Former Gov. Sarah Palin hangs onto her No. 1 spot on our list of best selling political books as we head into a new decade.
“Stones Into Schools” by Greg Mortenson debuts at No. 2, picking up where he left off with “Three Cups Of Tea” by promoting his belief that peace can be achieved through education, not wars. Thus far, he has established more than 130 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, primarily for girls.
“The Imperial Cruise” by James Bradley lands at No. 6, offering a clearer view of President Theodore Roosevelt’s race-based beliefs that led him him to miscalculate when handling international matters.
“Empire Of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815” by Gordon S. Wood arrives at No. 13. Mr. Wood’s latest book is part of The Oxford History of the United States series. It also was named a New York Times Notable Book of 2009.
And finally to close out this decade is “Our Front Pages” by the staff of The Onion, at No. 10. Peel away the layers of the Onion as it celebrates 21 years of retrospective on America.
The Full List Follows:
Based on sales for weeks ending Nov. 28 through Dec. 19, 2009
1. Going Rogue, by Sarah Palin. (Harper/HarperCollins, $28.99.) A memoir by the former Alaska governor and vice-presidential candidate.
2. Stones Into Schools, by Greg Mortenson. (Viking, $26.95.) Building schools, many of them for girls, in northeast Afghanistan; takes up where “Three Cups of Tea” left off.
3. Arguing With Idiots, written and edited by Glenn Beck, Kevin Balfe and others. (Mercury Radio Arts/Threshold Editions, $29.99.) Making the case against big government.
4. True Compass, by Edward M. Kennedy. (Twelve, $35.) The late senator’s autobiography.
5. Half The Sky, by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. (Knopf, $27.95.) Women fighting sexual oppression in Asia and Africa.
6. The Imperial Cruise, by James Bradley. (Little, Brown, $29.99.) In 1905, during a diplomatic journey organized by Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft negotiated secret agreements with several Asian countries.
7. Too Big To Fail, by Andrew Ross Sorkin. (Viking, $32.95.) The 2008 financial implosion on Wall Street and in Washington, by a New York Times reporter and columnist.
8. Where Men Win Glory, by Jon Krakauer. (Doubleday, $27.95.) The story of Pat Tillman, the N.F.L. player who enlisted after 9/11, and the Army’s cover-up of his death by friendly fire in Afghanistan.
9. Liberty And Tyranny, by Mark R. Levin. (Threshold Editions, $25.) A conservative manifesto from a talk-show host and president of Landmark Legal Foundation.
10. Our Front Pages, by Onion Staff. (Scribner, $28.) Chronicling America from 1988 through 2008.
11. The Big Burn, by Timothy Egan. (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $27.) The heroism displayed in fighting a huge forest fire in 1910 won public support for Theodore Roosevelt’s conservation efforts; by a New York Times columnist.
12. Start-Up Nation, by Dan Senor and Saul Singer (Twelve, $26.99.) Amid the turmoil in the Middle East, Israel’s economy continues to thrive.
13. Empire Of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815, by Gordon S. Wood. (Oxford University, $35.) An account of America’s first quarter-century.
14. D-Day: The Battle For Normandy, by Antony Beevor. (Viking, $32.95.) The inclusion of overlooked and new archival materials makes a definitive account of D-Day.
15. In The President’s Secret Service, by Ronald Kessler. (Crown, $26.) Agents and the presidents they protect.
Rankings reflect aggregated sales for the weeks ending Nov. 28 through Dec. 19, 2009 at many thousands of venues where a wide range of general interest books are sold nationwide. These include hundreds of independent book retailers (statistically weighted to represent all such outlets nationwide); national, regional and local chains; online and multimedia entertainment retailers; university, gift, supermarket, discount, department stores and newsstands. An asterisk (*) indicates that a book’s sales are barely distinguishable from those of the book above. A dagger (†) indicates that some bookstores report receiving bulk orders. Expanded rankings are available on the Web: nytimes.com/books.
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