1. “Step on a Crack,” by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge (Little, Brown, $27.99). A detective raising 10 children alone must rescue 34 high-level hostages.

2. “Plum Lovin’,” by Janet Evanovich (St. Martin’s, $16.95). A mysterious man in Stephanie Plum’s life helps her track down a matchmaker who skipped bail.

3. “Natural Born Charmer,” by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (Morrow, $24.95). Opposites attract as a football player and a portrait painter embark on a road trip.

4. “High Profile,” by Robert B. Parker (Putnam, $24.95). Jesse Stone, the police chief of Paradise, Mass., investigates the death of a controversial talk-show host and a young woman.

5. “Hannibal Rising,” by Thomas Harris (Delacorte, $27.95). The childhood and adolescence of Hannibal Lecter shed light on how he became “death’s prodigy.”

Nonfiction

1. “The Audacity of Hope,” by Barack Obama (Crown, $25). The Illinois junior senator proposes that Americans move beyond their political divisions.

2. “The innocent Man,” by John Grisham (Doubleday, $28.95). This nonfiction book concerns a man sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit.

3. “Palestine Peace Not Apartheid,” by Jimmy Carter (Simon & Schuster, $27). The former president calls for revitalizing the peace process.

4. “Born on a Blue Day,” by Daniel Tammet. (Free Press, $24.) A memoir by an autistic savant who can perform extraordinary mathematical calculations.

5. “Marley & Me,” by John Grogan (Morrow, $29.95 and $21.95). A newspaper columnist and his wife learn some life lessons from their neurotic dog.