This list is compiled weekly from actual sales figures reported by Independent Bookstores across the Midwest.

A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Erin and Philip Stead is still the bestselling Children's picture book. If you have not looked at this book yet, you have no idea how beautiful it is. The story is charming, about an elderly zookeeper, who always has little personal gestures to comfort each one of the animals in his care.

When he fails to arrive one morning, because he has a bad cold, the animals decide to return the favor, and all pile on to the bus to look after him at his home, to keep him entertained until he feels better.

The illustrations are full of lovingly depicted details; the red socks that the shy penguin wears to keep his feet warm, the expression on the elephant's face when he ponders his next chess move. My opinion is that this is a book we will be reading to our grandchildren for several generations to come.

Add to this that the author and illustrator both live in Ann Arbor, and this was their first collaboration, and you have a story to be very happy about.

Other book I like that are still on the list include "Water for Elephants" and "A Discovery of Witches."

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. The Paris Wife
Paula McLain, Ballantine, $25, 9780345521309
2. Swamplandia!
Karen Russell, Knopf, $24.95, 9780307263995
3. The Help
Kathryn Stockett, Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam, $24.95, 9780399155345
4. Room
Emma Donoghue, Little Brown, $24.99, 9780316098335
5. A Discovery of Witches
Deborah Harkness, Viking, $28.95, 9780670022410
6. The Union Quilters
Jennifer Chiaverini, Dutton Books, $24.95, 9780525952039
7. The Weird Sisters
Eleanor Brown, Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam, $24.95, 9780399157226
8. A Red Herring Without Mustard
Alan Bradley, Delacorte, $23, 9780385342322
9. Tick Tock
James Patterson, Michael Ledwidge, Little Brown, $27.99, 9780316037914
10. West of Here
Jonathan Evison, Algonquin, $24.95, 9781565129528
11. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
Stieg Larsson, Knopf, $27.95, 9780307269997
12. Night Vision
Randy Wayne White, G. P. Putnam's Sons, $25.95, 9780399157059
13. Treachery in Death
J.D. Robb, Putnam Adult, $26.95, 9780399157035
14. Freedom
Jonathan Franzen, FSG, $28, 9780374158460
15. Pale Demon
Kim Harrison, Harper Voyager, $26.99, 9780061138065,
$24.95, 9780375425318

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. Unbroken
Laura Hillenbrand, Random House, $27, 9781400064168
2. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Rebecca Skloot, Crown, $26, 9781400052172
3. Cleopatra
Stacy Schiff, Little Brown, $29.99, 9780316001922
4. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother
Amy Chua, Penguin Press, $25.95, 9781594202841
5. A Widow's Story: A Memoir
Joyce Carol Oates, Ecco, $27.99, 9780062015532
6. Autobiography of Mark Twain
Mark Twain, University of California Press, $34.95, 9780520267190
7. The Pioneer Woman
Ree Drummond, Morrow, $25.99, 9780061997167
8. Known and Unknown
Donald Rumsfeld, Sentinel, $36, 9781595230676
9. Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life
Karen Armstrong, Knopf, $22.95, 9780307595591
10. A Simple Government
Mike Huckabee, Sentinel, $26.95, 9781595230737
11. Griftopia
Matt Taibbi, Spiegel & Grau, $26, 9780385529952
12. I Beat the Odds
Michael Oher, Gotham, $26, 9781592406128
13. At Home
Bill Bryson, Doubleday, $28.95, 9780767919388
14. Townie: A Memoir
Andre Dubus III, Norton, $25.95, 9780393064667
15. The Warmth of Other Suns
Isabel Wilkerson, Random House, $30, 9780679444329

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

1. The Postmistress
Sarah Blake, Berkley, $15, 9780425238691
2. Cutting for Stone
Abraham Verghese, Vintage, $15.95, 9780375714368
3. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
Helen Simonson, Random House, $15, 9780812981223
4. Little Bee
Chris Cleave, S&S, $15, 9781416589648
5. The Imperfectionists
Tom Rachman, Dial, $15, 9780385343671
6. True Grit
Charles Portis, Overlook, $14.95, 9781590204597
7. The Art of Racing in the Rain
Garth Stein, Harper, $14.99, 9780061537967
8. Water for Elephants
Sara Gruen, Algonquin, $14.95, 9781565125605
9. Half Broke Horses
Jeannette Walls, Scribner, $15, 9781416586296
10. The Girl Who Fell From the Sky
Heidi W. Durrow, Algonquin, $13.95, 9781616200152
11. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
Jamie Ford, Ballantine, $15, 9780345505347
12. Sarah's Key
Tatiana De Rosnay, St. Martin's, $13.95, 9780312370848
13. The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag: A Flavia de Luce Novel
Alan Bradley, Bantam, $15, 9780385343459
14. The Girl Who Played With Fire
Stieg Larsson, Vintage, $15.95, 9780307454553
15. Still Alice
Lisa Genova, Pocket, $15, 9781439102817$15.95, 9781400034376

