1. Feel-Bad Education: And Other Contrarian Essays on Children and Schooling
Alfie Kohn, Beacon ($15)
2. The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer
Siddhartha Mukherjee, Scribner ($18)
3. Unlikely Friendships: 47 Remarkable Stories From the Animal Kingdom
Jennifer Holland, Workman ($13.95)
4. Man in the Woods
Scott Spencer, Ecco ($14.99)
5. The Help
Kathryn Stockett, Berkley ($16)
6. The 12 Secrets of Highly Successful Women: A Portable Life Coach for Creative Women
Gail McMeekin, Conari ($17.95)
7. Creative Writing DeMYSTiFieD
Sheila Bender, McGraw-Hill ($20)
8. Cutting for Stone
Abraham Verghese, Vintage ($15.95)
9. Room: A Novel
Emma Donoghue, Back Bay ($14.99)
10. El Sicario: The Autobiography of a Mexican Assassin
Edited by Molly Molloy and Charles Bowden, Nation ($15.99)
This article appears in Sep 22-28, 2011.