Southern California Rating:

FICTION

1. HANNIBAL by Thomas Harris (Delacorte: $27.95) The cleverly repulsive sequel to “The Silence of the Lambs,” featuring the villainous hero Hannibal the Cannibal.

Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 5

2. WHITE OLEANDER by Janet Fitch (Little, Brown: $24) When a woman murders her lover, her daughter must learn to face womanhood in a foster home.

Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 10

3. THE GIRLS’ GUIDE TO HUNTING AND FISHING by Melissa Bank (Viking: $23.95) As a modern girl grows up looking for love, to whom should she turn? Reviewed by Susan Reynolds, Page 11.

Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 7

4. BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES OF THE CENTURY edited by Katrina Kenison and John Updike (Houghton Mifflin: $28) Reviewed by Patricia Hampl, Page 3.

Last Week: 11; Weeks on List: 13

5. BLUE RAIN by Chuck Freadhoff (HarperCollins: $24) Reporter Jonny Rose will be lucky if the only thing that gets killed is his story on a series of burning bodies in the Mojave Desert.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

6. 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: 10; Weeks on List: 11

7. THE HOURS by Michael Cunningham (Farrar, Straus and Giroux: $22) A haunting triptych of stories structured around Virginia Woolf’s novel “Mrs. Dalloway.”

Last Week: 7; Weeks on List: 16

8. A VERY STRANGE TRIP by L. Ron Hubbard and Dave Wolverton (Bridge: $24) Everett Dumphee transports the prototype time machine to prehistoric America.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

9. CLOSE RANGE by Annie Proulx (Scribner: $25) A collection of raw and lusty stories about luckless characters living in the rough wasteland of Wyoming.

Last Week: 12; Weeks on List: 9

10. HIGH FIVE by Janet Evanovich (St. Martin’s: $23.95) The fifth book in the series starring Stephanie Plumb, the “Bounty Hunter from Hell.”

Last Week: 6; Weeks on List: 3

11. L.A. REQUIEM by Robert Crais (Doubleday: $23.95) The eighth in the Elvis Cole series, focusing on Cole’s tough sidekick, Joe Pike, and the murder of Pike’s ex-girlfriend.

Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 3

12. MOTHER OF PEARL by Melinda Haynes (Hyperion: $23.95) A story of friendship across race lines and the tragic struggles of private citizens in a 1950s Southern town.

Last Week: 9; Weeks on List: 4

13. TEETH OF THE DOG by Jill Ciment (Crown: $22) A couple finds love, disappointment and suspense in the village of Vanduu on a mythical Melanesian island.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 2

14. JUNETEENTH by Ralph Ellison (Random House: $25) A dying senator relives memories with an African American pastor from his youth and discovers what has bonded the two together.

Last Week: 13; Weeks on List: 3

15. DANGEROUS KISS by Jackie Collins (Simon and Schuster: $25) An Italian duke kidnaps a supermodel and faces the wrath of her aunt, sexy film exec Lucky Santangelo.

Last Week: 15; Weeks on List: 6

****

NONFICTION

1. SHADOW by Bob Woodward (Simon and Schuster: $27.50) The impact of Watergate on the White House, from Ford to Clinton. Reviewed by Kenneth Anderson, Page 8.

Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 4

2. 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: --; Weeks on List: 11

3. BELLA TUSCANY by Frances Mayes (Broadway: $25) Rich, colorful stories of cuisine and Italian life in the villages by the author of “Under the Tuscan Sun.”

Last Week: 6; Weeks on List: 12

4. COMRADES by Stephen Ambrose (Simon and Schuster: $21) The war historian reflects on male friendship in his own life and in the lives of people he has written about.

Last Week: 12; Weeks on List: 4

5. ENCORE PROVENCE by Peter Mayle (Alfred A. Knopf: $23) A return to southern France prompts memories of good times and a critique of American culture.

Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 8

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

Last Week: 13; Weeks on List: 13

7. THE LEXUS AND THE OLIVE TREE by Thomas L. Friedman (Farrar, Straus and Giroux: $27.50) Globalization has replaced the Cold War system, though many resist its call.

Last Week: 9; Weeks on List: 10

8. ANOTHER COUNTRY by Mary Pipher, Ph.D. (Riverhead Books: $24.95) Navigating the emotional terrain of our elders by the author of “Reviving Ophelia.”

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 4

9. MY ONE GOOD NERVE by Ruby Dee (John Wiley and Sons: $16.95) Musings and memories detailing the African American experience, specifically raising a family in America.

Last Week: 10; Weeks on List: 4

10. BETRAYAL by Bill Gertz (Regnery: $27.95) A Washington Times reporter says the Clinton administration has sold out on national security and covered it up.

Last Week: 5; Weeks on List: 3

11. LIGHTPOSTS FOR LIVING by Thomas Kinkade (Warner: $20) How to choose a joyful life from a combination of home, family, nature and tradition.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 3

12. CINDERELLA STORY by Bill Murray with George Peper (Doubleday: $19.95) Adventures in golf, from the actor who began his working career as a caddy.

Last Week: 7; Weeks on List: 3

13. 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: 3; Weeks on List: 32

14. WITH OSSIE AND RUBY by Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee (William Morrow: $25) The engaging memoirs of two actors in love with each other through half a century of strife.

Last Week: 15; Weeks on List: 6

15. 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: 14; Weeks on List: 9

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

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

4. SUMMER SISTERS by Judy Blume (Dell: $7.50) An unlikely friendship blossoms between two girls.

5. I KNOW THIS MUCH IS TRUE by Wally Lamb (ReganBooks: $16) A troubled man searches for self-acceptance.

6. DAY OF CONFESSION by Allan Folsom (Warner: $7.99) A lawyer is unwittingly involved in Vatican intrigue.

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

8. THE MIDNIGHT CLUB by James Patterson (Warner Vision: $6.99) A group of crime czars form a secret organization.

9. THE GENERAL’S DAUGHTER by Nelson DeMille (Warner: $7.50) A military woman’s murder reveals Army secrets.

10. BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY by Helen Fielding (Penguin: $12.95) A thirtysomething deals with love.

****

NONFICTION

1. ANGELA’S ASHES by Frank McCourt (Touchstone: $14) Overcoming an Irish childhood during the Depression.

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

3. SINS OF THE CITY by Jim Heimann (Chronicle Books: $18.95) L.A. noir photographs from the ‘20s to the ‘50s.

4. PARIS IN THE FIFTIES by Stanley Karnow (Vintage: $14) A journalist’s apprenticeship in postwar Paris.

5. FALLING LEAVES by Adeline Yen Mah (Broadway: $13) Life under an oppressive stepmother in mainland China.

6. OUR DUMB CENTURY by the Onion staff (Three Rivers: $15) Satiric headlines from a popular humor publication.

7. BEST AMERICAN SPORTS WRITING OF THE CENTURY edited by David Halberstam (Houghton Mifflin: $18) Rah-rah-rah!

8. SHIP OF GOLD IN THE DEEP BLUE SEA by Gary Kinder (Vintage: $14) Salvaging a bullion-laden, sunken steamer.

9. A PIRATE LOOKS AT FIFTY by Jimmy Buffett (Fawcett: $7.99) The songwriter’s travels through the tropics.

10. SEAT OF THE SOUL by Gary Zukav (Fireside: $13) The inward transformation of the human soul.

Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.