FictionTHE TAILOR OF PANAMA by John le...

Fiction

THE TAILOR OF PANAMA by John le Carre. (Alfred A. Knopf: $25.) Clothier to Central America’s elite turns British agent for the power and the money (5)*. Southern California ranking: 1; Last Weeks: 2; Week on List: 3

“M” IS FOR MALICE by Sue Grafton. (Henry Holt: $25.) Jealousy among the heirs to a fortune ends in murder, and it’s up to Kinsey Millhone to nab the culprit. Southern California ranking: 2; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

THE LAWS OF OUR FATHERS by Scott Turow. (Farrar Straus & Giroux: $26.95.) Lives of some 1960s idealists, now 1990s cynics, converge after the murder of a senator’s ex-wife (2)*. Southern California ranking: 3; Last Weeks: 1; Week on List: 3

THE DEEP END OF THE OCEAN by Jacquelyn Mitchard. (Viking: $23.95.) A child’s vanishing and the cruel aftershock felt by his family (1). Southern California ranking: 4; Last Weeks: 3; Week on List: 7

THE THIRD TWIN by Ken Follett. (Crown: $25.95.) A researcher stumbles onto a right-wing plot to reshape American society using genetics (9). Southern California ranking: 5; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

THE YELLOW ADMIRAL by Patrick O’Brian. (W.W. Norton: $24.) Landlocked Aubrey regains his sea legs and dodges that greatest threat to adventure--peace in 1814 Europe (11). Southern California ranking: 6; Last Weeks: 4; Week on List: 2

DESPERATION by Stephen King. (Viking: $27.95.) A demonic cop crosses paths with a writer and a telepathic child (4)*. Southern California ranking: 7; Last Weeks: 9; Week on List: 6

AFTER RAIN by William Trevor. (Viking: $22.95.) Stories of love, trauma and estrangement in the lives of Irish farmers and town dwellers. Southern California ranking: 8; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

MY GAL SUNDAY by Mary Higgins Clark. (Simon & Schuster: $23.) A collection of political mysteries solved by a husband and wife with government credentials (3). Southern California ranking: 9; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

THE LAST THING HE WANTED by Joan Didion. (Alfred A. Knopf: $23.) A journalist turns sacrificial lamb in Central America*. Southern California ranking: 10; Last Weeks: 7; Week on List: 7

Nonfiction

CINDY CRAWFORD’S BASIC FACE: A Makeup Workbook by Cindy Crawford. (Broadway: $25). Southern California ranking: 1; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

AMERICAN TRAGEDY: The Uncensored Story of the Simpson Defense by Lawrence Schiller and James Willwerth. (Random House: $27.50) (2). Southern California ranking: 2; Last Weeks: 1; Week on List: 2

HELLO, HE LIED: And Other Truths from the Hollywood Trenches by Lynda Obst. (Little, Brown: $23.95.). Southern California ranking: 3; Last Weeks: 4; Week on List: 9

DOSSIER: The Secret History of Armand Hammer by Edward Jay Epstein. (Random House: $30.) The power-grabbing tactics and Soviet ties of the well-known philanthropist. Southern California ranking: 4; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 3

THE SOUL’S CODE: In Search of Character and Calling by James Hillman. (Random House: $23.) How every human carries a blueprint for a unique identity. Southern California ranking: 5; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

THE ZONE by Barry Sears with Bill Lawren. (HarperCollins/ReganBooks: $22.) (4)*. Southern California ranking: 6; Last Weeks: 5; Week on List: 35

REWRITES by Neil Simon. (Simon & Schuster: $25.) The comic playwright’s ups and downs through TV’s Golden Age and beyond. Southern California ranking: 7; Last Weeks: 3; Week on List: 5

MAKE THE CONNECTION: Ten Steps to a Better Body and a Better Life by Bob Greene and Oprah Winfrey. (Hyperion: $18.95.) (1)*. Southern California ranking: 8; Last Weeks: 6; Week on List: 8

MEN ARE FROM MARS: Women Are From Venus by John Gray, PhD. (HarperCollins: $23.) (3)*. Southern California ranking: 9; Last Weeks: 7; Week on List: 134

LEADING WITH MY CHIN by Jay Leno. (HarperCollins: $22.) The journey from stand-up comedian to host of “The Tonight Show.”. Southern California ranking: 10; Last Weeks: 2; Week on List: 3

Paperbacks: FICTION

1. SLEEPERS by Lorenzo Carcaterra. (Ballantine: $6.99.)

2. THE ENGLISH PATIENT by Michael Ondaatje. (Vintage: $11.)

3. THE LOST WORLD by Michael Crichton. (Ballantine: $7.99.)

4. THE HORSE WHISPERER by Nicholas Evans. (Dell: $6.99.)*

5. SONG OF SOLOMON by Toni Morrison. (Plume: $11.95.)

Paperbacks: NONFICTION

1. DEAR PREZ, I WANNA TELL YA!: Bob Hope’s Presidential Jokebook edited by Ward Grant. (General Publishing: $14.95.)

2. THE RULES: Time-Tested Secrets for Capturing the Heart of Mr. Right by Ellen Fein and Sherrie Schneider. (Warner: $14.95.)

3. LONGITUDE by Dava Sobel. (Penguin: $10.95.)

4. REVIVING OPHELIA by Mary Pipher. (Ballantine: $12.50.)*

5. THE ARTIST’S WAY by Julia Cameron. (Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam: $13.95.)*

Rankings based on Times’ poll of local bookstores. National hardcover rankings (in parentheses) are those of Publishers Weekly. Asterisk (*) indicates book also available on audio (source: Sound Audio Books Distributing, Agoura Hills).