Pentagon plays: Bob Woodward, coauthor with Carl Bernstein of the 1974 bestseller All the President's Men, is famous for his timing. Veil, Woodward's 1987 book on William Casey, was ready shortly after the ex-CIA director died, and his new study of U.S. military decision making, The Commanders, comes in time to capitalize on interest in the gulf war. The book is now No. 4. WEEKS FICTION ON LIST

1 LOVES MUSIC, LOVES TO DANCE 3 Mary Higgins Clark, Simon & Schuster, $21.95 2 THE FIRM 12 John Grisham, Doubleday, $19.95 3 ''H'' IS FOR HOMOCIDE 4 Sue Grafton, Holt, $17.95 4 AS THE CROW FLIES 3 Jeffrey Archer, HarperCollins, $22.95 5 THE SEERESS OF KELL 6 David Eddings, Del Rey, $20 6 HEARTBEAT 14 Danielle Steel, Delacorte, $21.95 7 THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT 5 Lawrence Sanders, Putnam, $22.95 8 ASPEN GOLD 5 Janet Dailey, Little, Brown, $19.95 9 DAMAGE 9 Josephine Hart, Knopf, $18 10 THE NOVEL 6 James Michener, Random House, $23

NONFICTION

1 NANCY REAGAN: THE UNATHORIZED BIOGRAPHY 6 Kitty Kelley, Simon & Schuster, $24.95 2 YOU'LL NEVER EAT LUNCH IN THIS TOWN AGAIN 9 Julia Phillips, Random House, $22 3 THERE ARE NO CHILDREN HERE 5 Alex Kotlowitz, Doubleday, $21.95 4 THE COMMANDERS 2 Bob Woodward, Simon & Schuster, $24.95 5 IRON JOHN: A BOOK ABOUT MEN 25 Robert Bly, Addison-Wesley, $18.95 6 MOVING PICTURES 5 Ali MacGraw, Bantam, $20 7 HOMECOMING 41 John Bradshaw, Bantam, $18.95 8 FINANCIAL SELF-DEFENSE: HOW TO STOP GETTING TAKEN AND START MAKING MONEY 24 Charles Givens, Simon & Schuster, $22.95 9 A HISTORY OF THE ARAB PEOPLES 9 Albert Hourani, Harvard University Press, $24.95 10 WEALTH WITHOUT RISK 117 Charles Givens, Simon & Schuster, $19.95