Books

Bestsellers compiled from our survey of the nation’s top independent bookstores listed below

HARDCOVER

1. THE CORRECTIONS by Jonathan Franzen Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $26

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2. ISLAM by Karen Armstrong Modern Library, $19.95

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3. HALF A LIFE by V.S. Naipaul Knopf, $24

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4. NEW YORK SEPTEMBER 11 by Magnum Photographers powerHouse, $29.95

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5. A WOMAN’S EDUCATION by Jill Ker Conway Knopf, $22

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6. THE UNIVERSE IN A NUTSHELL by Stephen Hawking Bantam, $35

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7. WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN? by Studs Terkel New Press, $25.95

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8. UPHEAVALS OF THOUGHT by Martha C. Nussbaum Cambridge University Press, $39.95

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9. HATESHIP, FRIENDSHIP, COURTSHIP, LOVESHIP, MARRIAGE by Alice Munro Knopf, $24

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10. WITTGENSTEIN’S POKER by David Edmonds and John Eidinow Ecco Press, $24

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PAPERBACK

1. TALIBAN by Ahmed Rashid Yale University Press, $14.95

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2. THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY by Michael Chabon Picador, $15

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3. PRODIGAL SUMMER by Barbara Kingsolver HarperPerennial, $14

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4. PARIS TO THE MOON by Adam Gopnik Random House, $14.95

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5. JIHAD VS. MCWORLD by Benjamin R. Barber Ballantine, $15

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6. BLOWBACK by Chalmers Johnson Owl Books, $15

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7. DISPATCHES FROM THE TENTH CIRCLE Edited by Robert Siegel Three Rivers, $16

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8. EMPIRE by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri Harvard University Press, $18.95

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9. BRUNELLESCHI’S DOME by Ross King Walker & Co., $24

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10. WHEN WE WERE ORPHANS by Kazuo Ishiguro Vintage, $14

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VLS Bestsellers is compiled from these independent bookstores:

Bailey/Coy Books Seattle, WA; Black Oak Books Berkeley, CA; Book Soup West Hollywood, CA; Book Woman Austin, TX; Canterbury Books Madison, WI; City Lights Bookstore San Francisco, CA; Cody’s Books Berkeley, CA; Fact & Fiction Missoula, MT; Farley’s Bookshop New Hope, PA; Harvard Book Store Cambridge, MA; Labyrinth Books New York, NY; Left Bank Books St. Louis, MO; Midnight Special Santa Monica, CA; Page One, Inc. Albuquerque, NM; Politics & Prose Washington, DC; Posman Books New York, NY; Powell’s Books Portland, OR; Prairie Lights Iowa City, IA; The Regulator Bookshop Durham, NC; Ruminator Books St. Paul, MN; Saint Mark’s Bookshop New York, NY; Seminary Co–operative Bookstore, Inc. Chicago, IL; Shaman Drum Bookshop Ann Arbor, MI; That Bookstore in Blytheville Blytheville, AR; Women & Children First Chicago, IL