Fiction
1. “A Thousand Splendid Suns:” by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead: $25.95) Two Afghan women struggle to survive jihad, civil war and Taliban tyranny.
2. “Run:” by Ann Patchett (Harper: $25.95) A widower faces complications when one of his children is shadowed by the birth mother.
3. “Bridge of Sighs:” by Richard Russo (Alfred A. Knopf: $26.95) A dying Northeast factory town troubles the lives of its inhabitants.
4. “Playing for Pizza:” by John Grisham (Doubleday: $21.95) A hack backup pro quarterback finds refuge on a football team in Parma, Italy.
5. “Shoot Him If He Runs:” by Stuart Woods (Putnam: $25.95) A pair of investigators seek a rogue intelligence operative on a Caribbean island.
6. “The Choice:” by Nicholas Sparks (Grand Central: $24.99) A man who has it all except for a stifling relationship falls hard for his next-door neighbor.
7. “Fire in the Blood:” by Irene Nemirovsky (Alfred A. Knopf: $22) Stories of illicit love and betrayal in the picturesque Burgundy countryside.
8. “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao:” by Junot Diaz (Riverhead: $24.95) A sci-fi-loving nerd and his immigrant family are haunted by the past.
9. “The 47th Samurai:” by Stephen Hunter (Simon &Schuster: $26) Tragedy ensues when a retired Marine returns a Japanese soldier’s sword to his family.
10. “Away:” by Amy Bloom (Random House: $23.95) A survivor of a Russian pogrom arrives in New York in 1924 and soon begins a search for her lost daughter.
Nonfiction
1. “The Age of Turbulence:” by Alan Greenspan (Penguin: $35) The enigmatic former Fed chief explains and rates his economic decisions, good and bad.
2. “The Nine:” by Jeffrey Toobin (Doubleday: $27.95) The New Yorker reporter and legal beagle details the inner workings and politics of the U.S. Supreme Court.
3. “T he Coldest Winter:” by David Halberstam (Hyperion: $35) The late author’s look at the Korean War through the eyes of the great players and the GIs.
4. “The Secret:” by Rhonda Byrne (Beyond Words: $23.95) Life’s secrets distilled from oral tradition, literature, religion and philosophy.
5. “Giving:” by Bill Clinton (Knopf: $24.95) The former president and now foundation head describes how giving our money and time can change the world.
6. “Wonderful Tonight:” by Pattie Boyd with Penny Junor (Harmony: $25.95) The iconic model who inspired George Harrison and Eric Clapton tells her story.
7. “If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer:” (Beaufort: $24.95) O.J. Simpson’s account with commentary from victim Ron Goldman’s family.
8. “Louder Than Words:” by Jenny McCarthy (Dutton: $23.95) The actress recounts her trials and triumphs as the mother of an autistic son.
9. “The Zookeeper’s Wife:” by Diane Ackerman (W.W. Norton: $24.95) How the Warsaw Zoo director and his wife tried to shelter Polish Jews during World War II.
10. “The Vixen Diaries:” by Karrine Steffans (Grand Central: $24.99) A socialite recounts her high-octane lifestyle, full of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll.
&Copy; Los Angeles Times
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