Southern California Rating:FICTION1 FALSE MEMORY by...

Southern California Rating:

FICTION

1 FALSE MEMORY by Dean Koontz (Bantam: $26.95) Like a puppet master, a villainous mastermind commits crimes with the help of his brainwashed victims.

Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 6

2 HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS by J.K. Rowling (Arthur A. Levine Books: $17.95) Harry risks his life to solve a mystery at the Hogwarts School.

Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 18

3 HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN by J.K. Rowling (Scholastic: $19.95) Sirius Black--an escaped convict--is on the loose, and he’s after Harry.

Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 18

4 THE LION’S GAME by Nelson DeMille (Warner: $26.95) A gruff tough New York cop and an FBI agent join forces to find a Libyan terrorist on a killing spree in the U.S.

Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 5

5 HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE by J.K. Rowling (Scholastic: $16.95) Unhappy at home, a young boy discovers that he is a magician with great powers.

Last Week: 5; Weeks on List: 16

6 LIMITED TIME by Robert Greer (Mysterious Press: $23.95) The search for a fountain of youth proves deadly, and Dr. Henry Bales must figure out who’s to blame.

Last Week: 9; Weeks on List: 2

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

Last Week: 10; Weeks on List: 28

8 TIMELINE by Michael Crichton (Random House: $26.95) Investigators battle mad lords, crazed giants and peasant bandits after time-traveling to 14th century France.

Last Week: 7; Weeks on List: 11

9 SICK PUPPY by Carl Hiaasen (Alfred A. Knopf: $25) The adventures of an eco-terrorist and a Labrador retriever among the thugs and sleazy businessmen of South Florida.

Last Week: 6; Weeks on List: 5

10 THE ATTORNEY by Steve Martini (Putnam: $25.95) A courtroom thriller featuring a kindhearted lottery winner and his blackmailing daughter, who’s connected with a Mexican drug lord.

Last Week: 8; Weeks on List: 3

11 ATLANTIS FOUND by Clive Cussler (Putnam: $26.95) Adventurer Dirk Pitt unravels the mystery of an ancient civilization while fanatics hatch a plot to dominate the world.

Last Week: 11; Weeks on List: 8

12 A WALK TO REMEMBER by Nicholas Sparks (Warner: $19.95) An old man looks back at his own bittersweet love story from the vantage point that 40 years can offer.

Last Week: 12; Weeks on List: 11

13 ROUGH DRAFT by James W. Hall (St. Martin’s: $24.95) A former Miami policewoman and successful crime writer helps the FBI flush out the person who killed her parents.

Last Week: 15; Weeks on List: 2

14 FORTUNE’S ROCKS by Anita Shreve (Little, Brown: $24.95) A May-December affair in high-society 19th century Boston has far-reaching consequences.

Last Week: 13; Weeks on List: 2

15 PLAINSONG by Kent Haruf (Alfred A. Knopf: $24) As lives intersect in a small Colorado cattle town, concepts of family are challenged and transformed.

Last Week: 14; Weeks on List: 7

NONFICTION

1 THE ROCK SAYS by “The Rock” with Joe Layden (ReganBooks: $26) The memoir of a World Wrestling Federation bad guy, describing his struggles in and out of the ring.

Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 5

2 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: 2; Weeks on List: 108

3 A VAST CONSPIRACY by Jeffrey Toobin ( Random House: $25) A comprehensive look at the 1998 presidential sex scandal, detailing the legal maneuvers behind the scenes.

Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 5

4 WHO MOVED MY CHEESE? by Spencer Johnson (Putnam: $19.95) This co-author of “The One Minute Manager” advises managers on how to get employees Y2K ready.

Last Week: 5; Weeks on List: 7

5 ‘TIS by Frank McCourt (Scribner: $26) A young McCourt arrives from Ireland in New York, with all its peril and promise, in this sequel to “Angela’s Ashes.”

Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 20

6 HURRICANE by James S. Hirsch (Houghton Mifflin: $25) Middleweight boxer Rubin Carter’s 22-year effort to free himself from jail after being wrongly accused of murder.

Last Week: 7; Weeks on List: 3

7 WHERE DID I GO RIGHT? by Bernie Brillstein with David Rensin (Little, Brown: $24.95) A star manager dishes dirt and describes his rise from the William Morris mail room.

Last Week: 11; Weeks on List: 10

8 CONVERSATIONS WITH WILDER by Cameron Crowe (Alfred A. Knopf: $35) The “Jerry Maguire” director coaxes Billy Wilder to reveal the secrets behind his movie hits and flops.

Last Week: 14; Weeks on List: 9

9 THE DEBT by Randall Robinson (Dutton: $23.95) An influential lobbyist argues that African Americans should be compensated by the government for institutionalized racism.

Last Week: 8; Weeks on List: 3

10 THE GREATEST GENERATION SPEAKS by Tom Brokaw (Random House: $19.95) More stories of American heroism during the ‘30s and ‘40s in this sequel to “The Greatest Generation.”

Last Week: 9; Weeks on List: 8

11 GALILEO’S DAUGHTER by Dava Sobel (Walker & Co.: $25) The story of the famous astronomer and scientist and his daughter, Suor Maria Celeste, a cloistered nun.

Last Week: 6; Weeks on List: 13

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: 10; Weeks on List: 5213 THE WAY WE LIVED THEN by Dominick Dunne (Crown: $27.50) A personal photo album and memoir of Hollywood by a self-proclaimed name-dropper.

Last Week: 15; Weeks on List: 13

14 CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD, BOOK ONE by Neale Donald Walsch (Putnam: $19.95) Divinely channeled messages about good, evil and the meaning of life.

Last Week: 12; Weeks on List: 9615 FAITH OF MY FATHERS by John McCain (Random House: $25) A self-described hell-raiser, the Arizona senator rebelled in the U.S. Naval Academy but found maturity in Vietnam.

Last Week: 13; Weeks on List: 13

PAPERBACKS

FICTION

1 THE HOURS by Michael Cunningham (Picador USA: $13) Three stories built around Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway.”

2 A MAP OF THE WORLD by Jane Hamilton (Anchor: $12.95) A woman’s harrowing journey from farm wife to felon.

3 THE POISONWOOD BIBLE by Barbara Kingsolver (HarperPerennial: $14) A missionary family’s ordeals.

4 HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE by J.K. Rowling (Arthur A. Levine: $5.99) A young wizard-in-training.

5 THE GREEN MILE by Stephen King (Pocket: $7.99) A supernatural tale about death row inmates in the South.

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

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

8 THE CIDER HOUSE RULES by John Irving (Ballantine: $7.99) Lives of a doctor and the children at an orphanage in rural Maine.

9 THE TESTAMENT by John Grisham (Dell Island: $7.99) A billionaire’s changes to his will shock his greedy heirs.

10 SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS by David Guterson (Vintage: $14) Turmoil on Puget Sound during a fisherman’s trial.

PAPERBACKS

NONFICTION

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

2 GIRL, INTERRUPTED by Susanna Kaysen (Vintage: $12) A memoir of life in a psychiatric institute in 1967.

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

4 THE WORST-CASE SCENARIO SURVIVAL HANDBOOK by Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht (Chronicle: $14.95) S-O-S!

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

6 THE PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN by Simon Winchester (HarperPerennial: $13) A madman with a flair for words.

7 THE PERFECT STORM by Sebastian Junger (HarperPaperback: $13) Fishermen lost in a furious ocean storm.

8 BLIND MAN’S BLUFF by Sherry Sontag and Christopher Drew (HarperPerennial: $7.99) American submarine espionage.

9 MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL by John Berendt (Vintage: $12) Portrait of Savannah’s colorful eccentrics.

10 INTO THIN AIR by Jon Krakauer (Anchor Books: $7.99) A personal account of 1996’s tragic Mt. Everest expeditions.

Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.