Los Angeles Times Bestsellers

December 23, 2001

FICTION

Southern California Rating

1 THE CORRECTIONS by Jonathan Franzen (Farrar, Straus & Giroux: $26) The saga of a dysfunctional Midwestern family living at the end of the 20th century. Last Week: 2 Weeks on List: 15

2 SKIPPING CHRISTMAS by John Grisham (Doubleday: $19.95) Grisham takes a holiday from the legal thriller to poke some fun at the suburban yuletide ritual. Last Week: 1 Weeks on List: 5

3 JACKDAWS by Ken Follett (Plume: $26.95) A group of female spies infiltrates a telephone exchange linking France to Germany as the Allies prepare to invade. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 1

4 LAST MAN STANDING by David Baldacci (Warner: $26.95) A G-man needs the help of a psychiatrist to uncover who mysteriously ambushed six of his men. Last Week: 4 Weeks on List: 5

5 VIOLETS ARE BLUE by James Patterson (Little, Brown: $27.95) Police detective Alex Cross investigates a series of brutal deaths with links to a vampire underground. Last Week: 3 Weeks on List: 3

6 HE SEES YOU WHEN YOU’RE SLEEPING by Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark (Simon & Schuster: $20) A would-be angel tries to reunite a girl with her family. Last Week: 9 Weeks on List: 3

7 AUSTERLITZ by W.G. Sebald (Random House: $25.95) An architectural historian retraces the steps of his escape from the Nazis on a kindertransport train. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 1

8 CARTER BEATS THE DEVIL by Glen David Gold (Hyperion: $24.95) A magician comes of age in the surly, seedy world of 1920s San Francisco and is tied to a U.S. president’s death. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 8

9 HALF A LIFE by V.S. Naipaul (Alfred A. Knopf: $24) A writer drifts from bohemian London to colonial Africa in this tale of the collision of identity, class and politics. Last Week: 10 Weeks on List: 6

10 THE MITFORD SNOWMEN by Jan Karon (Viking: $10.95) The eccentric denizens of Mitford gather on Main Street to share some old-fashioned Christmas cheer. Last Week: 11 Weeks on List: 6

11 PORTRAIT IN SEPIA by Isabel Allende (HarperCollins: $26) A young Chilean woman finds that photography helps reveal the mysteries and shadings in her family’s past. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 5

12 THE SIGMA PROTOCOL by Robert Ludlum (St. Martin’s: $27.95) A businessman and a beautiful secret agent pursue a shadowy, powerful cartel around the globe. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 4

13 HATESHIP, FRIENDSHIP, COURTSHIP, LOVESHIP, MARRIAGE by Alice Munro (Alfred A. Knopf: $24) Stories tracing the nuanced lives of women and their relationships. Last Week: 7 Weeks on List: 4

14 BALZAC AND THE LITTLE CHINESE SEAMSTRESS by Dai Sijie (Alfred A. Knopf: $18) Two Chinese youths use classic Western literature to free their minds in the face of communist re-education. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 2

15 FLESH AND BLOOD by Jonathan Kellerman (Random House: $26.95) Psychologist Alex Delaware investigates the deaths of a call girl he once treated and a beautiful coed. Last Week: 5 Weeks on List: 3

NONFICTION

Southern California Rating

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: 30

2 THE UNIVERSE IN A NUTSHELL by Stephen Hawking (Bantam: $35) The celebrated physicist offers up a look at space, time and the origin of the cosmos. Reviewed by K.C. Cole, Page 6. Last Week: 7 Weeks on List: 5

3 BEST-LOVED POEMS OF JACQUELINE KENNEDY ONASSIS Edited by Caroline Kennedy (Hyperion: $21.95) A selection of Jackie’s favorite verse and some of her own, introduced by her daughter. Last Week: 2 Weeks on List: 7

4 CHURCHILL by Roy Jenkins (Farrar, Straus & Giroux: $40) A biography of the legendary British statesman who inspired his people during the darkest hours of World War II. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 3

5 SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 by the editors of New York magazine (Harry N. Abrams: $19.95) The attacks, the mayhem, the grief and the rescues, in accounts and images. Last Week: 6 Weeks on List: 3

6 THE NO-SPIN ZONE by Bill O’Reilly (Broadway: $24.95) The Fox News commentator presents interviews with famous figures in his tough, no-holds-barred style. Last Week: 3 Weeks on List: 8

7 JACK by Jack Welch with John A. Byrne (Warner: $29.95) The life and times of a respected chief executive, from a Massachusetts childhood to his successful reinvention of General Electric. Last Week: 9 Weeks on List: 13

8 THE FINAL DAYS by Barbara Olson (Regnery: $27.95) The Clintons’ last actions inLast Week: the White House, from pardons to executive orders, with commentary from the late Olson. Last Week: 5 Weeks on List: 7

9 HOW I PLAY GOLF by Tiger Woods (Warner: $34.95) The links master explains his game in words and pictures, offering tips on the best ways to get from the tee to the cup. Last Week: 8 Weeks on List: 9

10 THEODORE REX by Edmund Morris (Random House: $35) Teddy Roosevelt’s journey from patrician to progressive, in this sequel to Morris’ Pulitzer winner on our 26th president. Last Week: 4 Weeks on List: 3

11 CHRISTMAS IN PLAINS by Jimmy Carter (Simon & Schuster: $20) A collection of holiday memories from the former president, from rural Georgia to the White House. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 1

12 WHEN CHARACTER WAS KING by Peggy Noonan (Viking: $24.95) Former speechwriter for Ronald Reagan draws on her and others’ experience to distill the former president’s “greatness.” Last Week: 14 Weeks on List: 2

13 EARTH FROM ABOVE: 365 DAYS by Herve Le Bras and Yann Arthus-Bertrand (Harry N. Abrams: $29.95) The majesty of nature and mankind captured in photographs from the sky. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 1

14 FIERCE PAJAMAS edited by David Remnick and Henry Finder (Random House: $27.95) Literary laughter from the pages of the New Yorker, from James Thurber to Woody Allen. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 1

15 SOME LIKE IT HOT edited by Alison Castle (Taschen: $150) Interviews with Billy Wilder, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis pepper this tome on the classic comedy. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 1