BESTSELLERS

Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores

*--* Fiction weeks on list 1. The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly 2 (Little, Brown: $26.99) A luckless attorney defends a studio executive accused of murdering his wife and her lover. 2. A Most Wanted Man by John le Carre (Scribner: 2 $28) Turkish Muslims in Germany take in a homeless man who turns out to be a terrorist. 3. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David 15 Wroblewski (Ecco: $25.95) A mute dog breeder is banished by his uncle a la “Hamlet.” 4. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown: 15 $19.99) Bella must choose between her lover and a friend, life and death. 5. Brisingr by Christopher Paolini (Knopf: 5 $27.50) Eragon, along with his dragon Saphira, must unite the rebel forces to defeat King Galbatorix. 6. The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks (Grand 3 Central: $24.99) An ex-Marine searches for a woman in a photo. 7. The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory 5 (Touchstone: $25.95) A historical tale of Mary, Queen of Scots’ years in captivity. 8. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (Little, 12 Brown: $22.99) The final book in the Twilight saga finds Bella choosing immortality. 9. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie 12 Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (Dial Press: $22) A writer corresponds with islanders after German occupation. 10. A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire (William 1 Morrow: $26.95) In the third part of the “Wicked Years,” it’s the Cowardly Lion’s turn to shine. *--*

*--* Nonfiction weeks on list 1. Hot, Flat, and Crowded by Thomas L. 7 Friedman (Farrar, Straus & Giroux: $27.95) Solutions to overpopulation and the global-warming crisis. 2. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch with 27 Jeffrey Zaslow (Random House: $21.95) A professor’s terminal cancer inspires a call to seize life’s moments. 3. The Snowball by Alice Schroeder (Bantam: 3 $35) The life and times of investor Warren Buffett, the “Oracle of Omaha.” 4. Pieces of My Heart by Robert J. Wagner and 4 Scott Eyman (HarperEntertainment: $25.95) The actor’s five decades in show business. 5. The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell 2 (Riverhead: $25.95) A profile of the Puritans who fought the early battle between church and state. 6. A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity by Bill 4 O’Reilly (Broadway: $26) The Fox News commentator discusses his childhood and its impact on his life. 7. Dewey by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter 4 (Grand Central: $19.99) A cat, named Dewey Readmore Books, adopts an Iowa library and its patrons. 8. Goodnight Bush by Erich Origen and Gan 14 Golan (Little, Brown: $14.99) A parody of the children’s classic “Goodnight Moon.” 9. Here’s the Story by Maureen McCormick 1 (William Morrow: $25.95) Marcia, Marcia, Marcia. 10. The Secret by Rhonda Byrne (Beyond Words: 92 $23.95) Life’s secrets, distilled. *--*