Title: Pirate Latitudes
Author: Michael Crichton
Book ISBN: 9780061956393
(US)/ 780007281718 (UK)
Publisher: Harper Collins
Price: RM69.90

THIS latest, posthumous offering from Michael Crichton — he passed away last year — is a tale of swashbuckling pirates in the New World, a classic story of adventure and betrayal set in 1665, at a lone outpost of British power amid Spanish waters in the sun-baked Caribbean. Its capital, Port Royal, is a cutthroat town of taverns, grog shops and bawdy houses.

It is the last place imaginable from which to launch an unthinkable attack on a nearby Spanish stronghold. Yet
that is exactly what renowned privateer Captain Charles Hunter plans to do, with the connivance of Charles II's
ruling gover- nor, Sir James Almont. Crichton's 'lost work' seems to be headed straight to the big screens, as  Steven Spielberg has reportedly optioned the film rights.

The book seems designed to be made into a movie, as with Crichton's other successful yarns that transcend media such as Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain, The Lost World, Congo, Rising Sun, Disclosure, Sphere, The 13th Warrior and a few others. Get ready for Crichton's real last book — an unfinished techno-thriller to be
released in the autumn of 2010.

Title: What The Dog Saw
Author: Malcolm Gladwell
Book ISBN: 9780316076326
Publisher: Little Brown
Price: RM69.90

THIS is the book to read, if you're wondering what kind of stories make for the best articles. The subjects covered range from the deceptively mundane to the bizarre.

The difference between choking and panicking?

Why are there dozens of varieties of mustard but only one variety of ketchup?

What do football players teach us about how to hire teachers?

What does hair dye tell us about the history of the 20th century?

Malcolm Gladwell has written three books in the past decade that have revealed his unique perspective of the world. His books include The Tipping Point, Blink and Outliers. Now, in What the Dog Saw, he compiles the best of his writing from The New Yorker over the same period.

Read about the bittersweet tale of the inventor of the birth control pill, and the dazzling inventions of the pasta
sauce pioneer Howard Moscowitz.

Gladwell sits with Ron Popeil, the king of the American kitchen, as he sells rotisserie ovens, and divines the secrets of Cesar Millan, the "dog whisperer" who can calm savage animals with the touch of his hand. He explores intelligence tests and ethnic profiling and "hindsight bias" and why it was that everyone in Silicon Valley once tripped over themselves to hire the same college graduate. It is as interesting as the synopsis sounds.

Best Sellers:

Non-fiction

1. A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle
2. Have a Little Faith: A True Story by Mitch Albom
3. You Can Reach the Top by Zig Ziglar
4. The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren
5. Think Like a Marketer: WhatIt Really Takes to Stand Out From the Crowd, the Clutter, and the Competition by Lauron Sonnier
6. Self-Improvement 101: What Every Leader Needs to Know by John C. Maxwell
7. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
8. How To Win Any Argument:Without Raising Your Voice,Losing Your Cool, Or Coming To Blows by Robert Mayer
9. Men in White: The Untold Story of Singapore's Ruling Political Party (Revised 2nd Edition) by Sonny Yap, Richard Lim and Leong Weng Kam
10. Warren Buffett's Management Secrets: Proven Tools for Personaland Business Success by Mary Buffett

Fiction

1. The Time Traveler's Wife (Movie Tie-In) by Audrey Niffenegger
2. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
3. The Gift by Cecelia Ahern
4. Paths of Glory by Jeffrey Archer
5. The Last Empress by Anchee Min
6. Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult 
7. Lavender Morning by Jude Deveraux
8. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
9. Vision in White by Nora Roberts
10. The Book of Tomorrow by Cecelia Ahern

• Weekly list compiled by MPH Bookstores, Mid Valley Megamall, Kuala Lumpur.