Entertainment, Books - Navy Times

Fifty top selling books for Sept. 4

USA Today calculates a list of 300 best-selling books. USA Today’s list is based on a computer analysis of retail sales nationwide last week. Included are more than 1.5 million volumes from about 4,700 independent, chain, discount and online booksellers.

The book list appears every Thursday.

Key: (F) - Fiction; (NF) - Non-fiction

1. (2) Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. Young adult: First in vampire love saga: Isabella falls for a vampire (F) Little, Brown, $8.99.

2. (1) Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer. Concluding installment in the “Twilight” series (F) Little Brown, $22.99.

3. (3) New Moon by Stephenie Meyer. Young adult: Second in the vampire love saga (F) Little, Brown Young Readers, $10.99.

4. (5) The Shack by William P. Young. Man reconnects with God after death of child (F) Windblown Media, $14.99.

5. (4) Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer. Young adult: Third in vampire love saga (F) Little, Brown, $18.99.

6. (New) 8 Sandpiper Way by Debbie Macomber. Romance: A pastor’s wife thinks her husband may be cheating; eighth in Cedar Cove series (F) Mira, $7.99.

7. (6) The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, Jeffrey Zaslow. Late professor Randy Pausch’s inspirational “last lecture” (NF) Hyperion, $21.95.

8. (8) Nights in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks. Woman rediscovers love after her husband abandons her; movie (F) Warner Vision, $7.50.

9. (New) The Edge of Desire: A Bastion Club Novel by Stephanie Laurens. Historical romance: Woman turns to her former lover to clear her brother’s name (F) Avon, $7.99.

10. (10) The Choice by Nicholas Sparks. Neighbors in a small North Carolina town unexpectedly fall in love (F) Grand Central Publishing, $13.99.

11. (7) Playing for Pizza by John Grisham. American’s fortunes change when he plays football for the Panthers of Parma, Italy (F) Dell, $7.99.

12. (250) Stone Cold by David Baldacci. Ex-CIA agent tracks dangerous killers (F) Vision, $9.99.

13. (New) Devil Bones by Kathy Reichs. Forensic anthropologist investigates the death of a young girl after a grisly discovery in a cellar (F) Scribner, $25.95.

14. (New) Compulsion by Jonathan Kellerman. Alex Delaware teams with LAPD detective to track a serial killer (F) Ballantine, $9.99.

15. (9) You’ve Been Warned by James Patterson, Howard Roughan. Nanny’s life changes after a nightmare becomes a reality (F) Vision, $9.99.

16. (New) The Gypsy Morph by Terry Brooks. Third installment in the Genesis of Shannara series (F) Del Rey, $27.00.

17. (New) Protect and Defend by Vince Flynn. Counterterrorism operative intervenes when Israel and Iran clash (F) Pocket, $9.99.

18. (19) Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin. Subtitle: “One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time” (NF) Penguin, $15.00.

19. (18) The Host by Stephenie Meyer. Love triangle involving a man, a woman and the alien that possesses her (F) Little, Brown, $25.99.

20. (14) Watchmen by Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons. Superheroes and former teammates reunite to save the world (F) DC Comics, $19.99.

21. (12) Left to Die by Lisa Jackson. A serial killer is loose in the woods around Grizzly Point, Montana (F) Zebra, $7.99.

22. (16) Stori Telling by Tori Spelling. Memoir by Hollywood mega-producer Aaron Spelling’s only daughter (NF) Simon Spotlight, $16.99.

23. (New) Seduction of a Proper Gentleman by Victoria Alexander. Historical romance: Woman seduces and marries an earl to break a centuries-old curse (F) Avon, $7.99.

24. (New) Dark Light by Jayne Ann Krentz as Jayne Castle. Paranormal romance: Reporter marries the subject of her story to uncover a conspiracy (F) Jove, $7.99.

25. (47) The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama. Subtitle:“Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream”; from the 2008 Democratic presidential candidate (NF) Three Rivers Press, $14.95.

26. (23) Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Memoir; Subtitle: “One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia” (NF) Penguin, $15.00.

