NPR Bestsellers: Paperback Nonfiction, Week Of November 3, 2011 French philosopher Michel de Montaigne's advice on How to Live debuts at No. 15.
NPR logo NPR Bestsellers: Paperback Nonfiction, Week Of November 3, 2011

1

Weeks on List: 34

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

by Rebecca Skloot

Paperback, 381 pages, Random House Inc, $16, published March 8 2011 | purchase

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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Author
Rebecca Skloot

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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks documents the story of how scientists took cells from an unsuspecting descendant of freed slaves and created a human cell line that has been kept alive indefinitely, enabling numerous medical and scientific discoveries.

News and Reviews

2

Weeks on List: 8

Cleopatra

A Life

by Stacy Schiff

Paperback, 432 pages, Little Brown & Co, $16.99, published September 6 2011 | purchase

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Title
Cleopatra
Subtitle
A Life
Author
Stacy Schiff

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Stacy Schiff separates fact from fiction to reconstruct the life of Cleopatra, revealing her as a complex woman and shrewd monarch whose life and death reshaped the ancient world.

News and Reviews

3

Weeks on List: 20

Unlikely Friendships

47 Remarkable Stories From the Animal Kingdom

by Jennifer S. Holland

Paperback, 210 pages, Workman Pub Co, $13.95, published June 21 2011 | purchase

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Title
Unlikely Friendships
Subtitle
47 Remarkable Stories From the Animal Kingdom
Author
Jennifer S. Holland

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A collection of stories about animals that have forged unlikely, abiding bonds with other animals of different species, from Koko the gorilla and All Ball the kitten to Owen the hippo and the tortoise Mzee.

4

Weeks on List: 4

At Home

A Short History of Private Life

by Bill Bryson

Paperback, 577 pages, Random House Inc, $15.95, published October 4 2011 | purchase

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Title
At Home
Subtitle
A Short History of Private Life
Author
Bill Bryson

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The author of A Short History of Nearly Everything explores the ways in which homes reflect history, from a bathroom's revelations about medicine and hygiene to a kitchen's exposure of the stories of trade and nutrition.

News and Reviews

5

Weeks on List: 42

Heaven Is for Real

A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back

by Todd Burpo and Lynn Vincent

Paperback, 163 pages, Thomas Nelson Inc, $16.99, published November 2 2010 | purchase

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Title
Heaven Is for Real
Subtitle
A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back
Author
Todd Burpo and Lynn Vincent

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Todd Burpo and Lynn Vincent tell the story of a Nebraska pastor's 4-year-old son, who loses consciousness during surgery, sees a vision of heaven and meets Jesus' special horse.

6

Weeks on List: 52

Just Kids

by Patti Smith

Paperback, 288 pages, Harpercollins, $16, published November 2 2010 | purchase

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Just Kids
Author
Patti Smith

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Artist and musician Patti Smith recounts her romance, lifetime friendship and shared love of art with Robert Mapplethorpe in an illustrated memoir, with a colorful cast of characters including Bob Dylan, Allen Ginsberg, Andy Warhol and William Burroughs.

News and Reviews

7

Weeks on List: 25

Empire of the Summer Moon

Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History

by S.C. Gwynne

Paperback, 371 pages, Simon & Schuster, $16, published May 10 2011 | purchase

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Title
Empire of the Summer Moon
Subtitle
Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History
Author
S.C. Gwynne

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Describes the actions of both whites and Comanches during a 40-year war over territory, in a story that begins with the kidnapping of a white girl who grew up to marry a Comanche chief and have a son, Quanah, who became a great warrior.

News and Reviews

8

Weeks on List: 4

The Warmth Of Other Suns

The Epic Story of America's Great Migration

by Isabel Wilkerson

Paperback, 622 pages, Random House Inc, $16.95, published October 4 2011 | purchase

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Title
The Warmth Of Other Suns
Subtitle
The Epic Story of America's Great Migration
Author
Isabel Wilkerson

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In an epic history covering the period from the end of World War I through the 1970s, a Pulitzer Prize winner chronicles the decades-long migration of African-Americans from the South to the North and West through the stories of three individuals and their families.

News and Reviews

9

Weeks on List: 6

Moneyball

The Art of Winning an Unfair Game

by Michael Lewis

Paperback, 317 pages, W W Norton & Co Inc, $15.95, published August 22 2011 | purchase

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Title
Moneyball
Subtitle
The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
Author
Michael Lewis

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Michael Lewis explains how baseball's Billy Beene, the general manager of the Oakland Athletics, is using a new kind of thinking to build a successful baseball team without spending enormous sums of money.

News and Reviews

10

Weeks on List: 29

F in Exams

The Very Best Totally Wrong Test Answers

by Richard Benson

Paperback, 128 pages, Chronicle Books, $9.95, published February 23 2011 | purchase

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Title
F In Exams
Subtitle
The Very Best Totally Wrong Test Answers
Author
Richard Benson

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Humor writer Richard Benson collects hilariously wrong test answers.

11

Weeks on List: 11

The Hare With Amber Eyes

A Hidden Inheritance

by Edmund De Waal

Paperback, 354 pages, St Martins Pr, $16, published August 2 2011 | purchase

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Title
The Hare With Amber Eyes
Subtitle
A Hidden Inheritance
Author
Edmund De Waal

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Traces the parallel stories of 19th century art patron Charles Ephrussi and his unique collection of 264 miniature netsuke — Japanese ivory carvings — documenting Ephrussi's relationship with Marcel Proust and the impact of the Holocaust on his cosmopolitan family.

News and Reviews

12

Weeks on List: 7

The Old Farmer's Almanac 2012

by Old Farmer's Almanac

Paperback, 288 pages, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $6.95, published September 13 2011 | purchase

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Title
The Old Farmer's Almanac 2012
Author
Old Farmer's Almanac

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The Almanac returns with weather predictions; astronomical data; gardening advice; and ideas, hints and charts that provide simple solutions for everyday challenges.

13

Weeks on List: 21

Outliers

The Story of Success

by Malcolm Gladwell

Paperback, 309 pages, Little Brown & Co, $16.99, published June 7 2011 | purchase

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Title
Outliers
Subtitle
The Story of Success
Author
Malcolm Gladwell

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The author of Blink identifies the qualities of successful people, posing theories about the cultural, family and idiosyncratic factors that shape high achievers, in a resource that covers such topics as the secrets of software billionaires, why certain cultures are associated with better academic performance and why The Beatles earned their fame.

News and Reviews

14

Weeks on List: 31

Born To Run

A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

by Christopher McDougall

Paperback, 287 pages, Random House Inc, $15.95, published March 29 2011 | purchase

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Title
Born To Run
Subtitle
A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen
Author
Christopher McDougall

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Recounts the author's experiences with the reclusive Tarahumara Indians, whose techniques allow them to run long distances with ease, and describes his training for a 50-mile race with the tribe and a number of ultramarathoners.

News and Reviews

15

Weeks on List: 1

How to Live

Or a Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer

by Sarah Bakewell

Paperback, 399 pages, Random House Inc, $16.95, published September 20 2011 | purchase

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Title
How to Live
Subtitle
Or a Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer
Author
Sarah Bakewell

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More than 400 years after his death, the words of writer and philosopher Michel Eyquem de Montaigne still ring true. In this engaging biography, Sarah Blakewell profiles the man known to many as the "first truly modern individual."
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