Southern California Rating:

FICTION

1. MOONLIGHT ON THE AVENUE OF FAITH by Gina B. Nahai (Harcourt Brace: $24.) A little girl’s search for her magical missing mother in a Tehran ghetto.

Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 3

2. THE TESTAMENT by John Grisham (Doubleday: $27.95) The 10th richest man in the United States has died, and his greedy heirs are circling like hungry vultures.

Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 10

3. BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES OF THE CENTURY edited by Katrina Kenison and John Updike (Houghton Mifflin: $28) Ernest Hemingway, Willa Cather, Raymond Carver and Co.

Last Week: 7; Weeks on List: 3

4. BITTERSWEET by Danielle Steel (Delacorte: $26.95) A dissatisfied woman who gave up ambitions for marriage and motherhood finds comfort in the arms of a financier.

Last Week: 6; Weeks on List: 2

5. TARA ROAD by Maeve Binchy (Delacorte: $24.95) People facing heartbreak and disappointment are drawn to a Victorian home on a shabby Dublin street.

Last Week: 14; Weeks on List: 6

6. VITTORIO THE VAMPIRE by Anne Rice (Alfred A. Knopf: $19.95) Another vampire tale, set in Florence, in the orbit of the Medicis and the painter Fra Filippo Lippi.

Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 4

7. SINGLE & SINGLE by John le Carre (Scribner: $26) Corrupt liaisons between the new Russian states and the West and of the downfall of two families.

Last Week: 5; Weeks on List: 6

8. TEETH OF THE DOG by Jill Ciment (Crown: $22) A couple travel to the Melanesian Island of Vanduu only to discover Paradise Ruined in this novel of disappointment.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

9. THE HANDYMAN by Carolyn See (Random House: $22.95) The picaresque adventures of a $10-an-hour handyman, drifter and painter in L.A who fixes hearts as well as cabinets.

Last Week: 15; Weeks on List: 4

10. GO WEST YOUNG F*CKED-UP CHICK by Rachel Resnick (St. Martin’s: $22.95) A 20-year-old woman’s desperate, surreal experiences among the lowlifes and big shots of L.A.

Last Week: 11; Weeks on List: 2

11. THE POISONWOOD BIBLE by Barbara Kingsolver (HarperCollins: $27.50) An evangelical Baptist missionary takes his wife and children to the Belgian Congo in 1959.

Last Week: 97; Weeks on List: 28

12. BE COOL by Elmore Leonard (Delacorte: $24.95) Fresh from his movie success, Chili Palmer faces a pack of punks, thugs and other Tinsel Town toughies when he enters the music biz.

Last Week: 12; Weeks on List: 9

13. ABIDE WITH ME by E. Lynn Harris (Doubleday: $24.95) The third volume in the Invisible Life trilogy, same characters (five thirtysomething African Americans), set in Seattle.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

14. THE TRIALS OF NIKKI HILL by Christopher Darden and Dick Lochte (Warner: $25) A prosecutor takes on a music mogul with money to burn in the case of a murdered TV personality.

Last Week: 8; Weeks on List: 2

15. DREAMLAND by Kevin Baker (HarperCollins: $26) A sprawling novel of turn-of-the-century New York that follows the lives of Kid Twist, Trick the Dwarf and assorted city dwellers.

Last Week: 10; Weeks on List: 2

****

NONFICTION

1. THE COURAGE TO BE RICH by Suze Orman (Riverhead: $24.95) Attention, ‘fraidy-cats: Dump that savings account earning 2% and look for better investments.

Last Week: 6; Weeks on List: 5

2. WOMAN by Natalie Angier (Houghton Mifflin: $25) A poetic, exuberant celebration of womanhood and its unique qualities and influence on the world.

Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 2

3. 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: 67

4. ALL TOO HUMAN by George Stephanopoulos (Little, Brown: $27.95) Behind the scenes in the Oval Office with one of President Clinton’s best and brightest.

Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 5

5. LIGHTPOSTS FOR LIVING by Thomas Kinkade (Warner: $20) Meditations on home, family and tradition by the artist known as “the Painter of Light.”

