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Los Angeles Times bestsellers (hardcover) for March 21, 2010.

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Fiction Weeks on list
1.The Help by Kathryn Stockett (Putnam: $24.95) The lives of a maid, a cook and a college graduate become intertwined as they change a Mississippi town.41
2.Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith (Grand Central: $21.99) The ax-wielding president seeks vengeance against vampires for the death of his mother. 1
3.House Rules by Jodi Picoult (Atria: $28) A teenager with Asperger’s syndrome is accused of murder.1
4.The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson (Knopf: $25.95) A hacker implicated in two murders must revisit her past to prove her innocence. 29
5.Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney (Amulet: $12.95) The adventures of Greg Heffley, a wise-cracking kid trying to survive middle school. 4
6.The Three Weissmanns of Westport by Cathleen Schine (Farrar, Straus and Giroux: $25) An elderly mother and her two grown daughters’Austen-esque lives play out in Westport and Manhattan.1
7.The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan (Disney Hyperion: $17.99) Percy Jackson and his army of demigods battle to stop the Lord of Time. 17
8.The Postmistress by Sarah Blake (Putnam: $25.95) An American radio reporter links a small Cape Cod village with war-torn Europe. 2
9.The Man From Beijing by Henning Mankell (Knopf: $25.95) A transcontinental search is under way for the truth behind a massacre in a Swedish village. 3
10.Split Image by Robert B. Parker (Putnam: $25.95) Police chief Jesse Stone’s relationship with a PI intensifies over investigations of two separate cases.2
11.Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (Collins Design: $16.99) Updated illustrations by Camille Rose Garcia offer a Goth-like twist to the classic tale. 3
12.Black Magic Sanction by Kim Harrison (Eos: $25.99) Witch-born demon Rachel Morgan battles a white magic coven accusing her of black magic.2
13.Fantasy in Death by J.D. Robb (Putnam: $25.95) Mystery surrounds the murder of a computer gaming company founder who’s beheaded while playing an imaginary opponent. 2
14.Worst Case by James Patterson (Little, Brown: $27.99) A kidnapper snatches the son of a wealthy N.Y. family and plays a game of Q & A to determine the outcome. 4
15.Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days by Jeff Kinney (Amulet: $13.95) Greg desires to spend summer vacation indoors despite his mother’s wishes for outdoor family fun. 16
Nonfiction
1.Game Change by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin (Harper: $27.99) How the drama of the U.S. presidential campaign of 2008 unfolded. 9
2.Just Kids by Patti Smith (Ecco: $27) A memoir of the singer’s early days and relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe. 7
3.No Apology by Mitt Romney (St. Martin’s: $25.99) The former governor of Massachusetts offers solutions for America to reassert its global strength.2
4.The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (Crown: $26) How cancer cells, unknowingly taken from a poor black woman in the 1950s, led to scientific breakthroughs. 4
5.Willie Mays by James S. Hirsch (Scribner: $30) The life and career of baseball’s legendary center fielder. 2
6.Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert (Viking: $26.95) After circumstances force her to wed, the author tackles her fears of marriage by delving into the history and background of the institution. 9
7.Jerry West by Roland Lazenby (ESPN: $28) A biography of the NBA star from the coal mines of West Virginia to player, coach and general manager of the L.A. Lakers.2
8.I Am Ozzy by Ozzy Osbourne and Chris Ayres (Grand Central : $26.99) The heavy metal singer reminisces on his death-defying life. 6
9.Courage and Consequence by Karl Rove (Threshold : $30) The former Bush advisor’s memoir addresses issues including the 2000 presidential campaign and the war in Afghanistan. 1
10.Cro-Magnon by Brian M. Fagan (Bloomsbury Press: $28) The rise of Cro-Magnons and their clash with Neanderthals at a crucial point in humanity’s past.1
11.Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer (Little, Brown: $25.99) An examination of and behind-the-scenes look at factory farming. 7
12.Disney’s Alice in Wonderland: The Visual Guide by DK Publishing (DK: $16.99) Photographs, trivia and profiles from the Tim Burton directed movie adaptation.1
13.The Pacific by Hugh Ambrose (Publisher: $26.95) The intertwined real-life stories of four Marines and a navy pilot fighting the Japanese in WW II.1
14.Book Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Ultimate Guide by Rick Riordan (Hyperion: $12.99) An illustrated, in-depth guide to all things about Percy Jackson and Greek mythology.6
15.The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin (Harper: $25.99) A year spent trying to be happier by making small changes in various aspects of daily life. 6
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