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

1. Heaven Is for Real
Todd Burpo, Thomas Nelson, $16.99, 9780849946158
2. Inside of a Dog
Alexandra Horowitz, Scribner, $16, 9781416583431
3. Just Kids
Patti Smith, Ecco, $16, 9780060936228
4. The King's Speech
Mark Logue, Peter Conradi, Sterling, $14.95, 9781402786761
5. The Glass Castle
Jeannette Walls, Scribner, $15, 9780743247542
6. NurtureShock
Po Bronson, Ashley Merryman, Twelve, $14.99, 9780446504133
7. The CalorieKing Calorie, Fat & Carbohydrate Counter 2011
Allan Borushek, Family Health, $8.99, 9781930448339
8. Zeitoun
Dave Eggers, Vintage, $15.95, 9780307387943
9. Committed
Elizabeth Gilbert, Penguin, $16, 9780143118701
10. The Devil in the White City
Erik Larson, Vintage, $15.95, 9780375725609
11. Three Cups of Tea
Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin, Penguin, $16, 9780143038252
12. The Big Short
Michael Lewis, Norton, $15.95, 9780393338829
13. Eat, Pray, Love
Elizabeth Gilbert, Penguin, $16, 9780143118428
14. Mennonite in a Little Black Dress
Rhoda Janzen, Holt, $14, 9780805092257
15. The Poisoner's Handbook
Deborah Blum, Penguin, $16, 9780143118824
14. Three Cups of Tea

MASS MARKET

1. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Stieg Larsson, Vintage, $7.99, 9780307473479
2. The Catcher in the Rye
J.D. Salinger, Warner, $6.99, 9780316769488
3. To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee, Warner, $7.99, 9780446310789
4. This Body of Death
Elizabeth George, Harper, $9.99, 9780061160912
5. The Girl Who Played With Fire
Stieg Larsson, Vintage, $7.99, 9780307476159
6. The Lost Symbol
Dan Brown, Anchor, $9.99, 9781400079148
7. The Bricklayer
Noah Boyd, Harper, $9.99, 9780061827020
8. The Black Cat
Martha Grimes, Signet, $9.99, 9780451232946
9. Faceless Killers
Henning Mankell, Vintage, $7.99, 9780307742858
10. The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, 4th Edition
Merriam-Webster, $7.50, 9780877799290

CHILDREN'S ILLUSTRATED

1. A Sick Day for Amos McGee
Philip Christian Stead, Erin E. Stead (Illus.), Roaring Brook, $16.99, 9781596434028
2. Otis
Loren Long, Philomel, $8.99, 9780399256004
3. Goodnight Moon
Margaret Wise Brown, Clement Hurd (Illus.), Harper, $8.99, 9780694003617
4. Silverlicious
Victoria Kann, Harper, $17.99, 9780061781230
5. Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters
Barack Obama, Loren Long (Illus.), Knopf, $17.99, 9780375835278
6. Little White Rabbit
Kevin Henkes, Greenwillow, $16.99, 9780062006424
7. Jamberry
Bruce Degen, HarperFestival, $7.99, 9780694006519
8. Otis
Loren Long, Philomel, $17.99, 9780399252488
9. Barnyard Dance!
Sandra Boynton, Workman, $6.95, 9781563054426
10. Moo, Baa, La La La!
Sandra Boynton, S&S, $5.99, 9780671449018

CHILDREN'S INTEREST

1. The Book Thief
Markus Zusak, Knopf, $12.99, 9780375842207
2. Moon Over Manifest
Clare Vanderpool, Delacorte, $16.99, 9780385738835
3. I Am Number Four
Pittacus Lore, Harper, $17.99, 9780062026248
4. I Broke My Trunk!
Mo Willems, Hyperion, $8.99, 9781423133094
5. You Can Count on Monsters
Richard Evan Schwartz, AK Peters, $24.95, 9781568815787
6. Madeline at the White House
John Bemelmans Marciano, Viking, $17.99, 9780670012282
7. Delirium
Lauren Oliver, HarperCollins, $17.99, 9780061726828
8. The Lost Hero
Rick Riordan, Hyperion, $18.99, 9781423113393
9. Matched
Ally Condie, Dutton, $17.99, 9780525423645
10. Masterpiece
Elise Broach, Kelly Murphy (Illus.), Square Fish, $7.99, 9780312608705

CHILDREN'S FICTION SERIES TITLES

1. The Hunger Games
Suzanne Collins, Scholastic, $8.99, 9780439023528
2. Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)
Suzanne Collins, Scholastic, $17.99, 9780439023498
3. Angel
James Patterson, Little Brown, $17.99, 9780316036207
4. Mockingjay (The Final Book of the Hunger Games)
Suzanne Collins, Scholastic, $17.99, 9780439023511
5. The Mysterious Benedict Society
Trenton Lee Stewart, Little Brown, $6.99, 9780316003957
6. The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 4)
Rick Riordan, Hyperion, $7.99, 9781423101499
7. The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 5)
Rick Riordan, Hyperion, $7.99, 9781423101505
8. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth
Jeff Kinney, Amulet, $13.95, 9780810984912
9. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
J.K.Rowling, Scholastic, $10.99, 9780439064873
10. Unbelievable (Pretty Little Liars, #4)
Sara Shepard, Harper Teen, $8.99, 9780060887414