TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Nonfiction

Week of March 15, 2009

FictionNonfiction
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THE YANKEE YEARS
Joe Torre and Tom Verducci
Cover of THE YANKEE YEARS

THE YANKEE YEARS

by Joe Torre and Tom Verducci · Doubleday

4 wks at #1 · 4 on list

The definitive story of one of the greatest dynasties in baseball history, Joe Torre's New York Yankees. When Joe Torre took over as manager of the Yankees in 1996, they had not won a World Series title in eighteen years. In that time seventeen others had tried to take the helm of America’s most famous baseball team. Each one was fired by George Steinbrenner. After twelve triumphant seasons—with twelve straight playoff appearances, six pennants, and four World Series titles—Torre left the Yankees as the most beloved manager in baseball. But dealing with players like Jason Giambi, A-Rod, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Roger Clemens, and Randy Johnson is what managing is all about. Here, for the first time, Joe Torre and Tom Verducci take readers inside the dugout, the clubhouse, and the front office, showing what it took to keep the Yankees on top of the baseball world.

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DEWEY
Vicki Myron with Bret Witter
Cover of DEWEY

DEWEY

by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter · Grand Central

24 wks on list

Traces the author's discovery of a half-frozen kitten in the drop-box of her small-community Iowa library and the feline's development into an affable library mascot whose intuitive nature prompted hundreds of abiding friendships, in a tale told against a backdrop of the town's struggles with the 1980s farm crisis.

4
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THE LOST CITY OF Z
David Grann
Cover of THE LOST CITY OF Z

THE LOST CITY OF Z

by David Grann · Doubleday

1 wks on list

**NOW A MAJOR FILM STARRING ROBERT PATTINSON, CHARLIE HUNNAM AND SIENNA MILLER** The story of Colonel Percy Harrison Fawcett, the inspiration behind Conan Doyle's The Lost World Fawcett was among the last of a legendary breed of British explorers. For years he explored the Amazon and came to believe that its jungle concealed a large, complex civilization, like El Dorado. Obsessed with its discovery, he christened it the City of Z. In 1925, Fawcett headed into the wilderness with his son Jack, vowing to make history. They vanished without a trace. For the next eighty years, hordes of explorers plunged into the jungle, trying to find evidence of Fawcett's party or Z. Some died from disease and starvation; others simply disappeared. In this spellbinding true tale of lethal obsession, David Grann retraces the footsteps of Fawcett and his followers as he unravels one of the greatest mysteries of exploration. ‘A riveting, exciting and thoroughly compelling tale of adventure’ JOHN GRISHAM ‘A wonderful story of a lost age of heroic exploration’ Sunday Times ‘Marvellous ... An engrossing book whose protagonist could out-think Indiana Jones’ Daily Telegraph ‘The best story in the world, told perfectly’ Evening Standard

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OUT OF CAPTIVITY
Marc Gonsalves, Keith Stansell, Tom Howes and Gary Brozek
Cover of OUT OF CAPTIVITY

OUT OF CAPTIVITY

by Marc Gonsalves, Keith Stansell, Tom Howes and Gary Brozek · William Morrow and Company

1 wks on list

“[A] remarkable story….An honest and harrowing memoir of a life-changing ordeal.” —Arizona Republic The spellbinding New York Times bestseller, Out of Captivity is the amazing true story of Marc Gonsalves, Tom Howes, and Keith Stansell, three American civilian contractors who were held hostage by the FARC rebel group in Colombia for five and a half years. Written with Gary Brozek, this book is an astonishing tale of unbelievable hardship and indomitable will—an “action-packed” (Time magazine) real-life adventure that stands with Alive by Piers Paul Read, Norman Ollestad’s Crazy for the Storm, and other classic true stories of survival.

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MULTIPLE BLESSINGS
Jon Gosselin, Kate Gosselin and Beth Carson
Cover of MULTIPLE BLESSINGS

MULTIPLE BLESSINGS

by Jon Gosselin, Kate Gosselin and Beth Carson · Zondervan

19 wks on list

Eight children in three years? Impossible!Kate and Jon Gosselin have learned that, through God, all things are possible—though sometimes slightly improbable.Just three years after giving birth to twin daughters, Kate and Jon learned they were pregnant again—with sextuplets. In Multiple Blessings, Kate candidly chronicles the emotional and exhausting challenges she and Jon faced from the time the babies were conceived through the first two years of their lives.This amazing story of faith provides a heartening lesson in what it means to trust the faithful hand of God to provide the strength and courage to make it through life’s seemingly impossible situations.

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OBAMA
Pete Souza

OBAMA

by Pete Souza · Little, Brown

A biography of Barack Obama.

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THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS 2009
Barack Obama
Cover of THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS 2009

THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS 2009

by Barack Obama · Penguin

4 wks on list

Celebrate the inauguration of America's 44th president with this New York Times bestseller Tying into the official theme for the 2009 inaugural ceremony, "A New Birth of Freedom" from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, Penguin presents a keepsake edition commemorating the inauguration of President Barack Obama with words of the two great thinkers and writers who have helped shape him politically, philosophically, and personally: Abraham Lincoln and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Having Lincoln and Emerson's most influential, memorable, and eloquent words along with Obama's historic inaugural address will be a gift of inspiration for every American for generations to come.

