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Baldacci’s back ... on the L.A. Times bestseller list

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David Baldacci’s 18th thriller, “Deliver Us From Evil,” hits the bestseller list this week at No. 3. The Virginia-based author, who was a working lawyer unable to make headway as a screenwriter, reached the bestseller list with his first novel, “Absolute Power,” in 1996. Ever since, Baldacci has been writing and publishing hugely popular books almost faster than his fans can read them.

“If I’m not writing, I’m not comfortable,” Baldacci told the website BookBrowse. “I can write in a plane or a train or a boat. In a corner, with a screaming child in my lap, I’ve done all those things. If you wait for the perfect place to write, you’ll never write anything because there’s no such place.”

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But as much as he’s a dedicated writer, he’s also a dedicated reader; in 2003, he told the website The Readers Room, “Keep reading and commit yourself each day to help someone else discover the joy of reading.... We all need to be reading ambassadors.” Baldacci’s commitment to reading is evident in his Wish You Well Foundation, which supports literacy in the U.S.

Top 5 Hardcover Fiction Bestsellers

1. The Help by Kathryn Stockett (Putnam: $24.95) The lives of a maid, cook and college graduate intertwine in a Mississippi town. Weeks on the list: 49

2. Wild Child by T.C. Boyle (Viking : $25.95) This collection’s title story refers to a tale based on Victor of Aveyron, the feral child discovered in the wilds of France in 1797. Weeks on the list: 2

3. Deliver Us From Evil by David Baldacci (Grand Central: $27.99) Mysterious operative Shaw returns to catch a human trafficker and arms dealer alongside a British femme fatale. Weeks on the list: 1

4. The Double Comfort Safari Club by Alexander McCall Smith (Pantheon: $24.95) Multiple challenges and adventures await sleuth Precious Ramotswe in Botswana. Weeks on the list: 1

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5. The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan (Disney Hyperion: $17.99) Percy Jackson and his army of demigods battle to stop the Lord of Time. Weeks on the list: 20


Top 5 Hardcover Non-Fiction Bestsellers

1. The Big Short by Michael Lewis (W.W. Norton: $27.95) How the U.S. economy was driven to collapse by the bond and real estate markets. Weeks on the list: 7

2. The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary by Jeff Kinney (Amulet: $14.95) Behind the scenes during the making of the movie. Weeks on the list: 7

3. The Bridge by David Remnick (Knopf: $29.95) The New Yorker editor’s biography of President Obama as pragmatist, seeker and civil rights symbol. Weeks on the list: 3

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4. Tattoos on the Heart by Gregory Boyle (Free Press: $25) Jesuit priest Boyle recounts working with L.A. youth through his gang intervention program. Weeks on the list: 4

5. Women, Food and God by Geneen Roth (Scribner: $24) The connection between eating and core beliefs that brings fulfillment. Weeks on the list: 4

See the complete fiction and nonfiction bestseller lists, in hardcover and paperback, after the jump.

Hardcover Fiction Bestsellers

1. The Help by Kathryn Stockett (Putnam: $24.95) The lives of a maid, cook and college graduate intertwine in a Mississippi town. Weeks on the list: 49

2. Wild Child by T.C. Boyle (Viking : $25.95) This collection’s title story refers to a tale based on Victor of Aveyron, the feral child discovered in the wilds of France in 1797. Weeks on the list: 2

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3. Deliver Us From Evil by David Baldacci (Grand Central: $27.99) Mysterious operative Shaw returns to catch a human trafficker and arms dealer alongside a British femme fatale. Weeks on the list: 1

4. The Double Comfort Safari Club by Alexander McCall Smith (Pantheon: $24.95) Multiple challenges and adventures await sleuth Precious Ramotswe in Botswana. Weeks on the list: 1

5. The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan (Disney Hyperion: $17.99) Percy Jackson and his army of demigods battle to stop the Lord of Time. Weeks on the list: 20

6. Solar by Ian McEwan (Nan A. Talese: $26.95) A physicist tries to reinvigorate his career (at a colleague’s expense) and save the world. Weeks on the list: 4

7. Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel (Spiegel & Grau: $24) A Holocaust fable featuring a donkey and her monkey companion. Weeks on the list: 2

8. Imperfect Birds by Anne Lamott (Riverhead: $25.95) Fraught parents send their teenage daughter to a wilderness rehab program. Weeks on the list: 3

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9. Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes (Atlantic Monthly: $24.95) The ravages of the Vietnam War told by an ambitious young soldier. Weeks on the list: 4

