Los Angeles Times bestsellers for Sept. 6, 2009
| Fiction | Weeks on list | |
| 1. | The White Queen by Philippa Gregory (Touchstone: $25.99) The wars of the Plantagenets, who ruled England before the Tudors, enmeshed with the mystery of the missing princes in the Tower of London. | 2 |
| 2. | South of Broad by Pat Conroy (Nan A. Talese: $29.95) A gossip columnist’s homage to a close-knit group of friends from Charleston. | 2 |
| 3. | The Help by Kathryn Stockett (Putnam: $24.95) The lives of a maid, a cook and a college graduate become intertwined while changing a Mississippi town. | 13 |
| 4. | The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson (Knopf: $25.95) A hacker, implicated in two murders, must revisit her past to prove her innocence. | 5 |
| 5. | Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon (Penguin Press: $27.95) Noir meets ‘60s Southern California groovy in a private eye’s psychedelic quest. | 4 |
| 6. | That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo (Knopf : $25.95) A Cape Cod wedding spurs a middle-aged man to reflect on his past, marriage, family and what the future holds. | 3 |
| 7. | The Magicians by Lev Grossman (Viking: $26.95) A group of aspiring prestidigitators sets out to save the enchanted land of Fillory. | 2 |
| 8. | Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown: $19.99) Bella must choose between her lover and a friend, between life and death. | 59 |
| 9. | Alex Cross’s Trial by James Patterson and Richard DiLallo (Little, Brown: $27.99) Alex Cross tells the story of his great-uncle and a lawyer fighting racism and lynchings in a Southern town at the turn of the 20th century. | 1 |
| 10. | The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (Doubleday: $26.95) A novelist in 1920s Barcelona takes a dangerous writing assignment. | 10 |
| 11. | Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw by Jeff Kinney (Amulet: $12.95) Greg’s dad enlists him in sports to toughen him up. | 25 |
| 12. | Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown: $22.99) The final book in the “Twilight” saga finds Bella choosing immortality. | 56 |
| 13. | L.A. Candy by Lauren Conrad (HarperCollins: $17.99) A 19-year-old reality star living the VIP life soon realizes the price that fame extracts. | 1 |
| 14. | This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper (Dutton: $25.95) A man whose wife has just left him for his boss must spend seven excruciating days with his dysfunctional family after his father’s death. | 1 |
| 15. | The Defector by Daniel Silva (Putnam: $26.95) The disappearance of a Russian defector puts Gabriel Allon in pursuit of a deadly arms dealer. | 5 |
| Nonfiction | ||
| 1. | Culture of Corruption by Michelle Malkin (Regnery Publishing: $27.95) An investigation into alleged corruption in the Obama administration. | 5 |
| 2. | Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown: $27.99) An exploration of the background of high achievers. | 39 |
| 3. | Zeitoun by Dave Eggers (McSweeney’s: $24) The disappearance of a Syrian American father and good Samaritan in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. | 5 |
| 4. | The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow (Hyperion: $21.95) A professor’s terminal cancer inspires a call to seize life’s moments. | 69 |
| 5. | Liberty and Tyranny by Mark R. Levin (Threshold Editions: $25) The talk-radio personality’s call to revitalize the conservative vision in America. | 22 |
| 6. | Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man by Steve Harvey (Amistad: $23.99) The talk-show host lets women inside the mind-set of a man. | 30 |
| 7. | Golden Dreams by Kevin Starr (Oxford University Press: $34.95) A look at the pivotal postwar period in Southern California from 1950 to 1963. | 2 |
| 8. | The Evolution of God by Robert Wright (Little, Brown: $25.99) The origins of various religions and the gods they worship. | 2 |
| 9. | In the President’s Secret Service by Ronald Kessler (Crown: $26) A behind-the-scenes look at the Secret Service and its agents. | 3 |
| 10. | Born to Run by Christopher McDougall (Knopf: $24.95) An exploration of the Tarahumara Indians and their secrets of long-distance running | 1 |
| 11. | A Bright and Guilty Place by Richard Rayner (Doubleday: $25) The sagas of an ambitious young lawyer, a prime suspect in a mob murder and a police photographer paint a picture of early 20th century Los Angeles. | 8 |
| 12. | Crazy for the Storm by Norman Ollestad (Ecco: $25.99) The son of a daredevil tells of his life on the edge and how he survived a deadly plane crash. | 11 |
| 13. | StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath (Gallup Press: $21.95) A guide to assess and assist in uncovering your talents and developing your strengths. | 5 |
| 14. | The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich (Doubleday: $25) The story and phenomenon behind the founders of Facebook. | 5 |
| 15. | The Secret by Rhonda Byrne (Beyond Words: $23.95) Life’s secrets, distilled. | 117 |
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