Southern California Rating:FICTION1 PRODIGAL SUMMER by...

Southern California Rating:

FICTION

1 PRODIGAL SUMMER by Barbara Kingsolver (HarperCollins: $26) In southern Appalachia, three stories of human love intersect within a larger tapestry.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

2 MERRICK by Anne Rice (Alfred A. Knopf: $26.95) The haunting tale of a New Orleans witch transcends place and time and delves into voodoo and the realm of vampires.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

3 WISH YOU WELL by David Baldacci (Warner Books: $24.95) Tragedy sends two children from New York City to live with their great grandmother in the mountains of Southwestern Virginia.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

4 THE LAST PRECINCT by Patricia Cornwell (Putnam: $26.95) At Christmastime, Dr. Kay Scarpetta and her staff have not a moment to spare as mangled corpses crowd their morgue.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

5 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: 7; Weeks on List: 5

6 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: 5

7 THE ICE HARVEST by Scott Phillips (Ballantine: $19.95) On the last Christmas eve of the 1970s, three people face decisions that will alter the course of their lives.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

8 DECK THE HALLS by Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark (Simon & Schuster: $18) Two famous sleuths meet in a dentist’s office and team up to solve a kidnapping.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

9 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: 15; Weeks on List: 5

10 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: 11; Weeks on List: 4

11 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: 9; Weeks on List: 2

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

Last Week: 6; Weeks on List: 2

13 THE BEAR AND THE DRAGON by Tom Clancy (Putnam: $28.95) CIA warrior and U.S. president Jack Ryan faces brewing trouble in Russia and China and a global struggle for Siberian oil.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 8

14 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: 3; Weeks on List: 7

15 MIDDLE OF NOWHERE by Ridley Pearson (Hyperion: $23.95) As a police department fights an outbreak of “blue flu,” a police lieutenant investigates a serial attacker who may in fact be a cop.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

NONFICTION

1 GET YOUR SHARE by Julie Stav (Berkeley: $19.95) A financial planner shares her life story and offers tips for women who want to strike it rich in the stock market.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

2 AMERICA’S QUEEN by Sarah Bradford (Viking: $29.95) A new look at Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, the woman who captured America’s imagination as young bride, first lady and grieving widow.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

3 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: 11; Weeks on List: 35

4 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: 13; Weeks on List: 10

5 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: 4

6 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: 7; Weeks on List: 4

7 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: 4

8 JOE DIMAGGIO by Richard Ben Cramer (Simon & Schuster: $28) A new biography seeks to capture the allegedly selfish, resentful private life of an American hero, an icon in Yankee pinstripes.

Last Week: 12; Weeks on List: 2

9 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: 5; Weeks on List: 2

10 TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE by Mitch Albom (Doubleday: $19.95) A sportswriter’s story of the life lessons he received during weekly visits to an older dying friend.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 141

11 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: 2; Weeks on List: 2

12 PARIS TO THE MOON by Adam Gopnik (Random House: $24.95) A personal homage to years spent in the City of Lights by a longtime New Yorker writer.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

13 THE TEN THINGS YOU CAN’T SAY IN AMERICA by Larry Elder (St. Martin’s: $23.95) The radio talk show host directs his scorn at feminists, black leaders, gun control and other controversial topics.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 3

14 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: 15; Weeks on List: 15

15 AL GORE: A USER’S MANUAL by Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair (Verso: $23) An unsparing look at the man from Tennessee, his life and political career.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

PAPERBACKS

FICTION

1 TIMELINE by Michael Crichton (Ballantine: $7.99) Investigators time-travel to 14th century France.

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

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

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

7 POP GOES THE WEASEL by James Patterson (Warner Books: $7.99) Detectives search for a “Jane Doe killer.”

8 A GESTURE LIFE by Chang-rae Lee (Riverhead Books: $13) A Japanese man is haunted by memories of World War II.

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

10 CITY OF LIGHT by Lauren Belfer (Dell: $6.99) In 1901, the headmistress of a girls’ school fights society’s shackles.

PAPERBACKS

NONFICTION

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

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

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

4 THE SEAT OF THE SOUL by Gary Zukav (Fireside: $13) Teaching readers to rethink the mind-body connection.

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

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

7 TILTING THE CONTINENT (New Rivers Press: $18.95) An anthology of Southeast Asian American writers.

8 A CHILD CALLED “IT” by Dave Pelzer (Health Communications: $9.95) A memoir of life with a sadistic mother.

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

10 THE BEST AMERICAN SCIENCE & NATURE WRITING 2000 edited by David Quammen (Houghton Mifflin: $27.50) *

Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.