10. This Body of Death by Elizabeth George (Harper: $28.99) Still mourning the loss of his wife and unborn child, an inspector returns to Scotland Yard for a murder investigation. Weeks on the list: 1

11. The Shadow of Your Smile by Mary Higgins Clark (Simon & Schuster: $25.99) An inheritance is threatened by the revelation of a love child between a nun & famous doctor. Weeks on the list: 2

12. Changes by Jim Butcher (Roc: $25.95) Wizard detective Harry Dresden must save his daughter from becoming a human sacrifice. Weeks on the list: 3

13. Burned by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast (St. Martin’s/Griffin: $17.99) Teen drama reigns in this supernatural fantasy.Weeks on the list: 1

14. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney (Amulet: $12.95) The adventures of Greg Heffley, a wise-cracking kid trying to survive middle school. Weeks on the list: 11

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15. Bite Me by Christopher Moore (William Morrow: $23.99) A San Francisco goth girl and her boyfriend battle a ravenous vampyre cat. Weeks on the list: 5


Hardcover Non-Fiction Bestsellers

1. The Big Short by Michael Lewis (W.W. Norton: $27.95) How the U.S. economy was driven to collapse by the bond and real estate markets. Weeks on the list: 7

2. The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary by Jeff Kinney (Amulet: $14.95) Behind the scenes during the making of the movie. Weeks on the list: 7

3. The Bridge by David Remnick (Knopf: $29.95) The New Yorker editor’s biography of President Obama as pragmatist, seeker and civil rights symbol. Weeks on the list: 3

4. Tattoos on the Heart by Gregory Boyle (Free Press: $25) Jesuit priest Boyle recounts working with L.A. youth through his gang intervention program. Weeks on the list: 4

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5. Women, Food and God by Geneen Roth (Scribner: $24) The connection between eating and core beliefs that brings fulfillment. Weeks on the list: 4

6. Oprah by Kitty Kelley (Crown: $30) A probing account into the queen of all media’s empire and her personal life. Weeks on the list: 2

7. The Bedwetter by Sarah Silverman (Harper: $25.99) The stand-up comic known for her salty humor shares her life story. Weeks on the list: 1

8. Earth by Bill McKibben (Times Books: $24) A manifesto on surviving and saving our planet from global warming. Weeks on the list: 1

9. Diary of a Wimpy Kid Do-it-Yourself by Jeff Kinney (Amulet: $10.95) An interactive journal. Weeks on the list: 3

10. When I Stop Talking, You’ll Know I’m Dead by Jerry Weintraub (Twelve: $25.99) Memoir of the legendary Hollywood producer and manager. Weeks on the list: 2

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11. Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang by Chelsea Handler (Grand Central: $25.99) Essays and amusing tales from the comic’s personal life. Weeks on the list: 7

12. Not My Boy! by Rodney Peete (Hyperion:$24.99) The former NFL quarterback’s journey with his son’s autism. Weeks on the list: 1

13. This Time Together by Carol Burnett (Harmony: $25) The comedian’s humorous look at her career and life in showbiz. Weeks on the list: 2

14. Raquel: Beyond the Cleavage by Raquel Welch (Weinstein: $26.95) The sex symbol’s views. Weeks on the list: 3

15. Change Your Brain, Change Your Body by Daniel G. Amen (Harmony: $25.99) Dietary advice to improve brain function and overall health. Weeks on the list: 3


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Paperback Fiction Bestsellers>

1.The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson ($14.95)
2. The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson ($15.95)
3. Little Bee by Chris Cleave ($14)
4. Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann ($15)
5. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese ($15.95)
6. A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick ($14.95)
7. Shanghai Girls by Lisa See ($15)
8. The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan ($7.99)
9. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan ($7.99)
10. The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan ($7.99)

Paperback Non-Fiction Bestsellers

1.Food Rules by Michael Pollan ($7.99)
2.Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin ($15)
3. For You Mom, Finally by Ruth Reichl ($13)
4. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert ($15)
5. The Lost City of Z by David Grann ($15.95)
6. How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer ($14.95)
7. L.A. Noir by John Buntin ($16)
8. Cracking the AP U.S. History Exam, 2010 Edition by Princeton Review ($18)
9. The Official SAT Study Guide, 2nd edition by The College Board ($21.99)
10. The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle ($14)

Rankings are based on a weekly poll of Southern California bookstores.

-- Carolyn Kellogg and Liesl Bradner

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