LITTLE ROCK — Fiction 1. HELL’S CORNER, by David Baldacci. Recalled to duty, Oliver Stone hunts for those responsible for a bomb detonated near the White House.
2. FULL DARK, NO STARS, by Stephen King. Four long stories, light on the supernatural and dealing mostly with grisly human behavior.
3. THE CONFESSION, by John Grisham. A man who committed a despicable crime but allowed another to be sent to death row in his place now wants to admit his guilt, but must convince the authorities he is telling the truth.
4. TOWERS OF MIDNIGHT, by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. Book 13 of the Wheel of Time fantasy series.
5. THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET’S NEST, by Stieg Larsson. The third volume of a trilogy about a Swedish hacker and a journalist.
6. I STILL DREAM ABOUT YOU, by Fannie Flagg. A former Miss Alabama’s radical plan to solve all her problems keeps getting interrupted.
7. SQUIRREL SEEKS CHIPMUNK, by David Sedaris. The humorist looks at human nature through stories with animals as characters.
8. AMERICAN ASSASSIN, by Vince Flynn. In the wake of the Lockerbie bombing, Mitch Rapp takes on his first antiterrorist assignment.
9. INDULGENCE IN DEATH, by J.D. Robb. Lt. Eve Dallas tangles with what she fears is a thrill killer; by Nora Roberts, writing pseudonymously.
10. FALL OF GIANTS, by Ken Follett. Five interrelated families from five countries are caught in the upheavals of World War I and the Russian Revolution.
Nonfiction
1. DECISION POINTS,
by George W. Bush. The former president’s memoir discusses his Christianity and the end of his drinking; his relationships with members of his family; and his decisions on 9/11, Iraq and Katrina.
2. LIFE,
by Keith Richards with James Fox. The Rolling Stones guitarist’s revealing autobiography is also a portrait of the era when rock ’n’ roll came of age, with the music itself as the book’s core.
3. BROKE,
by Glenn Beck and Kevin Balfe. The Fox News host’s plan for fixing the country financially seeks to unite Americans around the concept of shared sacrifice.
4. I REMEMBER NOTHING,
by Nora Ephron. Reflections on age and memory, from the author of I Feel Bad About My Neck.
5. UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS,
by Portia de Rossi. The actress discusses her career, her anorexia and her years of hiding her lesbianism.
6. EARTH (THE BOOK),
by Jon Stewart and others. A visitor’s guide to the human race, presented by The Daily Show.
7. AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MARK TWAIN, VOL. 1,
by Mark Twain. In his autobiography, published unexpurgated for the first time, Twain is pointedly political and willing to play the angry prophet.
8. CLEOPATRA,
by Stacy Schiff. A biography of the last queen of ancient Egypt.
9. PINHEADS AND PATRIOTS,
by Bill O’Reilly. The Fox News commentator scrutinizes the meaning of change in the era of Obama.
10. THEY CALL ME BABA BOOEY,
by Gary Dell’Abate with Chad Millman. In his memoir Dell’Abate explains how his early life prepared him to be the producer of The Howard Stern Show.
Paperback fiction
1. HAPPY EVER AFTER,
by Nora Roberts. Romance for a founder of the wedding-planning company Vows, in the final book in the Bride Quartet.
2. THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO,
by Stieg Larsson. A hacker and a journalist investigate the disappearance of a Swedish heiress.
3. THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE,
by Stieg Larsson. A Swedish hacker becomes a murder suspect.
4. HOUSE RULES,
by Jodi Picoult. A teenage boy with Asperger’s syndrome is accused of murder.
5. FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE/WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF,
by Ntozake Shange. A “choreopoem” about race and gender, first published in 1975.
Paperback nonfiction
1. EAT, PRAY, LOVE,
by Elizabeth Gilbert. A writer’s journey in search of self takes her to Italy, India and Indonesia.
2. INSIDE OF A DOG,
by Alexandra Horowitz. What the world is like from a dog’s point of view.
3. STONES INTO SCHOOLS,
by Greg Mortenson. Peace through education in Afghanistan and Pakistan, by the author of Three Cups of Tea.
4. THREE CUPS OF TEA,
by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. A former climber builds schools in villages in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
5. THE GLASS CASTLE,
by Jeannette Walls. The author recalls a bizarre childhood during which she was constantly on the move.
Perspective, Pages 83 on 11/28/2010