27. (New) Forgotten by Mariah Stewart. FBI agent searches for more victims of an imprisoned serial killer (F) Ballantine, $6.99.

28. (33) Eat This Not That! for Kids! by David Zinczenko, Matt Goulding. Subtitle: “Be the Leanest, Fittest Family on the Block!” (NF) Rodale, $19.95.

29. (13) Smoke Screen: A Novel by Sandra Brown. Firefighter teams up with a newswoman to find his best friend’s killer (F) Simon & Schuster, $26.95.

30. (22) The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. Promises to be “life-transforming for all who experience it” (NF) Atria/Beyond Words, $23.95.

31. (New) Wild Card by Lora Leigh. Navy Seal, thought to be dead, resurfaces to return to his mourning widow (F) St. Martin’s, $7.99.

32. (20) Play Dirty: A Novel by Sandra Brown. Fallen football star tries to find redemption after he is released from prison (F) Pocket, $9.99.

33. (11) The Obama Nation by Jerome R. Corsi. Subtitle: “Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality” (NF) Threshold Editions, $28.00.

34. (17) The Manning Brides by Debbie Macomber. Two brothers find wives (F) Mira, $7.99.

35. (15) Star Wars: The Force Unleashed by Sean Williams. Latest in the continuing Star Wars saga (F) Del Rey, $26.00.

36. (New) Cold Hearted by Beverly Barton. Investigator is on the trail of a black widow who is killing the men in her life (F) Zebra, $6.99.

37. (29) Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. Love, drama in a circus in the 1930s (F) Algonquin, $13.95.

38. (41) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. 1960 coming-of-age classic about racism; Pulitzer winner; 1962 movie (F) Grand Central Publishing, $6.99.

39. (New) Heart of Stone by Diana Palmer. Romance: Texas rancher/former special forces agent falls for the girl next door (F) Silhouette, $4.99.

40. (30) Eat This Not That! by David Zinczenko, Matt Goulding. Billed as the “no diet weight-loss solution” (NF) Rodale, $19.95.

41. (New) Silks by Dick Francis, Felix Francis. British lawyer/amateur jockey takes on murder case of another jockey (F) Putnam, $25.95.

42. (70) The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel by David Wroblewski. A mute boy whose family trains dogs must deal with a tragic loss (F) Ecco, $25.95.

43. (27) The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Friendship, betrayal of two boys in Afghanistan (F) Riverhead, $14.00.

44. (New) Dark Embrace by Brenda Joyce. Paranormal romance: Relationship between a medieval highlander and a modern woman (F) HQN, $7.99.

45. (289) Noah by Jacquelyn Frank. Latest installment of the Nightwalkers series (F) Zebra, $6.99.

46. (170) Sweet Trouble by Susan Mallery. Romance: Single mom returns to her hometown with unexpected consequences (F) Hqn, $6.99.

47. (35) A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah. Memoir: Author describes his childhood journey from refugee to soldier (NF) Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $12.00.

48. (44) Nineteen Minutes: A Novel by Jodi Picoult. Columbine-like school shooting shatters a small New Hampshire town (NF) Washington Square Press, $15.00.

49. (34) The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Father and son walk alone through burned America; Pulitzer; Oprah’s Book Club, March 2007 pick (F) Vintage, $14.95.

50. (36) The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows. Post-World War II epislatory novel, set on English island (F) The Dial Press, $22.00.

Reporting stores include: Amazon.com, B. Dalton Bookseller, Barnes & Noble.com, Barnes & Noble Inc., Books-A-Million and Bookland, Booksamillion.com, Borders Books & Music, Bookstar, Bookstop, Brentano’s, Davis Kidd Booksellers in Nashville, Jackson, Memphis, Tenn., Doubleday Book Shops, Hudson Booksellers, Joseph-Beth Booksellers (Lexington, Ky.; Cincinnati, Cleveland), Powell’s Books (Portland, Ore.), Powells.com, R.J. Julia Booksellers (Madison, Conn.), Schuler Books & Music (Grand Rapids, Mich.), Target, Tattered Cover Book Store (Denver), Waldenbooks.