Bestsellers
| 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. | 39 |
| 2. | 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. | 1 |
| 3. | The Postmistress by Sarah Blake (Putnam: $25.95) An American radio reporter links a small Cape Cod village with war-torn Europe. | 1 |
| 4. | 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. | 3 |
| 5. | 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. | 27 |
| 6. | Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (Henry Holt: $27) The rise of Henry VIII’s advisor Thomas Cromwell. | 16 |
| 7. | 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. | 15 |
| 8. | The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan (Disney Hyperion: $17.99) Percy Jackson and his army of demigods battle to stop the Lord of Time. | 15 |
| 9. | Shadow Tag by Louise Erdrich (Harper: $25.99) A woman struggles to understand and quite possibly escape her loveless marriage to a downtrodden painter. | 3 |
| 10. | The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb (W.W. Norton: $24.95) Graphic depictions from all 50 chapters of the first book of the Bible. | 10 |
| 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. | 7 |
| 2. | Just Kids by Patti Smith (Ecco: $27) A memoir of the singer’s early days and relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe. | 5 |
| 3. | I Am Ozzy by Ozzy Osbourne and Chris Ayres (Grand Central : $26.99) The heavy metal singer reminisces on his death-defying life. | 5 |
| 4. | Change Your Brain, Change Your Body by Daniel G. Amen (Harmony: $25.99) Dietary advice to improve brain function and overall health. | 1 |
| 5. | 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. | 22 |
| 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. | 7 |
| 7. | 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. | 2 |
| 8. | Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown: $27.99) An exploration of the background of high achievers. | 62 |
| 9. | 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.” | 10 |
| 10. | 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. | 4 |
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