Follow LA Observed on Twitter here
Sue Grafton, Walter Isaacson's Steve Jobs biography and "The Tiger's Wife" by Téa Obreht lead their respective bestseller lists in Southern California again, but there's a new leader in trade paperback nonfiction. Stacy Schiff's "Cleopatra" moves up to number one. Lists and links below, after the notes.
Book notes:
- Valley writer Barbara Kraft has an e-book out, "Anais Nin: The Last Days, a memoir," about her years with Nin here in Los Angeles and much more. Amazon
- While the Westside prepares for the loss of the Barnes & Noble at Westside Pavilion, creating a bookstore desert spanning about ten miles of the city, I'm reminded that there's another survivor. Small World Books on the Venice Boardwalk has been around since 1976, family run and independent. They even have a new cat: Conan the Librarian.
- Longtime L.A. book events person Lita Weissman is now community relations manager at the Barnes and Noble store in The Grove. Sue Grafton and Michael Connelly have been there this week.
Keep reading for the bestseller lists.
Hardcover Fiction
1. V Is for Vengeance
Sue Grafton, Marian Wood Books/Putnam, $27.95, 9780399157868
2. 11/22/63
Stephen King, Scribner, $35, 9781451627282
3. Micro
Michael Crichton, Richard Preston, Harper, $28.99, 9780060873028
4. The Marriage Plot
Jeffrey Eugenides, FSG, $28, 9780374203054
5. Explosive Eighteen
Janet Evanovich, Bantam, $28, 9780345527714
6. The Sense of an Ending
Julian Barnes, Knopf, $23.95, 9780307957122
7. 1Q84
Haruki Murakami, Knopf, $30.50, 9780307593313
8. The Litigators
John Grisham, Doubleday, $28.95, 9780385535137
9. A Dance With Dragons
George R.R. Martin, Bantam, $35, 9780553801477
10. The Boy in the Suitcase
Lene Kaaberbol, Agnete Friis, Soho Crime, $24, 9781569479810
Hardcover Nonfiction
1. Steve Jobs
Walter Isaacson, S&S, $35, 9781451648539
2. Then Again
Diane Keaton, Random House, $26, 9781400068784
3. Catherine the Great
Robert K. Massie, Random House, $35, 9780679456728
4. Food Rules
Michael Pollan, Maira Kalman (Illus.), Penguin Press, $23.95, 9781594203084
5. Killing Lincoln
Bill O'Reilly, Martin Dugard, Holt, $28, 9780805093070
6. The Swerve
Stephen Greenblatt, Norton, $26.95, 9780393064476
7. Unbroken
Laura Hillenbrand, Random House, $27, 9781400064168
8. Jack Kennedy
Chris Matthews, S&S, $27.50, 9781451635089
9. In the Garden of Beasts
Erik Larson, Crown, $26, 9780307408846
10. Go the F**k to Sleep
Adam Mansbach, Ricardo Cortes (Illus.), Akashic, $14.95, 9781617750250
Trade Paperback Fiction
1. The Tiger's Wife
Téa Obreht, Random House, $15, 9780385343848
2. The Help
Kathryn Stockett, Berkley, $16, 9780425245132
3. An Object of Beauty
Steve Martin, Grand Central, $14.99, 9780446573658
4. A Visit From the Goon Squad
Jennifer Egan, Anchor, $14.95, 9780307477477
5. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Stieg Larsson, Vintage, $15.95, 9780307949493
6. Freedom
Jonathan Franzen, Picador, $16, 9780312576462
7. Room
Emma Donoghue, Back Bay, $14.99, 9780316098328
8. Started Early, Took My Dog
Kate Atkinson, Reagan Arthur Books, $14.99, 9780316066747
9. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
John Le Carre, Penguin, $16, 9780143120933
10. The Fifth Witness
Michael Connelly, Grand Central, $14.99, 9781455510313
Trade Paperback Nonfiction
1. Cleopatra
Stacy Schiff, Back Bay, $16.99, 9780316001946
2. Unlikely Friendships
Jennifer S. Holland, Workman, $13.95, 9780761159131
3. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Rebecca Skloot, Broadway, $16, 9781400052189
4. Lucky Peach: Issue 2
David Chang (Ed.), McSweeney's Insatiables, $12, 9781936365470
5. Heaven Is for Real
Todd Burpo, Thomas Nelson, $16.99, 9780849946158
6. Zagat Los Angeles/So. California Restaurants 2012
Zagat, $15.95, 9781604784053
7. I Remember Nothing
Nora Ephron, Vintage, $14, 9780307742803
8. The Four Agreements
Don Miguel Ruiz, Amber-Allen, $12.95, 9781878424310
9. Just Kids
Patti Smith, Ecco, $16, 9780060936228
10. I, Steve
George Beahm (Ed.), Agate B2, $10.95, 9781932841664