Southern California Rankings:FICTION1. MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA...

Southern California Rankings:

FICTION

1. MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA by Arthur Golden (Knopf: $25) The life and loves of a teahouse entertainer growing up in Kyoto during World War II.

Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 44

2. THE LOOP by Nicholas Evans (Delacorte: $25.95) A pack of wolves is unleashed on a town called Hope (Montana), reawakening an age-old tug of war among its citizens.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

3. RAINBOW SIX by Tom Clancy (Putnam: $27.95) Ex-Navy SEAL John Clark heads an international special-operations anti-terrorist strike force.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 4

4. TELL ME YOUR DREAMS by Sidney Sheldon (Morrow: $26) A bizarre murder trial with three beautiful young suspects who give new meaning to the word “stalk.”

Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 3

5. THE GIRL IN THE FLAMMABLE SKIRT by Aimee Bender (Doubleday: $21.95) Stories of men and women living on the hilarious frontlines of need and desire.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 6

6. FIELD OF THIRTEEN by Dick Francis (Putnam: $24.95) Treacherous jockeys, horse trainers and others get their comeuppance in this collection of tales.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

7. DAY OF CONFESSION by Allan Folsom (Little, Brown: $25) An L.A. entertainment attorney tumbles into a sinister plot in Rome hatched by a shadowy Vatican official.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

8. NO SAFE PLACE by Richard North Patterson (Knopf: $25.95) An honorable politician is stalked by a madman during his campaign for the California senate.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

9. MILK IN MY COFFEE by Eric J. Dickey (Duttons: $24.95) A young African American professional crosses the color barrier to date a white woman.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

10. I KNOW THIS MUCH IS TRUE by Wally Lamb (HarperCollins/Regan Books:$27.50) A man with a twin brother finds meaning in an Italian ancestor’s life.

Last Week: 11; Weeks on List: 2

11. BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY by Helen Fielding (Viking: $22.95) The New Year’s resolutions of a single thirtysomething girlie Brit, from personal appearance to the perfect man.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 14

12. SUMMER SISTERS by Judy Blume (Delacorte: $21.50) Friendship between two unlikely girls blossoms and grows through years of hardship and maturity.

Last Week: 9; Weeks on List: 2

13. BIRDS OF AMERICA by Lorrie Moore (Alfred A. Knopf: $23) An orphaned woman, an ill child and other wounded characters find affection in unexpected places.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

14. AN ARROW’S FLIGHT by Mark Merlis (St. Martin’s: $24.95) A contemporary version of the Greek tale of Achilles’ gay son, Pyrrhus, who looks for a life beyond hustling.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

15. KAATERSKILL FALLS by Allegra Goodman (The Dial Press: $23.95) Two years in the life of a small Jewish community in the Catskills in the 1970s.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 2

****

NONFICTION

1. TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE by Mitch Albom (Doubleday: $19.95) A sportswriter’s empowering story about his weekly visits to see an older dying friend.

Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 3

2. THE NINE STEPS TO FINANCIAL FREEDOM by Suze Orman (Crown: $23) Practical tips for avoiding stress, making good savings plans and managing money.

Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 36

3. ECOLOGY OF FEAR by Mike Davis (Metropolitan Books: $25) Los Angeles’ precarious environmental history and some apocalyptic warnings about its future.

Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 4

4. LIFE’S LITTLE PLEASURES by George Hamilton (General Publishing: $16.95) The man with the perennial tan discusses life, love and celebrity.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

5. THE DAY DIANA DIED by Christopher Andersen (Morrow: $27) More revelations about events leading up to Princess Diana’s death in a Paris car crash a year ago.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 8

6. THE DEATH OF OUTRAGE by William J. Bennett (Free Press: $20) Bennett’s assault on Bill Clinton’s assault on American ideals.

Last Week: 5; Weeks on List: 22

7. EASY RIDERS, RAGING BULLS by Peter Biskind (Simon and Schuster: $25) How the sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll generation of filmmakers saved Hollywood.

