Fiction

1. “Sam’s Letters to Jennifer,” by James Patterson (Little, Brown, $24.95). In the house where she grew up, a woman finds a collection of letters addressed to her that will change her life forever.

2. “The Da Vinci Code,” by Dan Brown (Doubleday, $24.95). The murder of a curator at the Louvre leads to a trail of clues found in the work of Leonardo and to the discovery of a centuries-old secret society.

3. “Ten Big Ones,” by Janet Evanovich (St. Martin’s, $25.95). A Trenton street gang puts out a hit on the bounty hunter Stephanie Plum.

4. “Second Chance,” by Danielle Steel (Delacorte, $20). The romance between the editor in chief of a New York fashion magazine and a conservative widower.

5. “The Five People You Meet in Heaven,” by Mitch Albom (Hyperion, $19.95). An old man who died while trying to rescue a little girl from danger discovers that all will be explained to him in the afterlife.

Nonfiction

1. “My Life,” by Bill Clinton (Knopf, $35). The autobiography of the 42nd president.

2. “Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim,” by David Sedaris (Little, Brown, $24.95). The humorist’s latest collection of essays.

3. “Eats, Shoots & Leaves,” by Lynne Truss (Gotham, $17.50). An Englishwoman expounds on the use and misuse of punctuation marks.

4. “Shadow Divers,” by Robert Kurson (Random House, $26.95). The story of a group of divers who in 1991, 60 miles off the coast of New Jersey, discovered the wreckage of a World War II-era German U-boat.

5. “Father Joe,” by Tony Hendra (Random House, $24.95). A noted satirist recalls his decades-long friendship with an English Benedictine monk.

Advice and miscellaneous

1. “The South Beach Diet,” by Arthur Agatston (Rodale, $24.95). A weight-loss plan designed by a Miami cardiologist.

2. “The Purpose-Driven Life,” by Rick Warren (Zondervan, $19.99). Finding the meaning of life through God.

3. “The South Beach Diet Cookbook,” by Arthur Agatston (Rodale, $25.95). A collection of recipes from a Miami cardiologist.

4. “The Automatic Millionaire,” by David Bach (Broadway, $19.95). A one-step plan “to live and finish rich.”

5. “The Ultimate Weight Solution Cookbook,” by Phil McGraw (Free Press, $26). Recipes designed to help with losing weight and keeping it off.

— The New York Times