Maw Books Blog

The New York Times Bestseller List
April 27th, 2008

Hardcover Fiction

1. HOLD TIGHT, by Harlan Coben. The aftermath of a high school kid’s suicide rocks a New Jersey suburb.
2. WHERE ARE YOU NOW?, by Mary Higgins Clark.  A woman searches for the truth about her brother, who is alive but has disappeared.
3. THE MIRACLE OF SLEEPY MOTORS, by Alexander McCall Smith.  The ninth novel in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series.
4. UNACCUSTOMED EARTH, by Jhumpa Lahiri.  Stories about the anxiety and transformation experienced by Bengali parents and their American children.
5. CERTAIN GIRLS, by Jennifer Weiner.  A girl discovers the sexy, somewhat autobiographical novel her mother wrote years earlier.

Hardcover Nonfiction

1. BEAUTIFUL BOY, by David Sheff. A father struggles with his son’s meth addiction.
2. HOME, by Julie Andrews. A memoir of Andrews’s early years.
3. MISTAKEN IDENTITY, by Don and Susie Van Ryn and Newell, Colleen and Whitney Cerak, with Mark Tabb. The families of two girls whose identities were confused after a 2006 accident describe their experience.
4. LADIES OF LIBERTY, by Cokie Roberts. The influential women of early America.
5. ESCAPE, by Carolyn Jessop with Laura Palmer.  A former member of a fundamentalist polygamous sect describes her forced marriage to a much older man.

Hardcover Advice

1. THE LAST LECTURE, by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow. After learning he has terminal cancer, a Carnegie Mellon professor shares his thoughts on the importance of “seizing every moment.”
2. JUST WHO WILL YOU BE?, by Maria Shriver.  Shriver’s message: “What you do in your life isn’t what matters. It’s who you are.”
3. THE SECRET, by Rhonda Byrne. The law of attraction as a key to getting what you want.
4. GEORGIA COOKING IN AN OKLAHOMA KITCHEN, by Trisha Yearwood. Fried chicken, stuffed pork chops and other family recipes from the country music singer.
5. THE 4-HOUR WORKWEEK, by Timothy Ferriss. Reconstructing your life so that it’s not all about work.

Children’s Picture Books

1. GALLOP!, written and illustrated by Rufus Butler Seder. Animals seem to move when you flip the page. (Ages 4 to 8 )
2. DON’T BUMP THE GLUMP!, written and illustrated by Shel Silverstein. His first collection of nonsense verse, originally published in 1964. (Ages 5 and up)
3. DIRT ON MY SHIRT, by Jeff Foxworthy. Illustrated by Steve Bjorkman. Poems of childhood by the comedian and TV host. (Ages 4 to 7)
4. MY DOG MAY BE A GENIUS, by Jack Prelutsky. Illustrated by James Stevenson.  Fanciful poems about a pig in a bathing suit, a skunk in a courtroom and more.
5. ALPHABET, by Matthew Van Fleet. An interactive safari ABC. (Ages 2 to 6)

Children’s Chapter Books

1. DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: RODRICK RULES, written and illustrated by Jeff Kinney. How Greg embarrassed himself on his summer vacation (ask his older brother, Rodrick); a sequel to “Diary of a Wimpy Kid.” (Ages 9 to 12)
2. DIARY OF A WIMPY KID, written and illustrated by Jeff Kinney. The travails of adolescence, in cartoons. (Ages 9 to 12)
3. TWEAK, by Nic Sheff. A memoir of a teenager’s methamphetamine addiction. (Ages 15 and up)
4. THE PENDERWICKS ON GARDAM STREET, by Jeanne Birdsall. Four sisters intervene in their father’s dating life; a sequel to “The Penderwicks.” (Ages 12 and up)
5. CITY OF ASHES, by Cassandra Clare. A girl must track down her father in a hidden realm of demons; a sequel to “City of Bones.” (Ages 14 and up)

