National bestsellers: March 17

1. FANTASY IN DEATH, by J.D. Robb. (Putnam, $26.95.) Lt. Eve Dallas investigates the murder of a fantasy-game entrepreneur; by Nora Roberts, writing pseudonymously.

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

3. BLACK MAGIC SANCTION, by Kim Harrison. (Eos/HarperCollins, $25.99.) A witch who is also a bounty hunter is shunned by her kind; the eighth Rachel Morgan book.

4. SPLIT IMAGE, by Robert B. Parker. (Putnam, $25.95.) Jesse Stone, the police chief of Paradise, Mass., copes with divorce, the bottle and the murder of a mob soldier.

5. BIG GIRL, by Danielle Steel. (Delacorte, $28.) A woman with weight issues learns to accept herself.

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

7. 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.

9. 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.

10. THE POSTMISTRESS, by Sarah Blake. (Amy Einhorn/Putnam, $25.95.) Ordinary life in a Massachusetts small town and an American radio reporter in England in the 1940s.

11.(x) APPLE TURNOVER MURDER, by Joanne Fluke. (Kensington, $24.) Hannah Swensen searches for the killer of an amorous professor; recipes included.

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

4. THE POLITICIAN, by Andrew Young. (Thomas Dunne/St. Martin's, $24.99.) A tell-all by John Edwards's 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.(x) THE CHECKLIST MANIFESTO, by Atul Gawande. (Metropolitan/Holt, $24.50.) Following checklists makes surgery safer and other activities more efficient, a doctor argues.

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

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

10.(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.

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.(x) 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)