The Week's Hottest Reads: Publishers Weekly Bestsellers

-- HARDCOVER FICTION

1. "The Sixth Man" by David Baldacci (Grand Central Publishing)

2. "The Land of Painted Caves: A Novel" by Jean M. Auel (Crown)

3. "Bel Air Dead" by Stuart Woods (Putnam)

4. "A Turn in the Road" by Debbie Macomber (Mira)

5. "The Fifth Witness" by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)

6. "Born of Shadows" by Sherrilyn Kenyon (Grand Central)

7. "I'll Walk Alone" by Mary Higgins Clark (Simon & Schuster)

8. "Chasing Fire" by Nora Roberts (Putnam Adult)

9. "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" by Stieg Larsson (Knopf)

10. "She Walks in Beauty" by Selected by Caroline Kennedy (Voice)

11. "Save Me" by Lisa Scottoline (St. Martin's Press)

12. "44 Charles Street" by Danielle Steel (Delacorte)

13. "The Paris Wife: A Novel" by Paula McLain (Ballantine Books)

14. "Sing You Home: A Novel" by Jodi Picoult (Atria)

15. "The Lost Fleet: Dreadnaught" by Jack Campbell (Ace)

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. "Bossypants" by Tina Fey (Reagan Arthur)

2. "The Dukan Diet" by Pierre Dukan (Crown Archetype)

3. "20 Years Younger" by Bob Greene (Little, Brown)

4. "Stories I Only Tell My Friends" by Rob Lowe (Holt)

5. "Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption" by Laura Hillenbrand (Random House)

6. "Kaboom!" by Darell Hammond (Rodale)

7. "The 17 Day Diet: A Doctor's Plan Design for Rapid Results" by Dr. Mike Moreno (Free Press)

8. "Liberty Defined" by Ron Paul (Grand Central Publishing)

9. "Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived" by Rob Bell (HarperOne)

10. "My Father's Daughter: Delicious, Easy Recipes Celebrating Family & Togetherness" by Gwineth Paltrow and Mario Batali (Grand Central Publishing)

11. "The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement" by David Brooks (Random House)

12. "Onward" by Howard Schultz (Rodale Press)

13. "The Wizard of Lies" by Diana B. Henriques (Times Books)

14. "I'm All Over That: And Other Confessions" by Shirley MacLaine (Atria)

15. "Hitman" by Howie Carr (Forge)

MASS MARKET PAPERBACKS

1. "Water for Elephants: A Novel" by Sara Gruen (Algonquin)

2. "Savage Nature" by Christine Feehan (Jove)

3. "Worth Dying For" by Lee Child (Dell)

4. "Moonlight Cove" by Sheryl Woods (Mira)

5. "Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin (Bantam)

6. "The Search" by Nora Roberts (Jove)

7. "Chasing The Night" by Iris Johansen (St. Martin's)

8. "Something Borrowed" by Emily Griffin (St. Martin's)

9. "Storm Prey" by John Sandford (Berkley)

10. "Any Man of Mine" by Rachel Gibson (Avon)

11. "That Perfect Someone" by Johanna Lindsay (Pocket)

12. "The Burning Wire" by Jeffery Deaver (Pocket)

13. "Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Objective" by Eric Van Lustbader (Vision)

14. "Dangerous in Diamonds" Madeline Hunter (Jove)

15. "Hannah's List" by Debbie Macomber (Mira)

TRADE PAPERBACKS

1. "Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back" by Todd Burpo, Sonja Burpo, Colton Burpo and Lynn Vincent (Thomas Nelson)

2. "Water for Elephants: A Novel" by Sara Gruen (Algonquin)

3. "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett (Putnam Adult)

4. "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot (Broadway)

5. "A Visit from the Goon Squad" by Jennifer Egan (Anchor)

6. "The 9th Judgment" by James Patterson (Grand Central Publishing)

7. "The Internet Is a Playground" by David Throne (Tarcher)

8. "Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen" by Christopher McDougall (Vintage)

9. "Cutting for Stone" by Abraham Verghese (Vintage)

10. "Something Borrowed" by Emily Griffin (St. Martin's Griffin)

11. "The Art of Racing in the Rain: A Novel" by Garth Stein (Harper)

12. "Inside of a Dog" by Alexandra Horowitz (Scribner)

13. "A game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin (Bantam)

14. "Have a Little Faith: A True Story" by Mitch Albom (Hyperion)

15. "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin (Harper)

Comments

[Nolana]

08:49 AM on 05/09/2011

I gave up on Jean Auel in the first chapter of her first book, when she wrote that an earthquake caused the ground to split open and a gust of foul air came out, described as "the morning breath of the earth." I didn't read further, but never forgotten that line, promising myself that I would never ever ever write anything that godawful.

[whirlpool]

12:35 PM on 05/08/2011

I doubt that anyone giving The Land of Painted Caves a good review has actually tried to read it. I gave up about a third of the way in. There is absolutely no plot development--none. The portrayal of early humankind does not suspend disbelief archaeologically speaking.