Fiction

1. “Mary, Mary,” by James Patterson (Little, Brown, $27.95). The FBI agent Alex Cross tracks a Hollywood killer who announces the crimes via e-mail.

2. “At First Sight,” by Nicholas Sparks (Warner, $24.95). The young couple from “True Believer,” who are now expecting a child, receive a disturbing message.

3. “Light from Heaven,” by Jan Karon (Viking, $26.95). Father Tim’s bishop asks him to revive a long-closed mountain church; the final novel in the Mitford series.

4. “Predator,” by Patricia Cornwell (Putnam, $26.95). On the trail of a possible serial killer, Dr. Kay Scarpetta turns to a jailed psychopath for advice.

5. “The Lighthouse,” by P. D. James (Knopf, $25.95). Commander Adam Dalgliesh is called in to solve a murder (or two) on a remote Cornish island.

Nonfiction

1. “Our Endangered Values,” by Jimmy Carter (Simon & Schuster, $25). The former president warns against blurring politics and fundamentalist religion.

2. “Teacher Man,” by Frank McCourt (Scribner, $26). The author of “Angela’s Ashes” remembers his years teaching high school English in New York City.

3. “Team of Rivals,” by Doris Kearns Goodwin (Simon & Schuster, $35). The political genius of Abraham Lincoln, revealed in his relationship with his cabinet, from the author of “No Ordinary Time.”

4. “The World is Flat,” by Thomas L. Friedman (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $27.50). A columnist for The New York Times analyzes 21st-century economics and foreign policy and presents an overview of globalization trends.

5. “The Year of Magical Thinking,” by Joan Didion (Knopf, $23.95). The author’s attempts to come to terms with the death of her husband and the grave illness of their only daughter.

– The New York Times