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: 3 2 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: 2; Weeks on List: 2 3 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: 3; Weeks on List: 15 4 DEAD ABOVE GROUND by Jervey Tervalon (Pocket: $23.95) A devilish man with mysterious reasons for revenge changes the life of a New Orleans family in the ‘40s.

Last Week: 9; Weeks on List: 2 5 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: 5; Weeks on List: 2 6 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: 4; Weeks on List: 15 7 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: 6; Weeks on List: 13 8 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: 8; Weeks on List: 5 9 DISGRACE by J.M. Coetzee (Viking: $23.95) Fired from academe, a South African professor pursues the simple life on his daughter’s farm but finds danger in the post-apartheid world.

Last Week: 12; Weeks on List: 8 10 SAVING FAITH by David Baldacci (Warner: $26.95) Two Washington lobbyists have made some very dangerous enemies and must cut a deal with the FBI.

Last Week: 14; Weeks on List: 7 11 THE LAST DANCE by Ed McBain (Simon & Schuster: 25) Was it a natural death or was it suicide? Two detectives uncover a murderous conspiracy in the midst of the New York theater world.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1 12 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: 8 13 EVERYBODY SMOKES IN HELL by John Ridley (Alfred A. Knopf: $23) A dark comedy about various parties trying to cash in on a rocker-turned-suicide.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 2 14 WAITING by Ha Jin (Pantheon: $24) An absurd loophole in Chinese law allows a pair of star-crossed lovers to be united after a long separation.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 3 15 MONSTER by Jonathan Kellerman (Random House: $25.95) Alex Delaware seeks the connection between a brutally murdered psychologist and a killer locked up in a mental hospital.

Last Week: 10; 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: 1; Weeks on List: 105 2 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: 2; Weeks on List: 5 3 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: 5; Weeks on List: 2 4 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: 9; Weeks on List: 10 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: 6; Weeks on List: 17 6 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: 7; Weeks on List: 5 7 THE NEW NEW THING by Michael Lewis (W.W. Norton: $25.95) The genius and ruthlessness of Silicon Valley giant Jim Clark, told from the vantage point of Clark’s cutting-edge yacht.

Last Week: 13; Weeks on List: 9 8 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: 10; Weeks on List: 2 9 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: 11; Weeks on List: 94 10 HAVE A NICE DAY! by Mick Foley (ReganBooks: $25) The blood-and-guts autobiography of a professional wrestling giant, also known as Mankind, Dude Love and Cactus Jack.

Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 6 11 WHEN PRIDE STILL MATTERED by David Maraniss (Simon & Schuster: $26) A Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter’s look at legendary Green Bay Packers football coach Vince Lombardi.

Last Week: 8; Weeks on List: 2 12 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: 14; Weeks on List: 11 13 WOMEN by Annie Leibovitz and Susan Sontag (Random House: $75) A rap artist, an astronaut, Supreme Court justices and others populate this book of photos and essay.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 5 14 HILLARY’S CHOICE by Gail Sheehy (Random House: $24.95) A biography of the first lady that applies pop psychology to the first couple’s private interactions.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 3 15 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: --; Weeks on List: 7

PAPERBACKS

FICTION

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

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

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

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

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

6 THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY by Patricia Highsmith (Vintage: $13) A cunning young sociopath goes to Europe

7 SOUTHERN CROSS by Patricia Cornwell (Berkley: $7.99) A trio of cops are sent to a Virginia city to clean up its police force

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

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

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

PAPERBACKS

NONFICTION

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

2 WORLD ALMANAC & BOOK OF FACTS 2000 (World Almanac: $10.95) Includes “Countdown to the Millennium.’

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

4 THE ORCHID THIEF by Susan Orlean (Ballantine: $14) Centuries of theft, hatred and greed over a delicate flower

5 ANGELA’S ASHES by Frank McCourt (Touchstone: $7.99) Same book, different cover

6 THE WORST-CASE SCENARIO SURVIVAL HANDBOOK by Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht (Chronicle: $14.95) SOS

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

8 THE PERFECT STORM by Sebastian Junger (HarperPaperback: $13) Fishermen trapped in a storm

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

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

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Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.