Southern California Rating:FICTION1 SHOPGIRL by Steve...

Southern California Rating:

FICTION

1 SHOPGIRL by Steve Martin (Hyperion: $17.95) A young artist who works days in the glove department at Neiman Marcus falls abruptly in love with a millionaire businessman.

Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 4

2 THE NIGHT LISTENER by Armistead Maupin (HarperCollins: $26) A writer meets an abused 13-year-old boy with AIDS and finds all of his relationships profoundly changed.

Last Week: 6; Weeks on List: 3

3 WHEN WE WERE ORPHANS by Kazuo Ishiguro (Alfred A. Knopf: $25) An English boy is “orphaned” when his mother and father vanish; years later, he returns as a detective to solve the disappearances.

Last Week: 10; Weeks on List: 6

4 THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY by Michael Chabon (Random House: $26.95) In 1939 Brooklyn, two Jewish cousins, one American, one Czech, collaborate to create a comic book.

Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 4

5 THE BLIND ASSASSIN by Margaret Atwood (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday: $26) A narrative tour de force of self-deceit and revenge that joins the lives of two sisters with an unpublished sci-fi novel.

Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 7

6 HIT LIST by Lawrence Block (HarperCollins: $25) Hired gun John Keller faces a greedy hit man who knows how to increase his clientele--eliminate his competitors.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

7 LYING AWAKE by Mark Salzman (Alfred A. Knopf: $21) A meditation on spirituality in the life of an Angeleno nun facing a dilemma: Should she have surgery that will cure her of mystical visions?

Last Week: 5; Weeks on List: 4

8 BEE SEASON by Myla Goldberg (Doubleday: $22.95) A 9-year-old girl’s sudden success in spelling bees divides her family and causes each member to reassess the meaning of love and relationships.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 6

9 DARWIN’S BLADE by Dan Simmons (William Morrow: $25) A glimpse into the world of accident reconstruction in which an expert suspects foul play in a string of high-speed car crashes.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

10 FOUR BLONDES by Candace Bushnell (Atlantic Monthly: $24) Interconnected stories from the “Sex and the City” author about four women caught up in the glitz and glamour of New York.

Last Week: 8; Weeks on List: 6

11 DROWNING RUTH by Christina Schwarz (Doubleday: $23.95) In early 20th century Wisconsin, a family is torn apart by a tragic death and the secrets that follow.

Last Week: 7; Weeks on List: 4

12 THE GOLDEN AGE by Gore Vidal (Doubleday: $27.50) The seventh of Vidal’s “Novels of Empire” evokes the Beltway and Tinsel Town from World War II to the beginnings of the Cold War.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 3

13 COLD IS THE GRAVE by Peter Robinson (William Morrow: $24) Sex, scandal, murder and corruption force Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks to investigate his most powerful enemy.

Last Week: 15; Weeks on List: 2

14 PERISH TWICE by Robert B. Parker (Putnam: $23.95) A private investigator goes to the aid of three very different women: her sister, her best friend and the CEO of a feminist organization.

Last Week: 11; Weeks on List: 4

15 THE RESCUE by Nicholas Sparks (Warner: $22.95) A volunteer fireman in a North Carolina town helps a waitress rebuild her life when her son disappears after a car accident.

Last Week: 13; Weeks on List: 5

NONFICTION

1 THE BEATLES ANTHOLOGY by The Beatles (Chronicle Books: $60) Previously unreleased photos, memorabilia and reminiscences that should make any Fab Four fan want to twist and shout.

Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 3

2 MY FATHER’S DAUGHTER by Tina Sinatra with Jeff Coplon (Simon & Schuster: $26) A portrait of Frank Sinatra by his youngest daughter, describing the heights, slumps and loneliness of his career.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

3 ON WRITING by Stephen King (Scribner: $25) Autobiography of the writer’s formative years, from his misbehaving youth to a janitorial stint that led to the idea for “Carrie.”

Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 3

4 CHERRY by Mary Karr (Viking: $24.95) A memoir of a young girl’s sexual and pharmaceutical coming-of-age in rural Texas, a follow-up to “The Liars’ Club.”

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 3

5 STARS IN MY EYES by Don Bachardy (University of Wisconsin: $34.95) Drawings and prose sketches of the artists and Hollywood elite that Bachardy and his partner Christopher Isherwood knew.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

6 FREUD by Louis Breger (John Wiley & Sons: $30) A psychoanalyst puts Freud on the couch, creating a portrait of a man whose theories grew out of his own encounters with pain and tragedy.

Last Week: 8; Weeks on List: 3

7 THE O’REILLY FACTOR by Bill O’Reilly (Broadway Books: $23) The TV pundit pontificates on what he sees as the good, the bad and the completely ridiculous in American life.