Last Week: 14; Weeks on List: 2

6. BELLA TUSCANY by Frances Mayes (Broadway Books: $25) More reasons to envy the author of “Under the Tuscan Sun” as she returns to her cozy home, Bramasole.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

7. MORGAN by Jean Strouse (Random House: $34.95) Not the richest man in the world, but in his time, Pierpont Morgan proved to be the most economically powerful.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

8. BUSINESS @ THE SPEED OF THOUGHT by Bill Gates (Warner: $30) Microsoft’s CEO offers a corporate strategy for competing on today’s digital playing field.

Last Week: 5; Weeks on List: 2

9. 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: 7; Weeks on List: 44

10. THE CENTURY by Peter Jennings and Todd Brewster (Doubleday: $60) The story of our last 100 years; a companion to an upcoming ABC special.

Last Week: 10; Weeks on List: 18

11. MONICA’S STORY by Andrew Morton (St. Martin’s Press: $24.95) Monica Lewinsky’s account of the nature of her relationship with President Clinton.

Last Week: 11; Weeks on List: 6

12. THE GREATEST GENERATION by Tom Brokaw (Random House: $24.95) TV anchor tells the stories of the generation that came of age during the Depression and World War II.

Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 18

13. TRAVELING MERCIES by Anne Lamott (Pantheon: $23) The growth of Lamott’s beliefs and how they helped her overcome grief, alcoholism and bad hair days.

Last Week: 13; Weeks on List: 8

14. THE MAJORS by John Feinstein (Little, Brown: $25) The quest for golfing greatness in four prestigious events: the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and the PGA.

Last Week: 9; Weeks on List: 2

15. MOTHERS WHO THINK by Camille Peri and Kate Moses and Anne Lamott (Random House: $22.95) Essays on the joys and sorrows of mommyhood.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

Paperbacks

FICTION

1. THE PILOT’S WIFE by Anita Shreve (Little, Brown: $13.95) A woman’s disturbing discoveries after a fatal plane crash.

2. MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA by Arthur Golden (Vintage: $14) The life and loves of a teahouse entertainer in Kyoto.

3. THE READER by Bernhard Schlink (Vintage: $11) A boyhood fling with an older woman and its aftermath.

4. A WIDOW FOR ONE YEAR by John Irving (Ballantine: $14.95) A Dickensian story of a woman with great expectations.

5. MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE by Nicholas Sparks (Warner: $6.99) A woman seeks the author of a mysterious message.

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

7. THE NOTEBOOK by Nicholas Sparks (Warner: $5.99) An octogenarian conquers illness with old memories of love.

8. HIGH FIDELITY by Nick Hornby (Riverhead: $12.95) A 35-year-old man squelches heartbreak with pop music.

9. CHARMING BILLY by Alice McDermott (Delta: $12.95) A family reflects on the life of a deceased relative.

10. N IS FOR NOOSE by Sue Grafton (Fawcett: $7.99) Kinsey Millhone investigates another detective’s sudden death.

****

NONFICTION

1. GUNS, GERMS AND STEEL by Jared Diamond (W.W. Norton: $14.95) The part played by this triad in history.

2. OCTOBER SKY by Homer Hickam (Dell: $6.99) A boy from Coalwood, W. Va., becomes a NASA scientist.

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

4. CRIME WAVE by James Ellroy (Vintage: $12) Essays, plus two stories, about L.A.’s seamy, undead past.

5. A CHILD CALLED “IT” by Dave Pelzer (Health Communications: $13.95) A survivor’s story of abuse.

6. ARE YOU SOMEBODY? by Nuala O’Faolain (Owl Books: $11.95) A Dublin memoir of a journalist’s struggles.

7. AMAZING GRACE by Kathleen Norris (Riverhead: $12.95) Hurdling religion’s obstacles with a poet’s wings.

8. HOW THE IRISH SAVED CIVILIZATION by Thomas Cahill (Anchor: $12) What monks did after Rome’s fall.

9. UNDERGROUND GUIDE TO LOS ANGELES edited by Pleasant Gehman. (Manic D Press: $13.95) L.A.’s dark underbelly.

10. DEPTH TAKES A HOLIDAY by Sandra Tsing Loh (Riverhead: $12) The highs and lows of life in Los Angeles.

Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.