FictionCOLD MOUNTAIN by Charles Frazier. (Atlantic Monthly:...

Fiction

COLD MOUNTAIN by Charles Frazier. (Atlantic Monthly: $24). A Confederate soldier quits the Civil War and heads home. Southern California ranking: 1; Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 9

THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS by Arundhati Roy. (Random House: $23). The rise and fall of a South Indian family. Southern California ranking: 2; Last Week: 6; Weeks on List: 9

UNNATURAL EXPOSURE by Patricia Cornwell. (Putnam: $25.95). A serial killer returns, leaving clues for Kay Scarpetta in cyberspace. Southern California ranking: 3; Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 6

SERPENT’S TOOTH by Faye Kellerman. (Morrow: $24). Lt. Peter Decker tracks a killer after a mass murder at a posh L.A. eatery. Southern California ranking: 4; Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 3

NO HUMAN INVOLVED by Barbara Seranella. (St. Martin’s: $22.95). A murder suspect poses as a mechanic while trying to clear her name. Southern California ranking: 5; Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

CHASING CEZANNE by Peter Mayle. (Knopf: $23). An art theft on the Co^te d’Azur plunges a photographer into the world of the super chic. Southern California ranking: 6; Last Week: 8; Weeks on List: 4

PLUM ISLAND by Nelson DeMille. (Warner: $25). Convalescing in a fishing town, a New York cop links local lore with two deaths. Southern California ranking: 7; Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 13

THE ACTUAL by Saul Bellow. (Viking: $17.95). A businessman pursues an old high school flame and discovers the meaning of spiritual exile. Southern California ranking: 8; Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 5

IF THIS WORLD WERE MINE by E. Lynn Harris. (Doubleday: $23.95). Four college friends reunite after 10 years for a weekend of shocks and revelations. Southern California ranking: 9; Last Week: 9; Weeks on List: 3

SPECIAL DELIVERY by Danielle Steel. (Delacorte: $16.95). Two Beverly Hills in-laws become Romeo and Juliet Sr. Southern California ranking: 10; Last Week: 7; Weeks on List: 8

Nonfiction

BABYHOOD by Paul Reiser. (Rob Weisbach Books/Morrow: $22). Squishy diaper surprises, exhausted parents and other tales of what happens after the stork visits. Southern California ranking: 1; Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

ANGELA’S ASHES by Frank McCourt. (Scribner: $24). A bittersweet Irish childhood. Southern California ranking: 2; Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 44

THE PERFECT STORM: A True Story of Men Against the Sea by Sebastian Junger. (Norton: $23.95). An account of fishermen trapped in the awesome fury of a hurricane. Southern California ranking: 3; Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 10

INTO THIN AIR: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer. (Villard: $24) (2) Risk and recklessness on a mountaintop. Southern California ranking: 4; Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 18

THE MAN WHO LISTENS TO HORSES by Monty Roberts with Lucy Grealy. (Random House: $23). Turning wild horses into pussycats. Southern California ranking: 5; Last Week: 6; Weeks on List: 2

CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD, BOOK ONE by Neale Donald Walsch. (Putnam: $19.95). Channeling Mr. Big. Southern California ranking: 6; Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 18

THE BIBLE CODE by Michael Drosnin. (Simon & Schuster: $25). The devil’s in the details. Southern California ranking: 7; Last Week: 7; Weeks on List: 11

THE MILLIONAIRE NEXT DOOR by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko. (Longstreet: $22). Lives of the rich and fearless. Southern California ranking: 8; Last Week: 8; Weeks on List: 4

SIMPLE ABUNDANCE: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy by Sarah Ban Breathnach. (Warner: $17.95). Taking life one day at a time. Southern California ranking: 9; Last Week: 5; Weeks on List: 37

DANGEROUS COMPANY: The Consulting Powerhouses and the Businesses They Save and Ruin by James O’Shea and Charles Madigan. (Times Books: $27.50). The power and perils of the advice peddlers. Southern California ranking: 10; Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

Paperbacks: FICTION

1. CAUSE OF DEATH by Patricia Cornwell. (Berkley: $7.50)

2. THE LAWS OF OUR FATHERS by Scott Turow. (Warner: $7.99)

3. IDORU by William Gibson. (Berkley: $6.99)

4. LYING ON THE COUCH by Irvin D. Yalom. (HarperPerennial: $13)

5. THE THIRD TWIN by Ken Follett. (Fawcett Crest: $7.99)

Paperbacks: NONFICTION

1. DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF by Richard Carlson. (Hyperion: $8.95)

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

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

4. A CIVIL ACTION by Jonathan Harr. (Vintage: $13)

5. HYPERICUM & DEPRESSION by Harold H. Bloomfield. (Prelude Press: $7.95)

Rankings are based upon Times’ poll of Southland bookstores.