Washington Bestsellers/Hardcover

Paperback Bestsellers @ washingtonpost.com/bookworld

Fiction
1	THE LOST SYMBOL (Doubleday, $29.95) By Dan Brown. Masonic lore figures prominently in this sequel to "The Da Vinci Code"; set in D.C.	4
2	A TOUCH OF DEAD: SOOKIE STACKHOUSE: THE COMPLETE STORIES (Ace, $23.95) By Charlaine Harris. Every last one.	1
3	THE HELP (Amy Einhorn, $24.95) By Kathryn Stockett. A piercing look at the lives of black employees at a country club in 1960s Miss.	12
4	THE LAST SONG (Grand Central, $24.99) By Nicholas Sparks. A teen matures while spending the summer with her divorced father.	5
5	THE PROFESSIONAL (Putnam, $26.95) By Robert B. Parker. P.I. Spenser looks into multiple cases of blackmail, which soon leads to murder.	1
6	AN ECHO IN THE BONE (Delacorte, $30) By Diana Gabaldon. The latest Outlander saga featuring Jamie Fraser and his wife, Claire.	3
7	EVIDENCE (Ballantine, $28) By Jonathan Kellerman. Alex Delaware and Milo Sturgis probe the grisly murder of an eco-architect.	1
8	HALF BROKE HORSES (Scribner, $26) By Jeanette Walls. "The Glass Castle" author's novelized life of her Texan grandmother.	1
9	HER FEARFUL SYMMETRY (Scribner, $26.99) By Audrey Niffenegger. A Gothic tint colors this tale of a death, an inheritance and familial ties.	2
10	UNSEEN ACADEMICALS (Harper, $25.99) By Terry Pratchett. Shenanigans abound in this Discworld tale of a wizards' school and football.	1
Nonfiction/General
1	HAVE A LITTLE FAITH: A TRUE STORY (Hyperion, $23.99). By Mitch Albom. Faith at work in both a Jewish and a Christian congregation.	2
2	TRUE COMPASS: A MEMOIR (Twelve, $35) By Edward M. Kennedy. The personal recollections of the "Lion of the Senate" from Massachusetts.	4
3	ARGUING WITH IDIOTS: HOW TO STOP SMALL MINDS AND BIG GOVERNMENT (Threshold Editions, $29.99). By Glenn Beck	3
4	READ MY PINS: STORIES FROM A DIPLOMAT'S JEWEL BOX (Harper, $40). By Madeleine Albright Accessorizing as diplomatic instrument.	2
5	THE MURDER OF KING TUT: THE PLOT TO KILL THE CHILD KING (Little, Brown, $26.99) By James Patterson and Martin Duggan	2
6	GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS 2010: THE BOOK OF THE DECADE (Guinness Media, $28.95) Featuring downloads and all-new photographs.	4
7	OUTLIERS: THE STORY OF SUCCESS (Little, Brown, $27.99). By Malcolm Gladwell Assumptions about success challenged.	43
8	POSTSECRET: CONFESSIONS ON LIFE, DEATH, AND GOD (Morrow, $22.99). By Frank Warren More of the community art project.	1
9	WHERE MEN WIN GLORY: THE ODYSSEY OF PAT TILLMAN (Doubleday, $27.95) By Jon Krakauer. The NFL star turned soldier.	3
10	THE TIME OF MY LIFE (Atria, $26) By Patrick Swayze and Lisa Niemi. Recounting a childhood, career, marriage and bout with cancer.	1

Rankings reflect sales for the week ended Oct. 11, 2009. The charts may not be reproduced without permission from Nielsen BookScan. Copyright © 2009 by Nielsen BookScan. (The right-hand column of numbers represents weeks on this list, which premiered in Book World on Jan. 11, 2004. The bestseller lists in print alternate between hardcover and paperback; the complete list can be found online.)