FictionTHE PARTNER by John Grisham. (Doubleday: $26.95)...

Fiction

THE PARTNER by John Grisham. (Doubleday: $26.95) (2). Southern California ranking: 1; Last Weeks: 2; Week on List: 8

PRETEND YOU DON’T SEE HER by Mary Higgins Clark. (Simon & Schuster: $25) Despite police protection and a move to another city, an eyewitness to a murder is hunted by the killer (1). Southern California ranking: 2; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

CROOKED LITTLE HEART by Anne Lamott. (Pantheon: $24) The fragile world of a dysfunctional couple is upset when their athletic daughter becomes the target of an obsessed fan. Southern California ranking: 3; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

TOTAL CONTROL by David Baldacci. (Warner: $24) (12). Southern California ranking: 4; Last Weeks: 5; Week on List: 13

THE RANCH by Danielle Steel. (Delacorte: $25.95) Three women gather at a Wyoming ranch to close the distance in their friendships created by time and their traumatic lives (3). Southern California ranking: 5; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

LE DIVORCE by Diane Johnson. (Dutton: $23.95). Southern California ranking: 6; Last Weeks: 4; Week on List: 13

3001: THE FINAL ODYSSEY by Arthur C. Clarke. (Del Rey: $25) Astronaut Frank Poole is awakened 1,000 years later to witness a new civilization and the meaning of the mysterious monoliths (3). Southern California ranking: 7; Last Weeks: 8; Week on List: 5

ASHWORTH HALL by Anne Perry. (Fawcett Columbine: $24) An important politican’s murder jeopardizes a meeting of Catholics and Protestants to discuss Irish home rule. Southern California ranking: 8; Last Weeks: 5; Week on List: 2

THE CELESTINE PROPHECY by James Redfield. (Warner: $17.95) (13). Southern California ranking: 9; Last Weeks: 10; Week on List: 11

AIRFRAME by Michael Crichton (Alfred A. Knopf: $26) Our reviewer, Thomas Petzinger Jr., said this tale of the jetliner industry captures “the delicate interplay of the individual elements in a complex system . . . [and] the unstinting personal commitment of the people who design these planes.”. Southern California ranking: 10; Last Weeks: 9; Week on List: 12

Nonfiction

ANGELA’S ASHES by Frank McCourt. (Scribner: $24) (1). Southern California ranking: 1; Last Weeks: 1; Week on List: 26

RABIN: Our Life, His Legacy by Leah Rabin. (Putnam: $24.95) Years of turmoil and struggle for Israel and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin as recalled by Rabin’s widow. Southern California ranking: 2; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

UNDERBOSS: Sammy the Bull Gravano’s Story of Life in the Mafia by Peter Maass. (HarperCollins: $25) Defying a blood oath to the mob, Gravano defected in 1992 and testified against boss John Gotti. Southern California ranking: 3; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

THE KISS by Kathryn Harrison. (Random House: $20) A writer reveals her tormented affair with her father that began when she was 20. Southern California ranking: 4; Last Weeks: 5; Week on List: 5

MONSTER: Living Off the Big Screen by John Gregory Dunne. (Random House: $21) Our reviewer, Michael Crichton, called Dunne’s book “a remarkable narrative . . . that tells more about the experience of writing for Hollywood than any other book ever written.” Southern California ranking: 5; Last Weeks: 4; Week on List: 10

CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD by Neale Donald Walsch. (Putnam: $19.95) (7). Southern California ranking: 6; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

NAKED by David Sedaris. (Little, Brown & Co.: $21.95) Spending Christmas with a paroled prostitute, working in a fruit-packing factory and other unusual moments in the life of the NPR commentator. Southern California ranking: 7; Last Weeks: 8; Week on List: 6

8 WEEKS TO OPTIMUM HEALTH: A Proven Program for Taking Full Advantage of Your Body’s Natural Healing Power by Andrew Weil. (Knopf: $23) (2). Southern California ranking: 8; Last Weeks: 3; Week on List: 7

KIDS ARE PUNNY: Jokes Sent by Kids to The Rosie O’Donnell Show. (Warner: $10) (10). Southern California ranking: 9; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

PERSONAL HISTORY by Katharine Graham. (Knopf: $29.95) (4). Southern California ranking: 10; Last Weeks: 7; Week on List: 12

Paperbacks: FICTION

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

2. THE RAPTURE OF CANAAN by Sheri Reynolds. (Berkley: $12)

3. STONES FROM THE RIVER by Ursula Hegi. (Simon & Schuster Trade: $12)

4. MOONLIGHT BECOMES YOU by Mary Higgins Clark. (Pocket: $7.99)

5. THE RUNAWAY JURY by John Grisham. (Bantam: $7.99)

Paperbacks: NONFICTION

1. ZAGAT SURVEY 1997 LOS ANGELES/SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA RESTAURANT GUIDE edited by Merrill Shindler and Karen Berk. (Zagat Survey: $10.95)

2. THE COLOR OF WATER by James McBride. (Riverhead: $12)

3. THE CLOISTER WALK by Kathleen Norris. (Riverhead: $12.50)

4. THE LIARS’ CLUB by Mary Karr. (Penguin: $11.95)

5. THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE by Stephen R. Covey. (Fireside/Simon and Schuster: $12)

Rankings based on Times’ poll of local bookstores. National hardcover rankings (in parentheses) are those of Publishers Weekly.