Fiction

1. “True Believer,” by Nicholas Sparks (Warner, $24.95). A hip young New Yorker who writes a column for Scientific American finds love with a beautiful librarian who lives in a small town in North Carolina.

2. “The Mermaid Chair,” by Sue Monk Kidd (Viking, $24.95). On Egret Island, off the coast of South Carolina, a married woman is strongly attracted to a monk who is just months away from taking his final vows.

3. “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.

4. “The Revenge of the Sith,” by Matthew Stover (Lucas/Del Rey/Ballantine, $25.95). A new “Star Wars” novel, featuring Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

5. “No Place Like Home,” by Mary Higgins Clark (Simon & Schuster, $25.95). A woman who is trying to conceal her past becomes the target of a killer.

Nonfiction

1. “My Life So Far,” by Jane Fonda (Random House, $26.95). The autobiography of the Academy Award-winning actress, antiwar activist and fitness guru.

2. “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.

3. “Blink,” by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown, $25.95). The author of “The Tipping Point” explores the importance of hunch and instinct to the workings of the mind.

4. “Freakonomics,” by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. (Morrow, $25.95). A maverick scholar applies economic thinking to everything from sumo wrestlers who cheat to legalized abortion and the falling crime rate.

5. “On Bull,” by Harry G. Frankfurt (Princeton University, $9.95). A philosopher attempts a theoretical understanding of a “vast and amorphous” phenomenon.

Advice

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

2. “Winning,” by Jack Welch with Suzy Welch (HarperBusiness, $27.95). Business and career advice from the former General Electric CEO.

3. “Your Best Life Now,” by Joel Osteen (Warner Faith, $19.99). A faith-based approach to living with enthusiam.

4. “And One More Thing Before You Go …,” by Maria Shriver (Free Press, $13.95). A guide for daughters as they leave for college.

5. “Body for Life,” by Pamela Peeke (Rodale, $26.95). How women can achieve a healthy body by managing stress, eating nourishing foods and performing specific exercises.

— The New York Times