FICTION
1. A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS
by Khaled Hosseini
Riverhead
A friendship between two women in Afghanistan against the backdrop of 30 years of war.
2. DOUBLE CROSS
by James Patterson
Little, Brown
Alex Cross and his new girlfriend, a police detective, confront a Washington killer who boasts of his killings on his own Web site, as well as an old adversary who has escaped from prison.
3. T IS FOR TRESPASS
by Sue Grafton
Putnam
Kinsey Millhone must contend with a woman who has stolen a nurse's identity in order to take advantage of Kinsey's elderly neighbor.
4. WORLD WITHOUT END
by Ken Follett
Dutton
Love and intrigue in Kingsbridge, the medieval English cathedral town at the center of Follett's Pillars of the Earth.
5. THE DARKEST EVENING OF THE YEAR
by Dean Koontz
Bantam
A woman who rescues golden retrievers and one special dog she takes in are shadowed by an evil stranger.
6. FOR ONE MORE DAY
by Mitch Albom
Hyperion
A troubled man gets a last chance to reconnect and restore his relationship with his dead mother.
7. SHADOW MUSIC
by Julie Garwood
Ballantine
In medieval Scotland, a princess starts a Highlands war.
8. PLAYING FOR PIZZA
by John Grisham
Doubleday
An American third-string quarterback joins the Italian National Football League's Parma Panthers.
9. STONE COLD
by David Baldacci
Grand Central
Members of Washington's Camel Club are being murdered to prevent them from uncovering government secrets.
10. THE CHOICE
by Nicholas Sparks
Grand Central
How a North Carolina man's choices play out in his life; from the author of At First Sight.
11. RHETT BUTLER'S PEOPLE
by Donald McCaig
St Martin's
An authorized sequel to Gone With the Wind updates the character of Rhett Butler for the modern reader.
NONFICTION
1. I AM AMERICA (AND SO CAN YOU!)
by Stephen Colbert et al
Grand Central
The wit and wisdom of the mock pundit of Comedy Central's Colbert Report.
2. AN INCONVENIENT BOOK
by Glenn Beck and Kevin Balfe
Threshold Editions
The conservative TV and talk-radio host offers his solutions to problems, including global warming, poverty and political correctness.
3. BORN STANDING UP
by Steve Martin
Scribner
Martin, now a writer and actor, recalls his years as a stand-up comedian, from the early 1960s to 1981, when he quit at the peak of his career.
4. BOOM!
by Tom Brokaw
Random House
The retired news anchor recalls and assesses the 1960s.
5. CLAPTON
by Eric Clapton
Broadway Books
The great guitarist looks back on his life and his music.
6. QUIET STRENGTH
by Tony Dungy with Nathan Whitaker
Tyndale
A memoir by the first black coach to win a Super Bowl. (He was able to do it with the Indianapolis Colts in February 2007.)
8. GOOD DOG. STAY.
by Anna Quindlen
Random House
Life lessons from a black Lab.
9. A FAMILY CHRISTMAS
edited by Caroline Kennedy
Hyperion
Poetry, prose and lyrics from a diverse group of authors.
10. THE AGE OF TURBULENCE
by Alan Greenspan
Penguin Press
A memoir by the longtime chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.
11. THE NINE
by Jeffrey Toobin
Doubleday
A portrait of the Supreme Court since the Reagan administration focuses on the influence of its moderates.
12. LONE SURVIVOR
by Marcus Luttrell with Patrick Robinson
Little, Brown
The only survivor of a Navy SEAL operation in northern Afghanistan describes his comrades, the battle and his courageous escape.
13. MUSICOPHILIA
by Oliver Sacks
Knopf
The neurologist and author of Awakenings examines the interaction between music and the brain.
Climate change, political headwinds and diverging market dynamics around the world have pushed coffee prices to fresh records, jacking up the cost of your everyday brew or a barista’s signature macchiato. While the current hot streak may calm down in the coming months, experts and industry insiders expect volatility will remain the watchword, giving little visibility for producers — two-thirds of whom farm parcels of less than one hectare. METEORIC RISE The price of arabica beans listed in New York surged by 90 percent last year, smashing on Dec. 10 a record dating from 1977 — US$3.48 per pound. Robusta prices have
Nine Taiwanese nervously stand on an observation platform at Tokyo’s Haneda International Airport. It’s 9:20am on March 27, 1968, and they are awaiting the arrival of Liu Wen-ching (柳文卿), who is about to be deported back to Taiwan where he faces possible execution for his independence activities. As he is removed from a minibus, a tenth activist, Dai Tian-chao (戴天昭), jumps out of his hiding place and attacks the immigration officials — the nine other activists in tow — while urging Liu to make a run for it. But he’s pinned to the ground. Amid the commotion, Liu tries to
A dozen excited 10-year-olds are bouncing in their chairs. The small classroom’s walls are lined with racks of wetsuits and water equipment, and decorated with posters of turtles. But the students’ eyes are trained on their teacher, Tseng Ching-ming, describing the currents and sea conditions at nearby Banana Bay, where they’ll soon be going. “Today you have one mission: to take off your equipment and float in the water,” he says. Some of the kids grin, nervously. They don’t know it, but the students from Kenting-Eluan elementary school on Taiwan’s southernmost point, are rare among their peers and predecessors. Despite most of
The resignation of Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) co-founder Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) as party chair on Jan. 1 has led to an interesting battle between two leading party figures, Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) and Tsai Pi-ru (蔡壁如). For years the party has been a one-man show, but with Ko being held incommunicado while on trial for corruption, the new chair’s leadership could be make or break for the young party. Not only are the two very different in style, their backgrounds are very different. Tsai is a co-founder of the TPP and has been with Ko from the very beginning. Huang has