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THE GAMBLE
Thomas E. Ricks
Cover of THE GAMBLE

THE GAMBLE

by Thomas E. Ricks · Penguin Press

3 wks on list

"The Gamble," the story of Gen. David Petraeus and the American military, reveals that many high-level officials were opposed to the 2003 invasion.

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THE NEXT 100 YEARS
George Friedman
Cover of THE NEXT 100 YEARS

THE NEXT 100 YEARS

by George Friedman · Doubleday

4 wks on list

“Conventional analysis suffers from a profound failure of imagination. It imagines passing clouds to be permanent and is blind to powerful, long-term shifts taking place in full view of the world.” —George Friedman In his long-awaited and provocative new book, George Friedman turns his eye on the future—offering a lucid, highly readable forecast of the changes we can expect around the world during the twenty-first century. He explains where and why future wars will erupt (and how they will be fought), which nations will gain and lose economic and political power, and how new technologies and cultural trends will alter the way we live in the new century. The Next 100 Years draws on a fascinating exploration of history and geopolitical patterns dating back hundreds of years. Friedman shows that we are now, for the first time in half a millennium, at the dawn of a new era—with changes in store, including: • The U.S.-Jihadist war will conclude—replaced by a second full-blown cold war with Russia. • China will undergo a major extended internal crisis, and Mexico will emerge as an important world power. • A new global war will unfold toward the middle of the century between the United States and an unexpected coalition from Eastern Europe, Eurasia, and the Far East; but armies will be much smaller and wars will be less deadly. • Technology will focus on space—both for major military uses and for a dramatic new energy resource that will have radical environmental implications. • The United States will experience a Golden Age in the second half of the century. Written with the keen insight and thoughtful analysis that has made George Friedman a renowned expert in geopolitics and forecasting, The Next 100 Years presents a fascinating picture of what lies ahead. For continual, updated analysis and supplemental material, go to www.geopoliticalfutures.com.

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A SLOBBERING LOVE AFFAIR
Bernard Goldberg
Cover of A SLOBBERING LOVE AFFAIR

A SLOBBERING LOVE AFFAIR

by Bernard Goldberg · Regnery

5 wks on list

Goldberg contends that the mainstream media crossed an important line in the 2008 presidential race, moving from a liberal bias to crass partisanship as spin doctors for Barack Obama.

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ARE YOU THERE, VODKA? IT’S ME, CHELSEA
Chelsea Handler
Cover of ARE YOU THERE, VODKA? IT’S ME, CHELSEA

ARE YOU THERE, VODKA? IT’S ME, CHELSEA

by Chelsea Handler · Simon Spotlight Entertainment

30 wks on list

Welcome to Chelsea Handler's world—a place where absurdity reigns supreme and a quick wit is the best line of defense. When Chelsea Handler needs to get a few things off her chest, she appeals to a higher power—vodka. Seems reasonable, when considering that she discovered her boyfriend was having an affair with a Peekapoo and she had to pretend to be honeymooning with her father in order to upgrade to first class. In this highly entertaining, deliciously skewed collection, Chelsea mines her past for stories about her family, relationships, and career that are at once singular and ridiculous. Whether she’s convincing her third-grade class that she has been chosen to play Goldie Hawn’s daughter in the sequel to Private Benjamin, deciding to be more egalitarian by dating a redhead, or looking out for a foulmouthed, rum-swilling little person who looks just like her...only smaller, Chelsea has a knack for getting herself into the most outrageous situations. Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea showcases the candor and irresistible turns of phrase that have made her one of the freshest voices in comedy today.

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MELTDOWN
Thomas E. Woods Jr
Cover of MELTDOWN

MELTDOWN

by Thomas E. Woods Jr · Regnery

3 wks on list

With a foreword from Ron Paul, Meltdown is the free-market answer to the Fed-created economic crisis. As the new Obama administration inevitably calls for more regulations, Woods argues that the only way to rebuild our economy is by returning to the fundamentals of capitalism and letting the free market work.

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WHY WE SUCK
Denis Leary
Cover of WHY WE SUCK

WHY WE SUCK

by Denis Leary · Viking Press

15 wks on list

The New York Times bestseller One of America’s most original and biting comic satirists, Denis Leary takes on all the poseurs, politicians, and pop culture icons who have sucked in public for far too long. Sparing no one, Leary zeroes in on the ridiculous wherever he finds it—his Irish Catholic upbringing, the folly of celebrity, the pressures of family life, and the great hypocrisy of politics—with the same bright, savage, and profane insight he brought to his critically acclaimed one-man shows No Cure for CancerLock ’n Load. Proudly Irish-American, defiantly working class, with a reserve of compassion for the underdog and the overlooked, Leary delivers blistering diatribes that are both penetrating social commentary with no holds barred and laugh-out-loud funny. As always, Leary’s impassioned comic perspective in Why We Suck is right on target. Leary is the star and co-creator of the Emmy-nominated television show Rescue Me.

Historical bestseller data sourced from the New York Times Book Review, archived by Hawes Publications.