Southern California Rating:1 HOSTAGE by Robert...

Southern California Rating:

1 HOSTAGE by Robert Crais (Doubleday: $24.95) When a family is taken hostage, former LAPD SWAT negotiator Jeff Talley steps in and finds that things are not what they seem. Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 2

2 BLUE DIARY by Alice Hoffman (Putnam: $24.95) A happy marriage and idyllic family life are rocked by a dark revelation about the husband, a seemingly all-around good guy. Last Week: 7; Weeks on List: 3

3 CANE RIVER by Lalita Tademy (Warner: $24.95) A family chronicle about the experiences of four generations of women born into slavery on the Cane River in Louisiana. Last Week: 11; Weeks on List: 7

4 THE FOURTH HAND by John Irving (Random House: $26.95) A television reporter loses his hand to a hungry lion in a freak accident that is broadcast on TV. Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 6

5 ANY WAY THE WIND BLOWS by E. Lynn Harris (Doubleday: $19.95) A retired bisexual NFL tight end is reunited with the actress-recording star he left at the altar. Last Week: 10; Weeks on List: 4

6 SUZANNE’S DIARY FOR NICHOLAS by James Patterson (Little, Brown: $22.95) A woman gains insights into the boyfriend who left her from a diary written by his late wife, a country doctor. Last Week: 6; Weeks on List: 3

7 WHAT YOU OWE ME by Bebe Moore Campbell (Putnam: $25.95) Friendship and betrayal between a hotel maid and a Holocaust survivor in 1940s California. Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

8 HEMLOCK BAY by Catherine Coulter (Putnam: $24.95) Husband-and-wife FBI agents pursue myriad killers, including a collector whose art forgeries are part of an intricate conspiracy. Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

9 A TRAITOR TO MEMORY by Elizabeth George (Bantam: $26.95) A sensational child murder case from years ago holds clues to the identity of a vicious hit-and-run killer of a divorcee. Last Week: 5; Weeks on List: 8

10 FATAL VOYAGE by Kathy Reichs (Simon & Schuster: $25) Investigating a plane crash, a forensic anthropologist stumbles on a spare body part. Last Week: 14; Weeks on List: 2

11 THE WIND DONE GONE by Alice Randall (Houghton Mifflin: $22) A tale of plantation life on Tara, told by Scarlett’s half-sister and infused with irony and Gothic satire. Last Week: 9; Weeks on List: 10

12 THE WOMAN NEXT DOOR by Barbara Delinsky (Simon & Schuster: $25) A reclusive widow becomes pregnant, and her female neighbors wonder which of their husbands is to blame. Last Week: 15; Weeks on List: 2

13 OPEN SEASON by C.J. Box (Putnam: $23.95) A game warden finds himself in a nest of trouble when three elk hunters are killed under mysterious circumstances. Last Week: 8; Weeks on List: 6

14 MINUTES TO BURN by Gregg Andrew Hurwitz (Cliff Street Books: $25) Stranded on an island in the Galapagos, scientists and Navy SEALs fight to survive an evolutionary catastrophe. Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 2

15 STORMY WEATHER by Paula L. Woods (W.W. Norton: $24.95) The LAPD’s Charlotte Justice investigates a black filmmaker’s death and finds plenty of racial tension in the City of Angels. Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

NONFICTION

1 JOHN ADAMS by David McCullough (Simon & Schuster: $35) The story of our second president, a man Thomas Jefferson called “the colossus of independence.” Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 13

2 WHO MOVED MY CHEESE? by Spencer Johnson (Putnam: $19.95) The co-author of “The One Minute Manager” uses the parable of mice in a maze to show people how to manage change. Last Week: 7; Weeks on List: 74

3 SEABISCUIT by Laura Hillenbrand (Random House: $24.95) How three men transformed a thoroughbred horse from a neurotic also-ran into an American sports icon. Last Week: 14; Weeks on List: 24

4 JUSTICE by Dominick Dunne (Crown: $24) The bespectacled writer describes the high-profile crimes he’s covered as well as a painfully private one: his daughter’s murder. Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 6

5 THE MAP THAT CHANGED THE WORLD by Simon Winchester (HarperCollins: $26) The story of William Smith, who founded modern geology despite being snubbed by the scientific elite. Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

