Los Angeles Times bestsellers for Jan. 17, 2010
| 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. | 32 |
| 2. | Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro (Knopf : $25.95) The short story master explores women and their relationships in 10 new stories. | 7 |
| 3. | Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel ( Henry Holt: $27) The rise of Henry VIII’s advisor Thomas Cromwell. | 10 |
| 4. | Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown: $19.99) Bella must choose between her lover and a friend, between life and death. | 71 |
| 5. | The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (Doubleday: $25.99) Harvard professor Robert Langdon uses his symbology skills to find a missing Freemason in Washington, D.C. | 17 |
| 6. | 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. | 20 |
| 7. | I, Alex Cross by James Patterson (Little, Brown: $27.99) Detective Alex Cross infiltrates a secret society while tracking down the killer of a close relative. | 7 |
| 8. | 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. | 13 |
| 9. | The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb (W.W. Norton & Co.: $24.95) Graphic depictions from all 50 chapters of the first book of the Bible. | 6 |
| 10. | Under the Dome by Stephen King (Scribner: $35) A ragtag group of characters fight to survive in their small Maine town inexplicably surrounded by an invisible force field. | 7 |
| 11. | Summertime by J. M. Coetzee (Viking: $25.95) A re-imagining of the author’s biography after his death. | 1 |
| 12. | U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton (Putnam: $27.95) PI Kinsey Millhone investigates the 20-year-old case of the mysterious disappearance of a 4-year-old girl. | 5 |
| 13. | Deeper Than the Dead by Tami Hoag (Dutton : $26.95) A detective uses profiling to track down a serial killer and delve into the lives of the children and teacher who discovered a victim’s body. | 1 |
| 14. | Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton (Harper: $27.99) A swashbuckling pirate and his crew attempt to commandeer a Spanish ship carrying a golden treasure. | 6 |
| 15. | The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver (Harper: $26.99) A writer’s escapades encompassing 1930s Mexican artist communities and Cold War America. | 9 |
| Nonfiction | ||
| 1. | What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown: $27.99) A collection of the author’s writings of everyday and extraordinary people. | 11 |
| 2. | Lit by Mary Karr (Harper: $25.99) The author’s descent into alcoholism and recovery. | 7 |
| 3. | Open by Andre Agassi (Knopf: $28.95) The tennis star’s memoir and personal odyssey of a lost childhood, drug use and comebacks. | 9 |
| 4. | Stones Into Schools by Greg Mortenson (Viking: $26.95) The author’s continued struggle to establish schools for girls in Afghanistan in this sequel to “Three Cups of Tea.” | 5 |
| 5. | Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown: $27.99) An exploration of the background of high achievers. | 55 |
| 6. | Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom (Hyperion: $23.99) Albom’s observations of a rabbi and a pastor on an eight-year journey of faith. | 15 |
| 7. | True Compass by Edward Kennedy (Twelve: $35) The memoirs of the late U.S. senator from Massachusetts. | 9 |
| 8. | Highest Duty by Chesley B. Sullenberger (William Morrow: $25.95) The story behind the pilot who safely landed a plane on the Hudson River. | 1 |
| 9. | Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer (Little, Brown: $25.99) An examination and behind-the-scenes look at factory farming. | 6 |
| 10. | Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man by Steve Harvey ( Amistad: $23.99) The talk-show host lets women inside the mind-set of a man. | 34 |
| 11. | The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss (Crown: 17 $19.95) A blueprint for living life on your own terms. | 18 |
| 12. | Going Rogue by Sarah Palin (HarperCollins: $28.99) A memoir of the 2008 vice presidential nominee and former Alaska governor. | 7 |
| 13. | How to Hug a Porcupine by June Eding (Hatherleigh Press : $11) New approaches on how to love and deal with difficult people in your life. | 1 |
| 14. | Inventing L.A. by Bill Boyarsky (Angel City Press : $35) A behind -the- scenes history of the Chandler family and their building of the L.A. Times and the city of Los Angeles. | 1 |
| 15. | Los Angeles, Portrait of a City by Kevin Starr & Jim Heimann (Taschen: $70) A photographic journey through the city’s cultural, political, industrial and sociological history. | 3 |
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