Fiction

1. “Plum Lucky,” by Janet Evanovich (St. Martinos, $17.95). Stephanie’s mother finds a bag of cash and goes gambling in Atlantic City, pursued by the money’s owner.

2. “People of the Book,” by Geraldine Brooks (Viking, $25.95). A rare-book expert unlocks the secrets of a medieval manuscript.

3. “A Thousand Splendid Suns,” by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead, $25.95). A friendship between two women in Afghanistan against the backdrop of 30 years of war.

4. “Beveryly Hills Dead,” by Stuart Woods (Putnam, $25.95). Murder and political intrigue during the Hollywood Red scare of the 1940s. 1

5. “World Without End,” by Ken Follett (Dutton, $35). Love and intrigue in Kingsbridge, the medieval English cathedral town at the center of Follett’s “Pillars of the Earth.”

Nonfiction

1. “Tom Cruise,” by Andrew Morton (St. Martin’s, $25.95). An unauthorized biography of the movie star and Scientology spokesman.

2. “In Defense of Food,” by Michael Pollan (Penguin Press, $21.95). A manifesto urges us to “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”

3. “Liberal Fascism,” by Jonah Goldberg (Doubleday, $27.95). This “alternative history of American liberalism : reveals its roots in, and commonalities with, classical fascism.”

4. “An Inconvenient Book,” by Glenn Beck and Kevin Balfe (Threshold Editions, $26). The conservative TV and talk-radio host offers his solutions to problems including global warming, poverty and political correctness.

5. “I Am America (And So Can You),” by Stephen Colbert, Richard Dahm, Paul Dinello and Allison Silverman (Grand Central, $26.99). The wit and wisdom of the mock pundit of Comedy Central’s “Colbert Report.”