John Grisham returns on January 8 with his first thriller in three years, and a first printing of 2.8 million. But there could be a post-holiday scrum as booksellers unpack two other major laydowns now scheduled that day—from Stephen King (1.5 million copies) and Janet Evanovich (1.25 million). The literary field is more open, with Jhumpa Lahiri and Bernhard Schlink on high ground (300,000 and 100,000 copies respectively).

So far, the election year brings titles from Patrick Buchanan (250,000 printing), Madeleine Albright (200,000), Dee Dee Myers (100,000) and Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel (100,000), among others. And those wishing to retreat to the past may enjoy memoirs from Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer.

JANUARY| January 1 |The Shooters by W.E.B. Griffin (Putnam, $26.95). 400,000 copies.The Secret of Attracting the Life You Want by James Arthur Ray (Hyperion, $26). 250,000 copies.Living Well with Montel by Montel Williams (NAL, $23.95). 150,000 copies.The Sweet Potato Queens’ Guide to Raising Children for Fun and Profit by Jill Conner Browne (Simon & Schuster, $22.95). 150,000 copies.Are You Ready! To Take Charge, Lose Weight, Get in Shape, and Change Your Life Forever by Bob Harper (Broadway, $22.95). 125,000 copies.Bleeding Kansas by Sara Paretsky (Putnam, $25.95). 125,000 copies.People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks (Viking, $24.95). 85,000 copies.| January 2 |America: The Next Chapter by Sen. Chuck Hagel (Ecco, $25.95). 100,000 copies.Meatball Sundae: Is Your Marketing Out of Sync? by Seth Godin (Portfolio, $23.95). 75,000 copies.| January 8 |Untitled novel by John Grisham (Doubleday, $27.95). 2.8 million copies.Duma Key by Stephen King (Scribner, $28). 1.5 million copies.Plum Lucky by Janet Evanovich (St. Martin’s, $17.95). 1.25 million copies.Blasphemy by Doug Preston (Forge, $25.95). 300,000 copies.The Death of America (As We Know It) by Patrick J. Buchanan (St. Martin’s/Dunne, $25.95). 250,000 copies.The Ancient by R.A. Salvatore (Tor, $25.95). 250,000 copies.Memo to the President Elect: How to Restore America’s Reputation and Leadership by Madeleine Albright (HarperCollins, $25.95). 200,000 copies.The Senator’s Wife by Sue Miller (Knopf, $24.95). 150,000 copies.Black Pain: It Just Looks Like We’re Not Hurting by Terrie Williams (Scribner, $24). 150,000 copies.Discover Your Inner Wisdom: Using Intuition, Logic and Common Sense to Make Your Best Choices by Char Margolis with Victoria St. George (Fireside, $24). 100,000 copies.Homecoming by Bernhard Schlink (Pantheon, $24). 100,000 copies.Homo Politicus: Inside the Bizarre Tribal Culture of Washington, D.C. by Dana Milbank (Doubleday, $26). 75,000 copies.The Painter of Battles by Arturo Pérez-Reverte (Random, $24.95).| January 15 |Beverly Hills Dead by Stuart Woods (Putnam, $25.95). 300,000 copies.Sizzle and Burn by Jayne Ann Krentz (Putnam, $24.95). 200,000 copies.Killer Heat by Linda Fairstein (Doubleday, $26). 150,000 copies.Betrayal by John Lescroart (Dutton, $26.95). 150,000 copies.| January 22 |The Secret Between Us by Barbara Delinsky (Doubleday, $25.95). 225,000 copies.Sword Song by Bernard Cornwell (HarperCollins, $25.95). 150,000 copies.| January 29 |The Killing Ground by Jack Higgins (Putnam, $25.95). 250,000 copies.Light of the Moon by Luanne Rice (Bantam, $25). 200,000 copies.Iceman: My Fighting Life by Chuck Liddell (Dutton, $24.95). 150,000 copies.The Purrfect Murder by Rita Mae and Sneaky Pie Brown (Bantam, $25). 75,000 copies.The Reserve by Russell Banks (HarperCollins, $24.95). 60,000 copies.Life Class by Pat Barker (Doubleday, $23.95).FEBRUARY
| February 1 |
The Great Awakening by Jim Wallis (HarperOne, 25.95). 150,000 copies.
The Faith: What Christians Believe, Why They Believe It, and Why It Matters by Charles Colson and Harold Fickett (Zondervan, $18.99). 125,000 copies.
Things I’ve Learned from Women Who’ve Dumped Me by Ben Karlin (Grand Central, $23.99). 75,000 copies.
| February 5 |
7th Heaven by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro (Little, Brown, $27.99). 1.25 million copies.
Stranger in Paradise by Robert B. Parker (Putnam, $25.95). 275,000 copies.
The First Patient by Michael Palmer (St. Martin’s, $25.95). 250,000 copies.
Marching Toward Hell: America and Islam After Iraq by Michael Scheuer (Free Press, $27). 200,000 copies.
Why Women Should Rule the Worldby Dee Dee Myers (HarperCollins, $25.95). 100,000 copies.
Stupid Black Men: And Why the Democratic Party—and Al Qaeda—Want to Keep Them That Way by Larry Elder (St. Martin’s, $24.95). 100,000 copies.
His Illegal Self by Peter Carey (Knopf, $25). 85,000 copies.
| February 12 |
The Venetian Betrayal by Steve Berry (Ballantine, $25.95). 500,000 copies.
