Paperback Nonfiction
Copyright (c) 2012 The New York Times Company. All Rights Reserved.
#1 IN THE GARDEN OF BEASTS
Erik Larson
William E. Dodd, the United States ambassador to Germany, and his daughter, Martha, in 1930s Berlin.
On the bestsellers list for 1 week
New York Times Review
#2 HEAVEN IS FOR REAL
Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent
A boy’s encounter with Jesus and the angels.
On the bestsellers list for 77 weeks
#3 THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS
Rebecca Skloot
A woman’s cancer cells were cultured without her permission in 1951.
On the bestsellers list for 61 weeks
New York Times Review
#4 BOSSYPANTS
Tina Fey
The “30 Rock” creator’s memoir.
On the bestsellers list for 18 weeks
New York Times Review
#5 THEN AGAIN
Diane Keaton
The actress uses her mother’s diaries as a springboard for the examination of her own life.
On the bestsellers list for 1 week
#6 OUTLIERS
Malcolm Gladwell
Why some people succeed — it has to do with luck and opportunities as well as talent.
On the bestsellers list for 48 weeks
New York Times Review
#7 THE NEW JIM CROW
Michelle Alexander
Taking aim at the “war on drugs” and its impact on black men.
On the bestsellers list for 16 weeks
#8 SEAL TEAM SIX
Howard E Wasdin and Stephen Templin
A former Navy SEAL tells of his training and missions.
On the bestsellers list for 1 week
#9 BORN TO RUN
Christopher McDougall
Secrets of distance running from a Mexican Indian tribe.
On the bestsellers list for 58 weeks
#10 THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY
Erik Larson
A story of how an architect and a serial killer were linked by the World’s Fair of 1893.
On the bestsellers list for 215 weeks
New York Times Review
#11 THE VOW
Kim and Krickitt Carpenter with Dana Wilkerson
After a horrific car crash, a couple begin a journey to fall in love again.
On the bestsellers list for 13 weeks
#12 EMPIRE OF THE SUMMER MOON
SC Gwynne
The story of Quanah Parker, the last chief of the Comanches.
On the bestsellers list for 52 weeks
#13 NOTHING DAUNTED
Dorothy Wickenden
Two Eastern women agree to teach homesteaders’ children in the mountains of Colorado in 1916.
On the bestsellers list for 1 week
#14 THE TIPPING POINT
Malcolm Gladwell
A study of social epidemics, otherwise known as fads.
On the bestsellers list for 385 weeks
#15 THE HARE WITH AMBER EYES
Edmund de Waal
A collection of figurines is central to this tale of a family's survival.
On the bestsellers list for 13 weeks
#16 THE GLASS CASTLE
Jeannette Walls
The author recalls her bizarre childhood.
On the bestsellers list for 269 weeks
#17 MOONWALKING WITH EINSTEIN
Joshua Foer
A journalist who covered a mnemonics championship tries competing himself.
On the bestsellers list for 10 weeks
#18 LADY ALMINA AND THE REAL DOWNTON ABBEY
the Countess of Carnarvon
Inspiration and setting for the show on PBS.
On the bestsellers list for 16 weeks
#19 THE ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE
Max Brooks
The comedy writer offers a plan for safeguarding yourself from the living dead.
On the bestsellers list for 51 weeks
#20 LOST IN SHANGRI-LA
Mitchell Zuckoff
Three 1945 crash survivors were caught between headhunters and enemy Japanese.
On the bestsellers list for 2 weeks