Fiction

1. “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.

2. “The Historian,” by Elizabeth Kostova (Little, Brown, $25.95). A young woman’s quest to learn the truth about her father’s life and her mother’s death involves research into Vlad the Impaler and Dracula.

3. “Polar Shift,” by Clive Cussler with Paul Kemprecos (Putnam, $26.95). Kurt Austin must contend with the leader of an antiglobalization group who possesses technology that has the potential to destroy all of humanity.

4. “Thud!” by Terry Pratchett (HarperCollins, $24.95). As the anniversary of the battle of Koom Valley approaches, tensions between trolls and dwarfs mount. Part of the Discworld series.

5. “Point Blank,” by Catherine Coulter (Putnam, $25.95). Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock – F.B.I. agents as well as husband and wife – pursue a violent couple.

Nonfiction

1. “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.

2. “1776,” by David McCullough (Simon & Schuster, $32). An account of America’s founding year by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author, focusing on the inexperienced George Washington and heroic citizen soldiers.

3. “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.

4. “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.

5. “A Man Without a Country,” by Kurt Vonnegut (Seven Stories, $23.95). Autobiographical essays and observations from the author of “Slaughterhouse-Five.”

– The New York Times