1. THE 6TH TARGET by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro. In San Francisco, children and their nannies are disappearing, and Detective Lindsay Boxer and the Women's Murder Club investigate.
2. BAD LUCK AND TROUBLE by Lee Child. Jack Reacher must discover who is hunting down members of a team of former military investigators.
3. INVISIBLE PREY by John Sanford. The MInneapolis detective Lucas Davenport finds connections between the murder of several elderly residents and a political scandal.
4. THE YIDDISH POLICEMAN'S UNION by Michael Chabon. A detective investigates the murder of a neighbor in a Jewish settlement in Alaska.
5. SIMPLE GENIUS by David Baldacci. Two former Secret Service agents investigate a scientist's murder while one battles her own demons.
6. THE CHILDREN OF HURIN by J.R.R. Tolkien. In Middle-earth, an evil lord wants to destroy his rival's children.
7. PEARL HARBOR by Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen. The building to the historic attack, with an alternative ending.
8. RANT by Chuck Palahniuk. The "oral biography" of a serial killer.
9. THE WOODS by Harlan Coban. A prosecutor must confront family secrets when new evidence surfaces about a murder and disappearance at a summer camp 20 years earlier.
10. NINETEEN MINUTES by Jodi Picoult. The aftermath of a high school shooting reveals the fault lines in a small New Hampshire town.
TOP TEN PAPERBACK FICTION BOOKS
according to the New York Times
1. THE HUSBAND by Dean Koontz. A man whose wife has been kidnapped has 60 hours to come up with a hugh ransom.
2. WATER FOR ELEPHANTS by Sara Gruen. A young man, and an elephant, save a Depression-era circus.
3. THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy. A father and son journey through post-apocalypse America.
4. 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.
5. THE FIFTH HORSEMAN by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro. Detective Lindsay Boxer and the Woman's Murder Club investigate unexplained deaths at a San Francisco hospital.
6. SUITE FRANCAISE by Irene Nemirovsky. Two novellas, which came to light more than 50 years after the author's death at Auschwitz, about the life in France under the Nazis.
7. SUZANNA'S GARDEN by Debbie Macombe. A woman returns to her hometown and re-examines the troubling events of her past.
8. THE KITE RUNNER by JKhaled Hosseini. An Afghan-American returns to Kabul to learn how a childhood friend has fared under the Taliban.
9. COVER OF NIGHT by Linda Howard. A young widow fights back when intruders storm her bed-and-breakfast in rural Idaho.
10. DEAD WATCH by John Sandford. A political operative investigates the murder of a former senator.
TOP TEN NON-FICTION BOOKS
according to the New York Times
1. GOD IS NOT GREAT by Christopher Hitchens. Religion as a malignanat force in the world.
2. EINSTEIN by Walter Isaacson. A biography based on newly released personal letters.
3. ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, MINERAL by Barbara Kingsolver with Stephen L. Hopp and Camille Kingsolver. The novelist and her family spend a year eating homegrown or local food; an argument for diversified farms and sustainable agriculture.
4. PLATO AND A PLATYPUS WALK INTO A BAR by Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein. A humorous tour of the philosophical traditions.
5. A LONG WAY GONE by Ishmael Beah. A former child soldier from Sierra Leone describes his drug-crazed killng spree and his return to humanity.
6. JESUS OF NAZARETH by Benedict XVI. The pope discusses Jesus' identity as revealed in the gospels.
7. PRESIDENTIAL COURAGE by Michael Beschloss. Profiles of nine presidents who had the courage to make unpopular decisions.
8. AT THE CENTER OF THE STORM by George Tenet. The former director of the Central Intelligence Agency looks back on his career.
9. WHERE HAVE ALL THE LEADERS GONE? by Lee Iacocca. The former CEO, of Chrysler protests the lack of political and business leadership on issues like health care and energy policy.
10. TALES FROM Q SCHOOL by John Feinstien. Inside the 2005 PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament, which determines whether a golfer will have a slot on the PGA Tour, from the author of "A Good Walk Spoiled."
