The following were the bestselling books at independent bookstores in and around Chicago during the week ended Sunday, November 21:
Hardcover Fiction
1. Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
2. Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris
3. Crescent Dawn by Clive Cussler and Dirk Cussler
4. The Confession by John Grisham
5. Sunset Park by Paul Auster
Hardcover Nonfiction
1. Decision Points by George W. Bush
2. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
3. At Home by Bill Bryson
4. Life by Keith Richards
5. Barefoot Contessa by Ina Garten
Paperback Fiction
1. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
2. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
3. The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
4. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
5. For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide by Ntozake Shange
Paperback Nonfiction
1. Just Kids by Patti Smith
2. Zeitoun by Dave Eggers
3. When Everything Changed by Gail Collins
4. Too Big to Fail by Andrew Sorkin
5. Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris
Children's
1. Of Thee I Sing by Barack Obama
2. The Ugly Truth by Jeff Kinney
3. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
4. The Daughters by Joanna Philbin
5. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kenney
Reporting bookstores: Anderson's, Naperville and Downers Grove; Read Between the Lynes, Woodstock; the Book Table, Oak Park; the Book Cellar, Lincoln Square; Lake Forest Books, Lake Forest; the Bookstall at Chestnut Court, Winnetka; and 57th St. Books; Seminary Co-op; Women and Children First, Chicago.
[Many thanks to the booksellers and Carl Lennertz!]