Los Angeles Times bestsellers for Sept. 13, 2009
- Share via
| Fiction | Weeks on list | |
| 1. | Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon (Penguin Press: $27.95) Noir meets ‘60s Southern California groovy in a private eye’s psychedelic quest. | 5 |
| 2. | The Help by Kathryn Stockett (Putnam: $24.95) The lives of a maid, a cook and a college graduate become intertwined while changing a Mississippi town. | 14 |
| 3. | South of Broad by Pat Conroy (Nan A. Talese: $29.95) A gossip columnist’s homage to a close-knit group of friends from Charleston. | 3 |
| 4. | The White Queen by Philippa Gregory (Touchstone: $25.99) The wars of the Plantagenets, who ruled England before the Tudors, enmeshed with the mystery of the missing princes in the Tower of London. | 3 |
| 5. | Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown: $19.99) Bella must choose between her lover and a friend, between life and death. | 60 |
| 6. | The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson (Knopf: $25.95) A hacker implicated in two murders must revisit her past to prove her innocence. | 6 |
| 7. | Shanghai Girls by Lisa See (Random House: $25) Two sisters from Shanghai encounter tragedy and heartbreak as they are sold into arranged marriages in 1930s Los Angeles. | 12 |
| 8. | 206 Bones by Kathy Reichs (Scribner: $26.99) A forensic anthropologist attempts to clear her name while trying to solve the murders of several women. | 1 |
| 9. | That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo (Knopf : $25.95) A Cape Cod wedding spurs a middle-aged man to reflect on his past, marriage, family and what the future holds. | 4 |
| 10. | Even Money by Dick Francis and Felix Francis (Putnam: $26.95) The death of a bookmaker’s father is linked to horse-racing fraud. | 1 |
| 11. | Alex Cross’s Trial by James Patterson and Richard DiLallo (Little, Brown: $27.99) Alex Cross tells the story of his great-uncle and a lawyer fighting racism and lynchings in a Southern town at the turn of the 20th century. | 2 |
| 12. | Blood Promise by Richelle Mead (Razorbill : $16.99) The fourth book in the Vampire Academy series follows up on a deadly attack on St. Vladimir’s Academy. | 1 |
| 13. | The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (Doubleday: $26.95) A novelist in 1920s Barcelona takes a dangerous writing assignment. | 11 |
| 14. | Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw by Jeff Kinney (Amulet: $12.95) Greg’s dad enlists him in sports to toughen him up. | 26 |
| 15. | The Magicians by Lev Grossman (Viking: $26.95) A group of aspiring prestidigitators sets out to save the enchanted land of Fillory. | 3 |
| Nonfiction | ||
| 1. | Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown: $27.99) An exploration of the background of high achievers. | 40 |
| 2. | Zeitoun by Dave Eggers (McSweeney’s: $24) The disappearance of a Syrian American father and good Samaritan in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. | 6 |
| 3. | L.A. Noir by John Buntin (Harmony: $26) Gangster Mickey Cohen and LAPD Chief William Parker battle for control in midcentury Los Angeles. | 1 |
| 4. | A Bright and Guilty Place by Richard Rayner (Doubleday: $25) The sagas of an ambitious young lawyer, a prime suspect in a mob murder and a police photographer paint a picture of early 20th century Los Angeles. | 9 |
| 5. | Culture of Corruption by Michelle Malkin (Regnery Publishing: $27.95) An investigation into alleged corruption in the Obama administration. | 6 |
| 6. | Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man by Steve Harvey (Amistad: $23.99) The talk-show host lets women inside the mind-set of a man. | 30 |
| 7. | Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder (Random House: $26) The saga of a refugee from Burundi, who, with the help of strangers, makes his home in America and goes back to start a medical clinic. | 1 |
| 8. | Crazy for the Storm by Norman Ollestad (Ecco: $25.99) The son of a daredevil tells of his life on the edge and how he survived a deadly plane crash. | 12 |
| 9. | The Secret by Rhonda Byrne (Beyond Words: $23.95) Life’s secrets, distilled. | 118 |
| 10. | I’m Dying Up Here by William Knoedelseder (PublicAffairs: $24.95) Behind the scenes at the legendary Comedy Store. | 1 |
| 11. | The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow (Hyperion: $21.95) A professor’s terminal cancer inspires a call to seize life’s moments. | 70 |
| 12. | This Is Water by David Foster Wallace (Little, Brown: $14.99) Thoughts and advice from a 2005 commencement speech at Kenyon College. | 7 |
| 13. | Born to Run by Christopher McDougall (Knopf: $24.95) An exploration of the Tarahumara Indians and their secrets of long-distance running. | 31 |
| 14. | Liberty and Tyranny by Mark R. Levin (Threshold Editions: $25) The talk-radio personality’s call to revitalize the conservative vision in America. | 23 |
| 15. | Mirrors by Eduardo Galeano (Nation Books: $26.95) A history of the world told through tales of artists, writers and visionaries. | 7 |
The biggest entertainment stories
Get our big stories about Hollywood, film, television, music, arts, culture and more right in your inbox as soon as they publish.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
