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. “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.

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

4. “Blasphemy,” by Douglas Preston (Tom Doherty/Forge, $25.95). A C.I.A. operative tracks scientists with a huge supercollider who are poised to discover the secret of creation.

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

2. “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.”

3. “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.

4. “Memo to the President Elect,” by Madeleine Albright with Bill Woodward (Harper, $26.95). A former secretary of state suggests how to restore America’s credibility.

5. “Born Standing Up,” by Steve Martin (Scribner, $25). Martin recalls his years as a stand-up comedian, from the early 1960s to 1981, when he quit at the peak of his career.