Fiction

1. “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.

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. “State of Fear,” by Michael Crichton (HarperCollins, $27.95). Reverse eco-terrorists create natural disasters to convince the public that global warming is real.

4. “A Salty Piece of Land,” by Jimmy Buffett (Little, Brown, $27.95). A cowboy’s life is changed forever when he meets a 101-year-old woman who hires him to be a lighthouse keeper in the southern Bahamas.

5. “Black Wind,” by Clive Cussler and Dirk Cussler (Putnam, $27.95). Dirk Pitt and his children confront a villain who has acquired biotoxins from World War II.

Nonfiction

1. “America (The Book),” by Jon Stewart, Ben Karlin and David Javerbaum (Warner, $24.95). “The Daily Show” offers a lavishly illustrated parody of a civics textbook.

2. “Chronicles: Volume One,” by Bob Dylan (Simon & Schuster, $24). Recollections and observations from the singer/songwriter.

3. “Faithful,” by Stewart O’Nan and Stephen King (Scribner, $26). Two novelists — and die-hard Boston Red Sox fans — chronicle the 2004 championship season, from spring training to the World Series.

4. “His Excellency,” by Joseph J. Ellis (Knopf, $26.95). A biography of George Washington, by the author of ”Founding Brothers.”

5. “When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?” by George Carlin (Hyperion, $23.95). Another volume of observations and opinions from the stand-up comedian.

— The New York Times