Los Angeles Times Bestsellers
| Fiction | weeks on list | |
| 1. | The Host by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown: $25.99) A woman refuses to give in to alien invaders who take over the minds, but not the bodies, of humans. | 4 |
| 2. | The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie (Random House: $26) A European traveler arrives at the court of the Mughal emperor with a beguiling tale to tell. | 1 |
| 3. | Bright Shiny Morning by James Frey (Harper: $26.95) Lives intertwine across Los Angeles. | 3 |
| 4. | Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk (Doubleday: $24.95) An aging porn star tries to cap her career with a movie of her having sex with 600 men in one day. | 2 |
| 5. | Careless in Red by Elizabeth George (Harper: $27.95) A detective mourning his late wife stumbles upon the body of a young man. | 4 |
| 6. | Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri (Knopf: $25) Stories of U.S.-born children and their Bengali-born parents straddling cultures. | 9 |
| 7. | Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisberger (Simon & Schuster: $25.95) Girlfriends make a vow to radically updo their lives. | 1 |
| 8. | The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein (Harper: $23.95) A dog’s-eye view of love, loyalty and sacrifice for his race-car-driving master. | 2 |
| 9. | Shadow of Power by Steve Martini (William Morrow: $26.95) A famed legal scholar uncovers lost language in the Constitution that threatens the nation’s future. | 1 |
| 10. | Blood Noir by Laurell K. Hamilton (Berkley: $25.95) A vampire hunter’s favor for her lover awakens an ancient power struggle. | 1 |
| 11. | Odd Hours by Dean Koontz (Bantam: $27) Clairvoyant fry cook Odd Thomas is disturbed by dreams of a sinister red tide. | 2 |
| 12. | The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot DÃaz (Riverhead: $24.95) A sci-fi-loving nerd and his immigrant family are haunted by the past. | 19 |
| 13. | Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks (Doubleday: $24.95) A new peril for master spy James Bond, written to coincide with creator Ian Fleming’s centenary. | 1 |
| 14. | Phantom Prey by John Sandford (Putnam: $26.95) A wealthy widow returns home to find smeared blood and her daughter missing. | 4 |
| 15. | Love the One You’re With by Emily Giffin (St. Martin’s: $24.95) A newlywed finds that she still has feelings for an ex-lover who dumped her. | 3 |
| Nonfiction | ||
| 1. | The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow (Hyperion: $21.95) A professor with terminal cancer urges us to seize life’s moments. | 8 |
| 2. | What Happened by Scott McClellan (PublicAffairs: $27.95) The former Bush press secretary details how he feels the president and his team deceived the public about why the country went to war. | 1 |
| 3. | Audition by Barbara Walters (Knopf: $29.95) The pioneering newswoman recalls her life and career. | 4 |
| 4. | The Secret by Rhonda Byrne (Beyond Words: $23.95) Life’s secrets distilled from oral tradition, literature, religion and philosophy. | 75 |
| 5. | When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris (Little, Brown: $25.99) The quotidian meets the profound in this new batch of essays. | 1 |
| 6. | Just Who Will You Be? by Maria Shriver (Hyperion: $14.95) Ask who, not what, you want to be. | 7 |
| 7. | The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria (W.W. Norton: $25.95) What the future holds with the United States fading as the world’s leading economy. | 4 |
| 8. | The Man Who Loved China by Simon Winchester (Harper: $27.95) The story of scholar Joseph Needham, who explained China to the West. | 2 |
| 9. | Maps and Legends by Michael Chabon (McSweeney’s: $24) The novelist defends his love of genre fiction, of comics, thrillers, horror and myth. | 4 |
| 10. | Quantum Wellness by Kathy Freston (Weinstein Books: $23.95) How small changes can make a big difference in your life. | 1 |
| 11. | The Drunkard’s Walk by Leonard Mlodinow (Pantheon: $24.95) A civilian’s guide to the mathematical laws of randomness. | 1 |
| 12. | My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor (Viking: $24.95) A brain scientist describes her massive stroke and the steps she took to a full recovery. | 2 |
| 13. | The Soloist by Steve Lopez (Putnam: $25.95) The Times columnist befriends a mentally ill homeless musician. | 7 |
| 14. | Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler (Simon Spotlight Entertainment: $24.95) The talk-show host skewers dating, family and work. | 4 |
| 15. | Stolen Innocence by Elissa Wall and Lisa Pulitzer (William Morrow: $25.95) A woman’s story of marriage at 14 and breaking with a polygamous sect. | 2 |
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