Los Angeles Times bestsellers for Jan. 18, 2009
| Fiction | weeks on list | |
| 1. | Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown: $22.99) The final book in the “Twilight” saga finds Bella choosing immortality. | 23 |
| 2. | Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown: $19.99) Bella must choose between her lover and a friend, between life and death. | 26 |
| 3. | The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski (Ecco: $25.95) A mute dog breeder is banished by his uncle à la “Hamlet.” | 25 |
| 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. | 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 |
| 6. | The Host by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown: $25.99) Aliens take over the minds of humans. | 23 |
| 7. | Scarpetta by Patricia Cornwell (Putnam: $27.95) Forensic pathologist Kay Scarpetta travels to New York to examine a psychiatric patient at Bellevue. | 5 |
| 8. | 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 |
| 9. | 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. | 1 |
| 10. | 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. | 23 |
| 11. | 2666 by Roberto Bolaño (Farrar, Straus & Giroux: $30) Greed, murder and desperation haunt a U.S.-Mexico border town. | 8 |
| 12. | Fire and Ice by Julie Garwood (Ballantine: $26) A small-town reporter heads to Alaska to solve the mysterious murder of a local runner. | 1 |
| 13. | Cross Country by James Patterson (Little, Brown: $27.99) Alex Cross pursues an African underworld figure and mass-murder suspect to Nigeria. | 7 |
| 14. | The Private Patient by P.D. James (Knopf: $25.95) A murder investigation focuses on the staff from a plastic-surgery clinic. | 7 |
| 15. | Plum Spooky by Janet Evanovich (St. Martin’s Press: $27.95) A bounty hunter tracks a killer lurking in the woods of New Jersey. | 1 |
| Nonfiction | ||
| 1. | Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown: $27.99) An exploration of the background of high achievers. | 8 |
| 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. | 36 |
| 3. | Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher (Simon & Schuster: $21) The actress and writer’s humorous confession to alcoholism, drug addiction and mental breakdowns. | 2 |
| 4. | 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. | 15 |
| 5. | The Return of Depression Economics by Paul Krugman (W.W. Norton: $24.95) A look back to the past for the causes of the 2008 credit crisis. | 2 |
| 6. | Too Fat to Fish by Artie Lange (Spiegel & Grau: $24.95) The actor, comedian and Howard Stern sidekick shares his life stories. | 8 |
| 7. | Goodnight Bush by Erich Origen and Gan Golan (Little, Brown: $14.99) A parody of the children’s classic “Goodnight Moon.” | 24 |
| 8. | American Lion by Jon Meacham (Random House: $30) Andrew Jackson’s path to the White House. | 7 |
| 9. | The Secret by Rhonda Byrne (Beyond Words: $23.95) Life’s secrets, distilled. | 93 |
| 10. | When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris (Little, Brown: $25.99) Musings on life and smoking. | 25 |
| 11. | Why We Suck by Denis Leary (Viking : 3 $26.95) The comedian’s biting commentary on the state of the world. | 4 |
| 12. | Hot, Flat, and Crowded by Thomas L. Friedman (Farrar, Straus & Giroux: $27.95) Solutions to overpopulation and the global-warming crisis. | 16 |
| 13. | You: Being Beautiful by Michael F. Roizen and Mehmet C. Oz (Free Press: $26.99) A scientific approach to the myths and stereotypes of how we define beauty. | 2 |
| 14. | Annie Leibovitz at Work by Annie Leibovitz (Random House: $40) The photographer dissects and explains the making of her favorite photos. | 7 |
| 15. | Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris (Little, Brown: $16.99) Comical tales of holiday traditions. | 6 |
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