The following were the bestselling titles at independent bookstores in and around Chicago during the week ended Sunday, November 29:
Hardcover Fiction
- The Help by Kathryn Stockett
- The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
- Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
- A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore
- Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Hardcover Nonfiction
- SuperFreakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
- Open by Andre Agassi
- The Case for God by Karen Armstrong
- You Better Not Cry by Augusten Burroughs
- Going Rogue by Sarah Palin
Paperback Fiction
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
- Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
- The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
- The Piano Teacher by Janice Lee
- Push by Sapphire
Paperback Nonfiction
- The Blind Side by Michael Lewis
- Julie & Julia by Julie Powell
- I Am America (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert
- Logicomix by Apostolos Doxiadis
- Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell
Children's
- Waddle! by Rufus Butler Seder
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid #1 by Jeff Kinney
- Fancy Nancy: Splendiferous Christmas by Nancy O'Connor
- The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid #4 by Jeff Kinney
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!]