6 FOUNDING BROTHERS by Joseph J. Ellis (Alfred A. Knopf: $26 ) The intertwined lives of America’s founders, their squabbles and collaborations, long before they were deified in history books. Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 17

7 THE ROAD TO WEALTH by Suze Orman (Riverhead: $29.95) An encyclopedic reference for managing your financial situation from the “Nine Steps to Financial Freedom” money guru. Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

8 NEXT by Michael Lewis (W.W. Norton: $23.95) How the Internet has redefined our concepts of power, prestige and profit and may dictate shifts in our practice of democracy. Last Week: 9; Weeks on List: 2

9 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: 15; Weeks on List: 174

10 GHOST SOLDIERS by Hampton Sides (Doubleday: $24.95) How a small group of elite American soldiers made a daring rescue of British and American war prisoners in 1945. Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 13

11 A SHORT GUIDE TO A HAPPY LIFE by Anna Quindlen (Random House: $12.95) The columnist reflects on what it takes to “get a life” by living deeply rather than merely existing. Last Week: 10; Weeks on List: 38

12 STOLEN LIVES by Malika Oufkir with Michele Fitoussi (Talk Miramax: $24) A young woman spends 20 years in jail after her father tries to assassinate the king of Morocco. Last Week: 8; Weeks on List: 9

13 A PASSION TO WIN by Sumner Redstone with Peter Knobler (Simon & Schuster: $26) A media monarch’s progress: from childhood in a tough Boston neighborhood to his takeover of Viacom. Last Week: 6; Weeks on List: 5

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: 13; Weeks on List: 17

15 THE NOONDAY DEMON by Andrew Solomon (Scribner: $28) A look at the long human history of depression and the efforts of science, philosophy and medicine to explain it. Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 2

Paperbacks

FICTION

1 THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY by Michael Chabon (Picador: $15) Cousins in the comic biz.

2 GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING by Tracy Chevalier (Plume: $12) The woman who inspired a Vermeer painting.

3 DROWNING RUTH by Christina Schwarz (Ballantine: $14.95) A mystery set in Wisconsin at the end of World War I.

4 THE BEAR AND THE DRAGON by Tom Clancy (Berkley: $7.99) Jack Ryan faces brewing trouble in Russia and China.

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

6 THE LAST PRECINCT by Patricia Cornwell (Berkley: $7.99 ) Mangled corpses crowd Kay Scarpetta’s morgue.

7 INTERPRETER OF MALADIES by Jhumpa Lahiri (Mariner: $12) Stories of love and loss collide with Indian customs.

8 THE FEAST OF LOVE by Charles Baxter (Vintage: $13) Love, sacrifice and redemption in Michigan lives.

9 PLAIN BROWN WRAPPER by Karen Grigsby Bates (Avon: $13) A black L.A. columnist probes a tycoon’s murder.

10 BEE SEASON by Myla Goldberg (Vintage: $13) A young girl wins her family’s attention after excelling at spelling bees.

NONFICTION

1 PERSONAL HISTORY by Katharine Graham (Vintage: $15) A memoir by the late publisher of the Washington Post.

2 ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY by David Sedaris (Little, Brown: $14.95) Wisecracking essays on life in Paris and elsewhere.

3 KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL by Anthony Bourdain (Ecco Press: $14) Tales from the culinary trenches.

4 A HEARTBREAKING WORK OF STAGGERING GENIUS by Dave Eggers (Vintage: $14) A 22-year-old raises his kid brother.

5 WORST-CASE SCENARIO SURVIVAL HANDBOOK: TRAVEL by J. Piven & D. Borgenicht (Chronicle: $14.95) Help on the run.

6 IN THE HEART OF THE SEA by Nathaniel Philbrick (Penguin: $14) The whaling tragedy that inspired “Moby-Dick.”

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

8 BAND OF BROTHERS by Stephen E. Ambrose (Touchstone Books: $16) The elite fighting force Easy Company.

9 THE BETRAYAL OF AMERICA by Vincent Bugliosi (Thunders Mouth Press/Nation Books: $9.95) Notes on Election 2000.

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