1. Known and Unknown: A Memoir - by Donald Rumsfeld

Publisher: Sentinel
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 02/08/2011
ISBN-13: 9781595230676
ISBN-10: 159523067X

The former defense secretary’s memoir discusses his role in the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

2. Unbroken: A World War II Airman's Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption - by Laura Hillenbrand

Publisher: Random House
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 11/16/2010
ISBN-13: 9781400064168
ISBN-10: 1400064163

An Olympic runner's story of survival as a prisoner of the Japanese in World War II.

Table of Contents

3. Cleopatra: A Life - by Stacy Schiff

Publisher: Little, Brown
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 11/01/2010
ISBN-13: 9780316001922
ISBN-10: 0316001929

The last queen of ancient Egypt was ambitious, audacious and formidably intelligent.

Table of Contents

4. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother - by Amy Chua

Publisher: Penguin Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 01/11/2011
ISBN-13: 9781594202841
ISBN-10: 1594202842

A Chinese-American mother makes a case for strict and demanding parenting.

Table of Contents

5. Decision Points - by George W. Bush

Publisher: Crown Publishers
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 11/09/2010
ISBN-13: 9780307590619
ISBN-10: 0307590615

The former president’s memoir discusses his Christianity, the end of his drinking and his decisions on 9/11, Iraq and Katrina.

6. I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness to The Blind Side and Beyond - by Michael Oher with Don Yaeger

Publisher: Gotham Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 02/08/2011
ISBN-13: 9781592406128
ISBN-10: 1592406122

This memoir by the Baltimore Ravens offensive tackle describes how he broke out of the tough streets of Memphis and into a world of opportunity.

Table of Contents

7. The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels: A Love Story - by Ree Drummond

Publisher: William Morrow
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 02/01/2011
ISBN-13: 9780061997167
ISBN-10: 0061997161

The proprietor of ThePioneerWoman.com describes her marriage.

8. The Hidden Reality: Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos - by Brian Greene

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 01/25/2011
ISBN-13: 9780307265630
ISBN-10: 0307265633

A physicist explains various theories involving the existence of parallel universes.

First Chapter Table of Contents

9. Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 1 - by Mark Twain; edited by Harriet Elinor Smith

Publisher: University of California Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 11/15/2010
ISBN-13: 9780520267190
ISBN-10: 0520267192

Twain is pointedly political and willing to play the angry prophet.

Table of Contents

10. In the Blink of an Eye: Dale, Daytona, and the Day that Changed Everything - by Michael Waltrip and Ellis Henican

Publisher: Hyperion
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 02/01/2011
ISBN-13: 9781401324315
ISBN-10: 1401324312

The race car driver’s memoir is built around the crash that killed Dale Earnhardt Sr. in 2001.

11. Life - by Keith Richards with James Fox

Publisher: Little, Brown
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 10/26/2010
ISBN-13: 9780316034388
ISBN-10: 031603438X

The Rolling Stones guitarist's revealing autobiography is also a portrait of the era when rock 'n' roll came of age.

12. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - by Rebecca Skloot

Publisher: Crown Publishers
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 02/02/2010
ISBN-13: 9781400052172
ISBN-10: 1400052173

The story of a woman whose cancer cells were cultured without her permission in 1951.

First Chapter Table of Contents

13. Decoded - by Jay-Z

Publisher: Spiegel & Grau
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 11/16/2010
ISBN-13: 9781400068920
ISBN-10: 1400068924

The hip-hop star leads a narrative journey through his lyrics and his life.

Table of Contents

14. Outliers: The Story of Success - by Malcolm Gladwell

Publisher: Little, Brown
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 11/18/2008
ISBN-13: 9780316017923
ISBN-10: 0316017922

Why some people succeed--it has to do with luck and opportunity--from the author of Blink.

First Chapter Table of Contents

15. ________ Finish First - by Tucker Max

Publisher: Gallery Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 09/28/2010
ISBN-13: 9781416938743
ISBN-10: 1416938745

Stories of bad decisions, debauchery and sexual recklessness.

Table of Contents

16. ____ My Dad Says - by Justin Halpern

Publisher: It Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 05/04/2010
ISBN-13: 9780061992704
ISBN-10: 0061992704

A memoir organized around the musings, purveyed on Twitter, of the author's father.

These lists are an expanded version of those appearing in the February 27, 2011 print edition of the Book Review. Rankings reflect sales, for the week ending February 12, 2011, at many thousands of venues where a wide range of general interest books are sold nationwide.