3 FOURTH WING (Red Tower Books, $29.99). By Rebecca Yarros. A young woman competes to secure a spot at an elite war college for dragon riders.

4 TOM LAKE (Harper, $30). By Ann Patchett. Over the course of a summer, a woman tells her three daughters the story of her affair, at 19, with an actor on the cusp of stardom.

5 DEMON COPPERHEAD (Harper, $32.50). By Barbara Kingsolver. In this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, a boy born in a trailer in Appalachia faces the challenges of childhood poverty with resilience.

6 LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY (Doubleday, $29). By Bonnie Garmus. A mid-century scientist becomes a sensation while hosting a feminist cooking show.

7 TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW (Knopf, $28). By Gabrielle Zevin. Two friends run a successful video game design company while testing the boundaries of their relationship.

8 NORTH WOODS (Random House, $28). By Daniel Mason. Over the centuries, a New England farmhouse is a home that interconnects people, plants and animals.

9 THE COVENANT OF WATER (Grove, $32). By Abraham Verghese. Generations of a family from South India’s Malabar Coast all contend with the same affliction: At least one member of each generation dies by drowning.

10 PROPHET SONG (Atlantic Monthly, $26). By Paul Lynch. In this Booker Prize winner, an Irish mother fears for her family’s safety as her country succumbs to an authoritarian regime.

1 OATH AND HONOR (Little, Brown, $32.50). By Liz Cheney. The former member of Congress and chair of the House Republican Conference describes her experiences during and after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

2 THE CREATIVE ACT (Penguin, $32). By Rick Rubin. A Grammy-winning music producer shares how artists work and suggests ways to foster creativity in everyday life.

3 THE WAGER (Doubleday, $30). By David Grann. After enduring storms, sickness and a shipwreck, the surviving crew members of the HMS Wager turn against each other.

4 HOW TO KNOW A PERSON (Random House, $30). By David Brooks. A New York Times columnist draws on various sources to consider how people can make more meaningful connections with one another.

5 THE WOMAN IN ME (Gallery, 32.99). By Britney Spears. In her memoir, the pop star looks back on her rise to stardom and the 13 years she spent under the conservatorship of her father.

6 DEMOCRACY AWAKENING (Viking, $30). By Heather Cox Richardson. The author of the popular newsletter “Letters From an American” warns that America is trending toward autocracy.

7 PREQUEL (Crown, $32). By Rachel Maddow. A narrative history of the wide-reaching plot to promote authoritarianism in early-20th-century America and the effort to prevent it.

8 ATOMIC HABITS (Avery, $27). By James Clear. How to make small changes that have a big impact.

9 FRIENDS, LOVERS, AND THE BIG TERRIBLE THING (Flatiron, $29.99). By Matthew Perry. A memoir by the late star of “Friends” documents his childhood, career and lifelong battles with addiction.

10 HIDDEN POTENTIAL (Viking, $32). By Adam Grant. The author of “Think Again” gives a framework for achievement that relies on growth rather than innate ability.

Rankings reflect sales for the week ended Dec. 31. The charts may not be reproduced without permission from the American Booksellers Association, the trade association for independent bookstores in the United States, and indiebound.org. Copyright 2024 American Booksellers Association. (The bestseller lists alternate between hardcover and paperback each week.)