FICTIONPLUM ISLAND by Nelson DeMille. (Warner: $25.)...

FICTION

PLUM ISLAND by Nelson DeMille. (Warner: $25.) Convalescing in a fishing town, a New York cop links local lore with two deaths.(1)

Southern California ranking: 1; Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 5

****

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. (10).

Southern California ranking: 2; Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 5

****

NEVERWHERE by Neil Gaiman. (Avon: $24.) A London businessman wakes one day to find that all traces of his life have been erased.

Southern California ranking: 3; Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

****

COLD MOUNTAIN by Charles Frazier. (Atlantic Monthly: $24.) A confederate soldier abandons the Civil War and takes a long walk home.(13)

Southern California ranking: 4; Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

****

LONDON by Edward Rutherfurd. (Crown: $25.95.) From its ancient origins to the present, London’s history is told through the lives of six families.(5)

Southern California ranking: 5; Last Week: 6; Weeks on List: 4

****

MASON & DIXON by Thomas Pynchon. (Henry Holt: $27.50.) “Remarkable,” wrote our reviewer, Ted Mooney, in its vision of “a wilderness America, peopled as much by European hopes and longings as by the interlocking kingdoms of the indigenous.”(12)

Southern California ranking: 6; Last Week: 8; Weeks on List: 9

****

THE PARTNER by John Grisham. (Doubleday: $26.95.) A lawyer takes the money and runs.(2)

Southern California ranking: 7; Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 18

****

THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS by Arundhati Roy. (Random House: $23.) Richard Eder, The Times’ book critic, called the novel a “tragedy . . . played out as ornamented princely melodrama.”

Southern California ranking: 8; Last Week: 10; Weeks on List: 2

****

SINS OF THE MOTHER by Cheryl Saban. (Dove: $19.95.) Released from prison, a rapist threatens the lives of his victim and the daughter he fathered.

Southern California ranking: 9; Last Week: 9; Weeks on List: 2

****

THE AGUERO SISTERS by Cristina Garcia. (Knopf: $24.)

Southern California ranking: 10; Last Week: 5; Weeks on List: 2

****

NONFICTION

INTO THIN AIR: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer. (Villard: $24.)(1)

Southern California ranking: 1; Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 10

****

ANGELA’S ASHES by Frank McCourt. (Scribner: $24.) Bittersweet memories of an Irish childhood.(2)

Southern California ranking: 2; Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 36

****

SOME OF ME by Isabella Rossellini. (Random House: $29.95.) A movie family and lovers, classic cheekbones and a touch of blue velvet.

Southern California ranking: 3; Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

****

THE PROUD HIGHWAY: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967 by Hunter S. Thompson. (Villard: $29.95.) Our reviewer, Paul Krassner, said Thompson’s letters enable readers to “follow the early footsteps of his gonzo path, eavesdropping on the constant struggle between his opportunism and his self-destructiveness.”

Southern California ranking: 4; Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

****

THE BIBLE CODE by Michael Drosnin. (Simon & Schuster: $25.) An account of hidden prophetic messages in sacred text.(3)

Southern California ranking: 5; Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 3

****

THE PERFECT STORM by Sebastian Junger. (Norton: $23.95.) Our reviewer, Richard Ellis, said the book “is a wild ride that brilliantly captures the awesome power of the raging sea and the often futile attempts of humans to withstand it.”(14)

Southern California ranking: 6; Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 2

****

HOWARD HAWKS: The Grey Fox of Hollywood by Todd McCarthy. (Grove Press: $35.) A first biography of the enigmatic auteur who directed the likes of Bogart, Bacall, Monroe and the Duke.

Southern California ranking: 7; Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

****

BRAIN DROPPINGS by George Carlin. (Hyperion: $19.95.) A wry look at modern life and the silliness of human behavior.(4)

Southern California ranking: 8; Last Week: 5; Weeks on List: 5

****

LOS ANGELES A TO Z: An Encyclopedia of the City and County by Leonard and Dale Pitt. (University of California: $34.95.) A guide to L.A.’s past and present.

Southern California ranking: 9; Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

****

CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD, BOOK ONE by Neale Donald Walsch. (Putnam: $19.95.)(12)

Southern California ranking: 10; Last Week: 6; Weeks on List: 12

****

Paperbacks

FICTION

1. SONGS IN ORDINARY TIME by Mary McGarry Morris. (Penguin: $12.95.)

2. SHE’S COME UNDONE by Wally Lamb. (Pocket: $14.)

3. PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD by Faye Kellerman. (Avon: $6.99.)

4. THE BLUE FLOWER by Penelope Fitzgerald. (Mariner/Houghton Mifflin: $12.)

5. THE DEEP END OF THE OCEAN by Jacquelyn Mitchard. (Signet: $7.50.)

****

NONFICTION

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

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

3. CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE TEENAGE SOUL by Jack Canfield, Mark Hansen and Kimberly Kirberger. (Health Communications: $12.95.)

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

5. EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE by Daniel Goleman. (Bantam: $13.95.)

Based on Times’ poll of local bookstores. National rankings (in parentheses) are from Publishers Weekly.