'Precious' gets a push: It was first published in 1996 with the title Push. On Friday, the writer Sapphire's story of an illiterate, pregnant Harlem teenager named Precious hits movie screens, under the title Precious. The film, produced by Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry, has generated plenty of attention, which has pushed the novel up to No. 22 on USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list. The book is in stores under both titles, Push and Precious. The movie tie-in edition (titled Precious) was released Oct. 20 with a first printing of 400,000. A similar scenario played out earlier this year with the 2005 novel Q&A by Vikas Swarup. That story also hit the big screen with a new name –Slumdog Millionaire. Millionaire spent three weeks in the top 150, peaking at No. 78.

Simmering sales: Kicking off the holiday season's cookbook parade is The Pioneer WomanCooks: Recipes From an Accidental Country Girl by Ree Drummond, which enters the list at No. 29. The Oklahoma cattle rancher turned author is an Internet sensation. Her website, ThePioneerWoman.com, packed with family-friendly recipes, receives 2.5 million unique visitors a month. Other celebrity chefs with strong fan bases also have new releases, though none is in the top 150. They include Nigella Lawson's Nigella Christmas, Jamie Oliver's Jamie's Food Revolution, Ruth Reichl's Gourmet Today and Duff Goldman and Willie Goldman'sAce of Cakes: Inside the World of Charm City Cakes.

'Sweet' spot: Jamie Ford's debut novel, Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, the latest book club pick at the discount chain Target, moves up to No. 63 on the extended list. It features a Chinese-American widower who once loved a Japanese-American girl. It was inspired by Ford's father, who wore an "I Am Chinese" button in Seattle during World War II so he wouldn't be mistaken for being Japanese. Ford calls the Target pick and resulting promotion "insanely great news." He advised readers on his website: "If you happen to notice a certain book cover in an ad in Oprah magazine, or Parenting, or in your Sunday paper – you're not seeing things." There are 175,000 paperback copies in print.

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