Children’s Paperback Books

1. MASSIE, by Lisi Harrison. A Westchester girl takes a summer job selling cosmetics; a Clique novel. (Ages 12 and up)
2. BRATFEST AT TIFFANY’S, by Lisi Harrison. Crushes divide the girls on the Pretty Committee; a Clique novel. (Ages 12 and up)
3. CHOSEN, by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast. A young vampire learns who her real school friends are. (Ages 9 to 12)
4. JUST LISTEN, by Sarah Dessen. A girl finally deals with the incident that divided her and her former best friend. (Ages 12 and up)
5. NIM’S ISLAND, by Wendy Orr. Illustrated by Kerry Millard. When a man’s boat becomes disabled, his daughter is stranded on an island for two weeks with animal friends. (Ages 9 to 12)

Children’s Series Books

1. THE TWILIGHT SERIES, by Stephenie Meyer. Vampires and werewolves in high school. (Ages 12 and up)
2. MAXIMUM RIDE, by James Patterson. Winged children try to save the world. (Ages 10 and up)
3. MAGIC TREE HOUSE, by Mary Pope Osborne. Illustrated by Sal Murdocca. Children travel in time. (Ages 6 to 9)
4. PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS, by Rick Riordan.  Battling mythological monsters. (Ages 9 to 12)
5. SEPTIMUS HEAP, by Angie Sage. Lost at birth, a boy fulfills his destiny as a wizard. (Ages 9 and up)

Paperback Trade Fiction

1. THE MEMORY KEEPER’S DAUGHTER, by Kim Edwards. A doctor’s decision to secretly send his newborn daughter, who has Down syndrome, to an institution haunts everyone involved.
2. WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, by Sara Gruen. A young man-and an elephant-save a Depression-era circus.
3. NINETEEN MINUTES, by Jodi Picoult. The aftermath of a high-school shooting reveals the fault lines in a small New Hampshire town.
4. THE KITE RUNNER, by Khaled Hosseini. An Afghan-American returns to Kabul to learn how a childhood friend has fared.
5. THE FRIDAY NIGHT KNITTING CLUB, by Kate Jacobs. A group of women meet weekly at a New York City yarn shop.

Paperback Mass-Market Fiction

1. SIMPLE GENIUS, by David Baldacci. Two former Secret Service agents investigate a scientist’s murder while one battles her own demons.
2. THE WOODS, by Harlan Coben. A prosecutor must confront family secrets when new evidence surfaces about a murder and disappearance at a summer camp 20 years earlier.
3. BAD LUCK AND TROUBLE, by Lee Child. Jack Reacher must discover who is hunting members of a team of former military investigators.
4. CREATION IN DEATH, by J. D. Robb. Lt. Eve Dallas pursues the Groom, a killer who disappeared nine years earlier but has now returned; by Nora Roberts, writing pseudonymously.
5. BACK ON BLOSSOM STREET, by Debbie Macomber.More stories of life and love from a Seattle knitting class.

Paperback Non-Fiction

1. THREE CUPS OF TEA, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. A former climber builds schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
2. EAT, PRAY, LOVE, by Elizabeth Gilbert. A writer’s yearlong journey in search of self takes her to Italy, India and Indonesia.
3. THE GOD DELUSION, by Richard Dawkins.  An Oxford scientist asserts that belief in God is irrational.
4. THE AUDACITY OF HOPE, by Barack Obama. The Illinois senator proposes that Americans move beyond their political divisions.
5. JOHN ADAMS, by David McCullough. A biography of the country’s first vice president and second president.

Paperback Advice

1. A NEW EARTH, by Eckhart Tolle. A spiritual teacher prescribes letting go of the ego to help end conflict and suffering.
2. THE POWER OF NOW, by Eckhart Tolle. A guide to personal growth and spiritual enlightenment.
3. WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU’RE EXPECTING, by Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel. Advice for parents-to-be. (†)
4. GROWING UP GREEN, by Deirdre Imus.  How to raise healthy children — from pregnancy to infancy to adolescence and beyond — in an increasingly toxic environment.
5. SKINNY BITCH, by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. Vegan diet advice from the world of modeling.

Source: The New York Times Best Seller List