National bestsellers

Top-sellers in the fiction, nonfiction and advice categories

The New York Times
October 12, 2010 at 7:49PM

FICTION

1. FREEDOM, by Jonathan Franzen. (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $28.) A family of Midwestern liberals during the Bush years; by the author of "The Corrections."

2. SAFE HAVEN, by Nicholas Sparks. (Grand Central, $25.99.) The arrival of a mysterious young woman in a small North Carolina town raises questions about her past.

3. THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST, by Stieg Larsson. (Knopf, $27.95.) The third volume of a trilogy about a Swedish hacker and a journalist.

4(x). BAD BLOOD, by John Sandford. (Putnam, $27.95.) Virgil Flowers is summoned to investigate a monstrous multigenerational conspiracy.

5. MINI SHOPAHOLIC, by Sophie Kinsella. (Dial, $25.) Keeping a surprise party on budget has domestic perils.

6. WICKED APPETITE, by Janet Evanovich. (St. Martin's, $27.99.) A dangerous man needs Elizabeth Tucker's help to find an ancient power source.

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

8. THE FALL, by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan. (Morrow/HarperCollins, $26.99.) A war erupts between Old and New World vampires. Book 2 of the Strain trilogy.

9. ROOM, by Emma Donoghue. (Little, Brown, $24.99.) A mother's prison is her young son's entire world.

10(x). SANTA FE EDGE, by Stuart Woods. (Putnam, $25.95.) A murder in a golfer's hacienda brings Ed Eagle a new client.

NONFICTION

1. EARTH (THE BOOK), by Jon Stewart and others. (Grand Central, $27.99.) A visitor's guide to the human race, presented by "The Daily Show."

2. THE GRAND DESIGN, by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow. (Bantam, $28.) Central questions of philosophy and science, from the author of "A Brief History of Time."

3. PINHEADS AND PATRIOTS, by Bill O'Reilly. (Morrow/HarperCollins, $27.99.) The Fox News commentator scrutinizes the meaning of change in the era of Obama.

4. -------- MY DAD SAYS, by Justin Halpern. (It Books/HarperCollins, $15.99.) A coming-of-age memoir organized around the musings, purveyed on Twitter, of the author's father.

5. WHITE HOUSE DIARY, by Jimmy Carter. (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $30.) The diary Carter kept during his presidency, with annotations.

6(x). EVEN SILENCE HAS AN END, by Ingrid Betancourt. (Penguin Press, $29.95.) Betancourt, a Colombian presidential candidate at the time, was kidnapped by leftist guerrillas in 2002 and held for six years.

7. CRIMES AGAINST LIBERTY, by David Limbaugh. (Regnery, $29.95.) A political indictment of the Obama presidency. (b)

8. THE WAVE, by Susan Casey. (Doubleday, $27.95.) A look at giant oceanic waves and the scientists and surfers who love them.

9. A JOURNEY, by Tony Blair. (Knopf, $35.) A memoir by the former British prime minister.

10. THE LOST DOGS, by Jim Gorant. (Gotham, $26.) The story of the animals rescued from the dogfighting ring that involved football player Michael Vick.

ADVICE, HOW-TO AND MISCELLANEOUS

1. THE POWER, by Rhonda Byrne. (Atria, $23.95.) Living the life of your dreams, from the author of "The Secret."

2. GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS 2011, edited by Craig Glenday. (Guinness, $28.95.) Tallest, fastest, youngest, most.

3. POWER THOUGHTS, by Joyce Meyer. (FaithWords, $21.99.) A Bible teacher's strategies for overcoming negative thinking.

4. DELIVERING HAPPINESS, by Tony Hsieh. (Business Plus, $23.99.) Lessons from business (pizza place, worm farm, Zappos) and life. (b)

5. THE ORANGE REVOLUTION, by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton. (Free Press, $25.) A guide to building high-performance teams capable of transforming organizations. (b)

Rankings reflect sales for the week that ended Sept. 25 at thousands of venues nationwide. 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.

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