Great Lives: Jesus by Charles R. Swindoll (Thomas Nelson, $24.99). 82,000 copies.
Moyers on Democracy: Speeches 2004—2007 by Bill Moyers (Doubleday, $24.95). 60,000 copies.
| February 19 |
Strangers in Death by Nora Roberts writing as J.D. Robb (Putnam, $25.95). 600,000 copies.
Lady Killer by Lisa Scottoline (HarperCollins, $25.95). 350,000 copies.
The Third Jesus: The Christ We Cannot Ignore by Deepak Chopra (Harmony, $24). 150,000 copies.
Becoming Holyfield by Evander Holyfield (Atria, $25). 75,000 copies.
| February 26 |
Honor Thyself by Danielle Steel (Delacorte, $27). 800,000 copies.
Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella (Dial, $24). 450,000 copies.
Untitled Elvis Cole novel by Robert Crais (Simon & Schuster, $26). 300,000 copies.
Deep Dish by Mary Kay Andrews (HarperCollins, $24.95). 200,000 copies.
MARCH
| March 1 |
God’s Problem by Bart Ehrman (HarperOne, 25.95). 125,000 copies.
| March 4 |
Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult (Atria, $26.95). 750,000 copies.
Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana by Anne Rice (Knopf, $25.95). 500,000 copies.
A Prisoner of Birth by Jeffrey Archer (St. Martin’s, $27.97). 400,000 copies.
Lush Life by Richard Price (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $26). 75,000 copies.
| March 11 |
Stop Whining, Start Doing by Dr. Laura Schlessinger (HarperCollins, $24.95). 350,000 copies.
Blind Fall by Christopher Rice (Scribner, $26). 150,000 copies.
| March 13 |
The Ballad of Abu Ghraib by Philip Gourevitch and Errol Morris (Penguin Press, $25.95).
| March 18 |
Shadow of Power by Steve Martini (Morrow, $26.95). 300,000 copies.
Blue-Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas (St. Martin’s, $24.95). 250,000 copies.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed by Sean Williams (Del Rey, $25.95). 200,000 copies.
Retribution: The Battle for Japan, 1944—45 by Max Hastings (Knopf, $35).
| March 25 |
Compulsion by Jonathan Kellerman (Ballantine, $26.95). 350,000 copies.
Yankee Stadium: The Official Retrospective, edited by Mark Vancil and Al Santasiere (Pocket, $50). 175,000 copies.
War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism by Douglas J. Feith (HarperCollins, $27.95). 100,000 copies.
True sTori by Tori Spelling (Simon Spotlight Entertainment, $24.95). 100,000 copies.
APRIL
| April 1 |
The O Cookbook by the editors of O Magazine (Hyperion, $29.95). 300,000 copies.
Home: A Memoir of My Early Years by Julie Andrews (Hyperion/Voice, $26.95). 250,000 copies.
Feasting on Asphalt: The River Run by Alton Brown (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, $27.50). 250,000 copies.
Small Favor: A Novel of the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher (Roc, $23.95). 200,000 copies.
Adam by Ted Dekker (Thomas Nelson, $25.99). 150,000 copies.
Suddenly by Barbara Delinsky (Morrow, $18.95). 125,000 copies.
Leadership Gold: Lessons I’ve Learned from a Lifetime of Reading by John C. Maxwell (Thomas Nelson, $25.99). 115,000 copies.
| April 7 |
Bonk by Mary Roach (Norton, $23.95). 150,000 copies.
| April 8 |
Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner (Atria, $26). 650,000 copies.
Ladies of Liberty: The Women Who Shaped Our Nation by Cokie Roberts (Morrow, $26.95). 400,000 copies.
Guilty by Karen Robards (Putnam, $24.95). 150,000 copies.
Rosie O’Donnell’s Crafty U by Rosie O’Donnell (Simon & Schuster, $25.95). 150,000 copies.
The Art of Happiness in a Troubled World by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler, M.D. (Broadway, $24.95). 125,000 copies.
Pleasure by Eric Jerome Dickey (Dutton, $25.95). 125,000 copies.
Time Is a River by Mary Alice Monroe (Pocket, $25). 75,000 copies.
Olive Kitteridge: A Novel in Stories by Elizabeth Strout (Random, $24.95).
| April 15 |
Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri (Knopf, $24.95). 300,000 copies.
The Miracle at Speedy Motors: The New Novel in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Series by Alexander McCall Smith (Pantheon, $21.95). 300,000 copies.
Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen: Recipes from My Family to Yours by Trisha Yearwood (Clarkson Potter, $29.95). 125,000 copies.
Walking with God by John Eldredge (Thomas Nelson, $22.99). 125,000 copies.
| April 21 |
The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria (Norton, $24.95). 150,000 copies.
| April 22 |
Quicksand by Iris Johansen (St. Martin’s, $26.95). 600,000 copies.
Untitled memoir by Christopher Plummer (Knopf, $30). 50,000 copies.
| April 28 |
The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon-Reed (Norton, $26.95). 75,000 copies.

—With reporting by Raya Kuzyk

* =PWstarred review

* = Children’s titles