Last Week: 14; Weeks on List: 22

8. LIGHT MY FIRE by Ray Manzarek (Putnam: $26.95) The Doors’ former keyboardist recounts his life with Jim Morrison and the rest of the band.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 2

9. THE BALTIMORE CASE by Daniel J. Kevles (W.W. Norton: $29.95) How power politics and unscrupulous motives nearly destroyed a pair of scientists in a 1996 scandal.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 11

10. THE PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN by Simon Winchester (HarperCollins: $22) The editor of the Oxford English Dictionary was helped by a brilliant mental patient.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

11. ANGELA’S ASHES by Frank McCourt (Scribner: $24) A bittersweet lyrical memoir of a poverty-stricken childhood in a rain-soaked Irish city.

Last Week: 12; Weeks on List: 10

12. A NIGHT WITHOUT ARMOR by Jewel (HarperCollins: $15) A poetry collection drawn from the pop singer’s life and experiences.

Last Week: 8; Weeks on List: 2

13. CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD, BOOK ONE by Neale Donald Walsch (Putnam: $19.95) Channeling messages from Mr. Big about good, evil and the meaning of life.

Last Week: 9; Weeks on List: 95

14. A PIRATE LOOKS AT FIFTY by Jimmy Buffet (Random House: $24.95) The songwriter-author reflects on his adventures around the globe aboard his seaplane.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 2 

15. AT HOME IN THE WORLD by Joyce Maynard (St. Martin’s: $25) A memoir of an affair with J.D. Salinger, what came before and what came after.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

PAPERBACK

FICTION

1. DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA-YA SISTERHOOD by Rebecca Wells (HarperCollins: $13) Sisterhood in the South.

2. COLD MOUNTAIN by Charles Frazier (Vintage: $13) A disillusioned Confederate soldier quits the Civil War.

3. ONE TRUE THING by Anna Quindlen (Dell: $6.99) A woman cares for her dying mother.

4. LUCKY YOU by Carl Hiaasen (Warner Vision: $7.50) The battle for a winning lottery ticket.

5. BLOOD WORK by Michael Connelly (Warner: $7.50) An ailing FBI investigator gets a new heart from a murder victim.

6. THE NOTEBOOK by Nicholas Sparks (Warner Vision: $5.99) Old flames recall their former combustion.

7. THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS by Arundhati Roy (HarperPerennial: $13) The rise and fall of an Indian family.

8. FRIENDS AND LOVERS by Eric J. Dickey (NAL Dutton: $5.99) The lives of four young African Americans in L.A.

9. LITTLE ALTARS EVERYWHERE by Rebecca Wells (HarperPerennial: $13) A “Ya-Ya Sisterhood” prequel.

10. THE ALCHEMIST by Paulo Coelho (HarperFlamingo: $13) Transforming life experiences into gold.

****

NONFICTION

1. UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN by Frances Mayes (Broadway: $13) Making a home in a glorious Italian landscape.

2. THE PERFECT STORM by Sebastian Junger (HarperPerennial: $13) Fisherman trapped in the fury of an Atlantic storm.

3. CITY OF QUARTZ by Mike Davis (Vintage: $15) How L.A.’s history and power structures will shape the city’s future.

4. REINVENTING LEADERSHIP by Warren G. Bennis and Robert Townsend (Morrow: $14) Effective leadership now.

5. SKUNK WORKS by Ben Rich and Leo Janos (Little, Brown: $13.95) An insider’s story of life at Lockheed.

6. LEONARD MALTIN’S 1999 MOVIE & VIDEO GUIDE by Leonard Maltin (Signet: $7.99) A handbook to the movies.

7. D-DAY, JUNE 6, 1944 by Stephen E. Ambrose (Touchstone: $16) The invasion that turned the tables in World War II.

8. INTO THIN AIR by Jon Krakauer (Anchor Books: $7.99) Risk and recklessness on Mt. Everest.

9. SHOOTING TO KILL by Christine Vachon (Avon: $12) An independent producer takes on the movie industry.

10. INTO THE WILD by Jon Krakauer (Doubleday: $12.95) A man’s wilderness escape ends in tragedy.

Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.