We now return to the “normal” with purchases mostly for personal reading, less of the gift-giving books of the holidays.
Due to word-of-mouth bookseller recommendations, new media attention and book clubs, many books continue their long runs on Diesel’s bestseller lists: “Kite Runner,” “Devil in the White City” and “Dylan’s Chronicles.”
For children, a bestseller of recent years has catapulted back to the No. 1 spot due to the new movie version of it-“Because of Winn-Dixie.” “Egyptology,” the hot book for the holidays, continues its strong sales, a wonderful book for children of all ages. And “Fever, 1793” is a strong historical novel, recommended by teachers and read by at least one mother-daughter book club in Malibu.
For adults, Malcolm Gladwell, author of “Tipping Point,” is making the media rounds and, coupled with excellent pre-publication reviews, is blasting out the door with his new book, “Blink.” Also, in nonfiction the new one by the author of “Guns, Germs and Steel,” Jared Diamond’s “Collapse” is strong at No. 2. In fiction, yesteryear’s hot hardback titles are arriving in paperback and filling up the list, along with the new John Grisham “The Broker.” Another new book of local interest is the biography of Sean Penn by Richard Kelly.
Fiction
1. “The Broker,” John Grisham, cloth, Doubleday, $27.95
2. “Kite Runner,” Khaled Hosseini, paper, Penguin, $14
3. “Yiddish With Dick and Jane,” Ellis Weiner, cloth, Little, Brown & Co., $14.95
4. “No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency,” Alexander McCall Smith, paper, Knopf Publishing, $11.95
5. “Little Children,” Tom Perrotta, paper, St. Martin’s Press, $13.95
6. “Elizabeth Costello,” J.M. Coetzee, paper, Penguin, $14
7. “The Book of Salt,” Monique Truong, paper, Houghton Mifflin, $13
8. “Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress: Tales of Growing Up Groovy and Clueless,” Susan Gilman, paper, Warner Books, $12.95
9. “Out,” Natsuo Kirino, paper, Vintage, $12.95
10. “The Good Wife Strikes Back,” Elizabeth Buchan, paper, Penguin, $14
Nonfiction
1. “Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking,” Malcolm Gladwell, cloth, Little, Brown & Co., $25.95
2. “Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed,” Jared Diamond, cloth, Viking, $29.95
3. “Chronicles Volume 1,” Bob Dylan, cloth, Simon & Schuster, $24
4. “Devil in the White City,” Erik Larson, paper, Random House, $14.95
5. “Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family and Fighting to Get Back on the Board,” Bethany Hamilton, cloth, Pocket Books, $18
6. “When Will Jesus Bring the Pork,” George Carlin, cloth, Hyperion, $23.95
7. “Sean Penn: His Life and Times,” Richard Kelly, cloth, Canongate, $24
8. “Don’t Think of an Elephant,” paper, George Lakoff, Chelsea Green, $10
9. “Midnight Disease,” paper, Alice Flaherty, Houghton Mifflin, $13
10. “A Senior Moment,” Bernie Safire, Safire Books, $15.95
Children’s Books
1. “Because of Winn Dixie,” Kate Dicamillo, paper, Candlewick Press, $5.99
2. “The Vile Village: #7 Series of Unfortunate Events,” Lemony Snicket, cloth, HarperCollins, $11.99
3. “Egyptology,” Emily Sands, cloth, Penguin, $19.99
4. “Cirque Du Freak,” Darren Shan, paper, Little, Brown & Co., $6.99
5. “Hoot,” Carl Hiaasen, paper, Knopf, $8.95
6. “Fever, 1793,” Laurie Anderson, paper, Simon & Schuster, $5.99
7. “Happy New Year,” Demi, paper, Bantam Doubleday Dell, $6.99
8. “Guji Guji,” Chih-Yuan Chen, cloth, Kane Miller, $15.95
9. “I Invited a Dragon to Dinner,” Chris Demarest, cloth, Philomel, $16.99
10. “Funny Valentine: Berenstain Bears,” Stan & Jan Berenstain, paper, Random, $3.25
Book list supplied by “Diesel, A Bookstore.”