BOOK REVIEW

Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.

*--* Fiction weeks on list 1. Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris (Ace: $25.95) Sookie 2 Stackhouse finds herself a pawn in a war with a race of unhuman beings. 2. The 8th Confession by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro 3 (Little, Brown: $27.99) The murders of a priest and high society couple test the limits of the Women’s Murder Club. 3. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown: $19.99) Bella 44 must choose between her lover and a friend, between life and death. 4. First Family by David Baldacci (Grand Central: $27.99) A 4 child is kidnapped from a birthday party held at Camp David. 5. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown: $22.99) 41 The final book in the “Twilight” saga finds Bella choosing immortality. 6. Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall 3 Smith (Pantheon: $23.95) At the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, Precious Ramotswe is in need of her own talents to face assorted woes. 7. The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan (Disney Hyperion: 2 $17.99) Percy Jackson and his army of demigods battle to stop the Lord of Time. 8. The Women by T.C. Boyle (Viking: $27.95) Frank Lloyd 13 Wright’s life as told by four women who loved him. 9. Pygmy by Chuck Palahniuk (Doubleday: $24.95) Terrorists 1 disguised as foreign exchange students living with American families plot mass destruction. 10. The Help by Kathryn Stockett (Putnam: $24.95) The lives 1 of a maid, a cook and a college graduate become intertwined in a changing Mississippi town. *--*

*--* Nonfiction 1. Losing Mum and Pup by Christopher Buckley (Twelve: 2 $24.99) The son of William F. and Patricia Buckley tells of life with the high-powered couple and how he coped with their deaths. 2. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown: $27.99) 26 An exploration of the background of high achievers. 3. Liberty and Tyranny by Mark R. Levin (Threshold 8 Editions: $25) The talk-radio personality’s call to revitalize the conservative vision in America. 4. Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man by Steve Harvey 15 (Amistad: $23.99) The talk-show host lets women inside the mind-set of a man. 5. Resilience by Elizabeth Edwards (Broadway: $22.95) 1 The wife of the former presidential candidate reflects on facing life’s adversities. 6. In Praise of Stay-at-Home Moms by Laura Schlessinger 3 (Harper: $25.99) Advice and support to mothers choosing to stay at home with their children. 7. Always Looking Up by Michael J. Fox (Hyperion: 7 $25.99) The actor’s emotional and spiritual outlook in his struggle with Parkinson’s disease. 8. The Girls From Ames by Jeffrey Zaslow (Gotham: $26) 2 Eleven childhood friends from Iowa maintain enduring friendships throughout the years. 9. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow 54 (Hyperion: $21.95) A professor’s terminal cancer inspires a call to seize life’s moments. 10. Not Becoming My Mother by Ruth Reichl (Penguin Press: 1 $19.95) The food journalist chronicles the journey of a woman she finds she never really knew. *--*