1. Have a Little Faith: A True Story - by Mitch Albom

Publisher: Hyperion
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 09/29/2009
ISBN-13: 9780786868728
ISBN-10: 0786868724

A suburban rabbi and a Detroit pastor teach lessons about the comfort of belief.

2. Going Rogue: An American Life - by Sarah Palin

Publisher: HarperCollins
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 11/17/2009
ISBN-13: 9780061939891
ISBN-10: 0061939897

A memoir by the former Alaska governor and vice-presidential candidate.

3. What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures - by Malcolm Gladwell

Publisher: Little, Brown
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 10/20/2009
ISBN-13: 9780316075848
ISBN-10: 0316075841

A decade of New Yorker essays.

4. SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance - by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

Publisher: William Morrow
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 10/20/2009
ISBN-13: 9780060889579
ISBN-10: 0060889578

A scholar and a journalist apply economic thinking to everything: the sequel.

5. Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan - by Greg Mortenson

Publisher: Viking
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 12/01/2009
ISBN-13: 9780670021154
ISBN-10: 0670021156

Building schools, many of them for girls, in northeast Afghanistan; takes up where Three Cups of Tea left off.

6. Open: An Autobiography - by Andre Agassi

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 11/09/2009
ISBN-13: 9780307268198
ISBN-10: 0307268195

The tennis champion’s autobiography.

7. True Compass: A Memoir - by Edward M. Kennedy

Publisher: Twelve
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 09/14/2009
ISBN-13: 9780446539258
ISBN-10: 0446539252

The late senator's autobiography.

Table of Contents

8. Outliers: The Story of Success - by Malcolm Gladwell

Publisher: Little, Brown
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 11/18/2008
ISBN-13: 9780316017923
ISBN-10: 0316017922

Why some people succeed, from the author of Blink.

Table of Contents First Chapter

9. Arguing with Idiots: How to Stop Small Minds and Big Government - written and edited by Glenn Beck, Kevin Balfe, and others

Publisher: Threshold Editions/Mercury Radio Arts
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 09/22/2009
ISBN-13: 9781416595014
ISBN-10: 1416595015

The case against big government.

First Chapter

10. Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System--and Themselves - by Andrew Ross Sorkin

Publisher: Viking
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 10/20/2009
ISBN-13: 9780670021253
ISBN-10: 0670021253

The 2008 financial implosion on Wall Street and in Washington, by a New York Times reporter and columnist.

11. The Imperial Cruise: A Secret History of Empire and War - by James Bradley

Publisher: Little, Brown
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 11/24/2009
ISBN-13: 9780316008952
ISBN-10: 0316008958

In 1905, during a diplomatic journey organized by Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft negotiated secret agreements with several Asian countries.

Table of Contents

12. The Book of Basketball: The NBA According to the Sports Guy - by Bill Simmons

Publisher: Ballantine Books/ESPN Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 10/27/2009
ISBN-13: 9780345511768
ISBN-10: 034551176X

ESPN.com’s Sports Guy crunches big questions in N.B.A. history.

First Chapter

13. Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide - by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 09/08/2009
ISBN-13: 9780307267146
ISBN-10: 0307267148

Women fighting sexual oppression in Asia and Africa.

First Chapter Table of Contents

14. Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen - by Christopher McDougall

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 05/05/2009
ISBN-13: 9780307266309
ISBN-10: 0307266303

Secrets of distance running from a Mexican Indian tribe.

First Chapter

15. Last Words - by George Carlin with Tony Hendra

Publisher: Free Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 11/10/2009
ISBN-13: 9781439172957
ISBN-10: 1439172951

The life of the comedian, who died in 2008.

First Chapter Table of Contents

These lists are an expanded version of those appearing in the January 17 print edition of the Book Review. Rankings reflect sales, for the week ending January 2, at many thousands of venues where a wide range of general interest books are sold nationwide.