Southern California Rating:

FICTION

1. 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: 11

2. 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: 6

3. TRUE AT FIRST LIGHT by Ernest Hemingway, edited by Patrick Hemingway (Scribner: $26) Hemingway’s account of a 1953 Kenyan safari written as a fictional memoir.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

4. 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?

Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 8

5. FOR THE RELIEF OF UNBEARABLE URGES by Nathan Englander (Knopf: $22) Stories that explore identity and obligation from Berkeley to the Soviet Union.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 5

6. 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: 17

7. 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: 4; Weeks on List: 14

8. 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: 11; Weeks on List: 4

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: 9; Weeks on List: 10

10. 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: 12; Weeks on List: 5

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

Last Week: 13; Weeks on List: 3

12. 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: 8; Weeks on List: 2

13. 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: 14; Weeks on List: 4

14. 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: 10; Weeks on List: 4

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: 17

****

NONFICTION

1. SHADOW by Bob Woodward (Simon and Schuster: $27.50) The impact of Watergate on the White House, from Ford to Clinton, by a front-line reporter.

Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 5

2. 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: 3; Weeks on List: 13

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

Last Week: 6; Weeks on List: 14

4. ELEANOR ROOSEVELT by Blanche Wiesen Cook (Viking: $34.95) A privileged ugly duckling becomes a socially conscious swan during the years 1933 to 1938.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

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: 5; Weeks on List: 9

6. THE BOOK OF THE PENIS by Maggie Paley (Grove: $20) The penis: its physiology and psychology, as well as its place in history, art, fashion and literature.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

7. IN THE WINGS by Diana Douglas Darrid (Barricade Books: $22) Darrid’s life after the tempestuous breakup of her marriage to Kirk Douglas.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

8. 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: 7; Weeks on List: 11

9. 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: 8; Weeks on List: 5

10. 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: 4; Weeks on List: 5

11. 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: 9; Weeks on List: 5

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: 12; Weeks on List: 4

13. 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: 10; Weeks on List: 4

14. 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: 13; Weeks on List: 33

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

Last Week: 14; Weeks on List: 7

Paperbacks

FICTION

1. POINT OF ORIGIN by Patricia Cornwell (Berkeley: $7.99) Kay Scarpetta gets a threatening note from a psychotic killer.

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

3. TELL ME YOUR DREAMS by Sidney Sheldon (Warner: $7.99) A computer whiz heroine in Silicon Valley is being stalked.

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

5. NO SAFE PLACE by Richard North Patterson (Ballantine: $7.99) A senator-killer is hunted by a right-to-life activist.

6. MOON MUSIC by Faye Kellerman (Avon: $7.50) The search for a serial killer in the casinos of Las Vegas.

7. ORCHID BEACH by Stuart Woods (Harper: $7.50) Ex-major Holly Barker is deputy police chief in a Florida town.

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

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

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

****

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. PACK OF TWO by Caroline Knapp (Delta: $12.95) How the author fell in love with her dog, Lucille.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.