As you may or may not know, Behind the Bestsellers was a monthly feature of our e-zine, and while we haven't looked at the charts officially since November, to some extent, not much has changed.

The Help is now the publishing feel good story of this year, like it was in 2009.  The Lost Symbol is still on the charts and there's a James Patterson book there as well, along with a stack of similar detective novels.  Also, we might not ever rid ourselves of vampires.

However, on the other hand, there is a positive trend to be seen as well.  The Help seems to have opened the door for a number of novels primarily focused towards female audiences, but think more Secret Life of Bees in nature than swashbuckling bodice rippers.  Winter Garden is an emotional story of women brought together by death to reconnect.  Roses is a miniseries waiting to happen, as the story follows multiple generations of a San Antonio based family.

Also, Sarah Blake's The Postmistress looks at the lives of three women during World War II.  Besides being books by women with intelligent takes on female characters, these novels seem to be getting their start at independent booksellers and gaining momentum via book clubs and internet word of mouth.  While no one wants to pass judgment on the popular taste of Americans, there's something charming about first novels by women finding space on the bestseller lists, especially if another factory novel by James Patterson gets bumped out in the process.  Read our analysis of the fiction charts this month on our website.