. (Grand Central, $26.99.) Recollections of heavy metal's "Prince of Darkness."

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

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

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

7(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.

8. JUST KIDS, by Patti Smith. (Ecco/HarperCollins, $27.) The godmother of punk recalls her life with Robert Mapplethorpe and their yearnings for a life in art in the New York City of the 1960s and '70s.

9. COURTING DISASTER, by Marc Thiessen. (Regnery, $29.95.) "Enhanced interrogation" saved American lives and Obama is risking them, a Bush speechwriter says.

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

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

3. 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.

4. THE MAYO CLINIC DIET, by the Mayo Clinic staff. (Good Books, $25.99.) Adopting healthy new habits and breaking unhealthy old ones.

5. ACT LIKE A LADY, THINK LIKE A MAN, by Steve Harvey with Denene Millner. (Amistad/HarperCollins, $23.99.) Tips on relationships from the comedian and host of "The Steve Harvey Morning Show."