Los Angeles Times bestsellers for Jan. 25, 2009
| Fiction | weeks on list | |
| 1. | Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown: $19.99) Bella must choose between her lover and a friend, between life and death. | 27 |
| 2. | Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown: $22.99) The final book in the “Twilight” saga finds Bella choosing immortality. | 24 |
| 3. | The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (Dial Press: $22) A writer corresponds with islanders after German occupation. | 24 |
| 4. | A Mercy by Toni Morrison (Knopf: $23.95) A slave girl is sold by her mother in late-1600s America to give her a better life. | 8 |
| 5. | Netherland by Joseph O’Neill (Pantheon: $23.95) An equities analyst’s life is upended after Sept. 11, when his wife and son flee New York for London. | 7 |
| 6. | Black Ops by W.E.B. Griffin (Putnam: $26.95) A task force agent tracks down terrorists who murdered an American diplomat in Buenos Aires. | 2 |
| 7. | The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski (Ecco: $25.95) A mute dog breeder is banished by his uncle à la “Hamlet.” | 26 |
| 8. | Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri (Knopf: $25) Stories of immigrants and their children struggling with U.S. culture. | 20 |
| 9. | The Private Patient by P.D. James (Knopf: $25.95) A murder investigation focuses on the staff of a plastic-surgery clinic. | 7 |
| 10. | Plum Spooky by Janet Evanovich (St. Martin’s Press: $27.95) A bounty hunter tracks a killer lurking in the woods of New Jersey. | 2 |
| 11. | The Host by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown: $25.99) Aliens take over the minds of humans. | 23 |
| 12. | 2666 by Roberto Bolaño (Farrar, Straus & Giroux: $30) Greed, murder and desperation haunt a U.S.-Mexico border town. | 8 |
| 13. | The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling (Children’s High Level Group: $12.99) A collection of five fairy tales inspired by the “ Harry Potter” series. | 5 |
| 14. | Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell (Little, Brown: $24.99) A hit man in witness protection is discovered working as a doctor by a former mob associate. | 1 |
| 15. | The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb (Harper: $29.95) A couple seek to reconstruct their lives after a tragic school shooting in Colorado. | 8 |
| Nonfiction | ||
| 1. | Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown: $27.99) An exploration of the background of high achievers. | 9 |
| 2. | The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow (Hyperion: $21.95) A professor’s terminal cancer inspires a call to seize life’s moments. | 37 |
| 3. | Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher (Simon & Schuster: $21) The actress and writer’s humorous confession to alcoholism, drug addiction and mental breakdowns. | 3 |
| 4. | Guilty by Ann Coulter (Crown Forum: $27.95) The political commentator accuses liberals of always playing the victim. | 1 |
| 5. | Dewey by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter (Grand Central: $19.99) The impact that a cat named Dewey Readmore Books had on an Iowa library and its patrons. | 16 |
| 6. | The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008 by Paul Krugman (W.W. Norton: $24.95) A look to the past for the causes of the credit crisis. | 3 |
| 7. | Annie Leibovitz at Work by Annie Leibovitz (Random House: $40) The photographer dissects and explains the making of her favorite photos. | 8 |
| 8. | Goodnight Bush by Erich Origen and Gan Golan (Little, Brown: $14.99) A parody of the children’s classic “Goodnight Moon.” | 24 |
| 9. | American Lightning by Howard Blum (Crown: $24.95)The story of the bombing of the Los Angeles Times building in 1910. | 3 |
| 10. | Hot, Flat, and Crowded by Thomas L. Friedman (Farrar, Straus & Giroux: $27.95) Solutions to overpopulation and the global-warming crisis. | 17 |
| 11. | What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami (Knopf: $21) A writer reflects upon the influence the sport has had on his life. | 2 |
| 12. | When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris (Little, Brown: $25.99) Musings on life and smoking. | 25 |
| 13. | Force of Nature by Laird Hamilton (Rodale Books: $27.95) A peek inside the life of the big wave surfer. | 3 |
| 14. | Pieces of My Heart by Robert J. Wagner and Scott Eyman (HarperEntertainment: $25.95) | 5 |
| 15. | Why We Suck by Denis Leary (Viking: 3 $26.95) The comedian’s biting commentary on the state of the world. | 4 |
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