Last Week: 6; Weeks on List: 4

8 BELLOW by James Atlas (Random House: $35) A full-scale biography of Nobel prize-winner Saul Bellow, from Russian emigre origins and literary success to his friendships, rivalries and wives.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

9 BLACKBIRD by Jennifer Lauck (Pocket Books: $23.95) Memoir of an ordinary girl thrust into painful, extraordinary circumstances when an idyllic childhood is upset by her mother’s death.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

10 SHADOWS OF A PRINCESS by P.D. Jephson (HarperCollins: $26) Princess Diana’s private secretary gives an intimate account of his employer, a woman who became an icon.

Last Week: 10; Weeks on List: 2

11 WHO MOVED MY CHEESE? by Spencer Johnson (Putnam: $19.95) This co-author of “The One Minute Manager” uses the parable of mice in a maze to show people how to manage change.

Last Week: 9; Weeks on List: 34

12 JOE DIMAGGIO by Richard Ben Cramer (Simon & Schuster: $28) The selfish, resentful private life of an American icon in Yankee pinstripes. Reviewed by Pete Hamill, Page 1.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

13 NOTHING LIKE IT IN THE WORLD by Stephen Ambrose (Simon & Schuster: $28) The historian looks at the building of the transcontinental railroad and its impact on the growth of the nation.

Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 9

14 FACE FORWARD by Kevyn Aucoin (Little, Brown: $32.95) Makeup artist Aucoin shows the creative possibilities of makeup, with portraits of Sharon Stone, Martha Stewart, Mary J. Blige and others.

Last Week: 13; Weeks on List: 3

15 IT’S NOT ABOUT THE BIKE by Lance Armstrong with Sally Jenkins (Putnam: $24.95) Triumph in the life of a champion cyclist, from overcoming cancer to winning the Tour de France.

Last Week: 14; Weeks on List: 14

PAPERBACKS

FICTION

1 LIONESS by Nell Brien (Mira: $5.99) A woman goes to Kenya to investigate the suspicious death of her architect brother.

2 INTERPRETER OF MALADIES by Jhumpa Lahiri (Mariner: $12) Indian customs color the lives of people coping with loss.

3 PLAINSONG by Kent Haruf (Vintage: $13) Lives intersect in a small Colorado cattle town.

4 THE RED TENT by Anita Diamant (Picador USA: $14) The blossoming of Dinah, Jacob’s only daughter, in Genesis.

5 DAUGHTER OF FORTUNE by Isabel Allende (HarperPerennial: $14) A young woman escapes to Gold Rush California.

6 WHITE ROSE by Amy Ephron (Ballantine: $12) An American reporter tangos with a beautiful revolutionary in 1890s Cuba.

7 HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG by Andre Dubus III (Vintage: $14) Two families clash over an auctioned house in this tragic tale.

8 GIRL IN HYACINTH BLUE by Susan Vreeland (Penguin: $12) Eight stories linked by a Dutch master’s painting.

9 HEADLONG by Michael Frayn (Picador: $14) Slapstick efforts to swindle a painting from an oafish landowner.

10 WAITING by Ha Jin (Vintage: $13) A legal loophole allows long-separated lovers to be united.

PAPERBACKS

NONFICTION

1 OH NO! NOT ANOTHER PROBLEM by Jeanette A. Griver and Michele W. Vodrey (Compsych Systems Inc.: $12.95) Problem solving.

2 TALKING DIRTY WITH THE QUEEN OF CLEAN by Linda Cobb (Pocket: $8.99) Quick, inexpensive housekeeping tips galore.

3 THE RALPH NADER READER by Ralph Nader (Seven Stories Press: $19.95) The collected writings of a political crusader.

4 RICH DAD, POOR DAD by Robert T. Kiyosaki and Sharon L. Lechter (Techpress: $15.95) Adventures in fiscal parenting.

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

6 IS OUR CHILDREN LEARNING? by Paul Begala (Simon & Schuster: $12) A pundit skewers George W. Bush’s public career.

7 LIES MY TEACHER TOLD ME by James W. Loewen (Touchstone: $14) History textbooks that “make students stupid.”

8 ‘TIS by Frank McCourt (Touchstone: $14) Young McCourt’s arrival in New York City in this “Angela’s Ashes” sequel.

9 JAZZ GENERATIONS by Buddy Collette with Steven Isoardi (Continuum: $19.95) A life in American music and society.

10 DAY HIKES AROUND LOS ANGELES by Robert B. Stone (Day Hike Books: $11.95) A guide to 45 trails for the non-serious hiker.

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Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.