BESTSELLERS

*--* SO. CAL. RATING Fiction LAST WEEK WEEKS ON LIST

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*--* 1 The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (Little, Brown: $21.95) 2 26 A murdered girl tells the story of her grieving family still learning to cope, the killer and the detective who hunts him

2 Prey by Michael Crichton (HarperCollins: $26.95) A foray 1 4 into the chilling world of nanotechnology as a programmer tries to stop a destructive swarm of tiny machines

3 Life of Pi by Yann Martel (Harcourt: $25) After a ship 9 5 disaster, a lone Indian man shares a raft with a Bengal tiger during a harrowing and hallucinatory trip

4 Four Blind Mice by James Patterson (Little, Brown: 3 4 $27.95) Alex Cross helps a friend save the life of an old Army buddy, who’s been framed by a quartet of murderers for a killing spree

5 Esther’s Gift by Jan Karon (Viking: $10.95) Mitford -- 2 resident Esther Bolick wonders whether it’s worth the effort and expense to make her legendary marmalade cakes for all on her holiday list

6 Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros (Alfred A. Knopf: $24) In her -- 4 first novel since “The House on Mango Street,” Cisneros recounts the saga of the Reyes family in Mexico and the United States

7 Reversible Errors by Scott Turow (Farrar, Straus & 8 7 Giroux: $28) Defense attorney Arthur Raven uncovers new twists in a 10-year-old murder case as the defendant awaits execution

8 I Don’t Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson (Alfred 11 10 A. Knopf: $23) A darkly humorous tale of a woman juggling her high-powered career and family life

9 You Shall Know Our Velocity by Dave Eggers (McSweeney’s: 5 11 $22) A pair of friends takes an around-the-world trip, handing out money to strangers

10 Atonement by Ian McEwan (Nan A. Talese/ Doubleday: $26) A -- 30 haunting novel of guilt and redemption that follows several lives through the chaos of England in World War II

11 Hornet Flight by Ken Follett (Dutton: $26.95) A World War 7 2 II yarn in which Danish amateur spies help to foil the Nazis’ use of radar, which has neutralized British bombers

12 The Christmas Train by David Baldacci (Warner: $19.95) A 6 5 washed-up journalist tries to reignite sparks with his lost love as they ride the rails in this cross-country holiday tale

13 Skipping Christmas by John Grisham (Doubleday: $14.95) 4 16 Grisham takes a holiday from legal thrillers to poke fun at the suburban yuletide ritual

14 The Little Friend by Donna Tartt (Alfred A. Knopf: $26) A 10 8 12-year-old whose family was torn apart by the murder of her brother sees revenge as her only hope

15 Child of My Heart by Alice McDermott (Farrar, Straus & -- 2 Giroux: $23) A 15-year-old has an eye-opening summer as she baby-sits the offspring of the well-heeled on Long Island

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction LAST WEEK WEEKS ON LIST

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*--* 1 Bush at War by Bob Woodward (Simon & Schuster: $28) 1 4 Inside the White House since the 2001 attacks, as the Bush administration runs the war on terrorism and puts Iraq in its gun sights

2 Stupid White Men and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of 8 41 the Nation by Michael Moore (ReganBooks: $24.95) Lampooning the Bush administration and more

3 Leadership by Rudolph W. Giuliani (Miramax: $25.95) The 5 11 former New York City mayor recalls how life’s lessons helped him deal with the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks

4 Sandy Koufax by Jane Leavy (HarperCollins: $23.95) A look 4 13 at the career of the Dodger pitcher, arguably the game’s greatest southpaw, and the social mores he confronted

5 Everyday Grace by Marianne Williamson (Riverhead: $19.95) 10 3 Finding the spiritual in everything from being stuck in traffic to a boardroom confrontation

6 Portrait of a Killer by Patricia Cornwell (Putnam: 3 4 $27.95) The bestselling thriller writer spent millions on new forensic technology to unmask the man she believes was Jack the Ripper

7 Journals by Kurt Cobain (Riverhead: $29.95) Reproductions 11 7 of the Nirvana lead singer’s journals, filled with drawings, plans for the band and his feelings on fame and music

8 Live From New York by Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller 12 10 (Little, Brown: $25.95) A backstage recounting of the comic genius and egos of “Saturday Night Live.”

9 The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle (New World Library: 6 19 $21.95) How to improve relationships and encourage happiness and contentment by living in the present

10 A Long Way From Home by Tom Brokaw (Random House: $24.95) 7 5 Relying on other people’s stories for his books on the “Greatest Generation,” the NBC newsman turns to his South Dakota upbringing

11 The Conquerors by Michael R. Beschloss (Simon & Schuster: 2 5 $26.95) How American strategists and their Allies drew up a plan for a post-World War II Europe and a defanged Germany

12 Writing Los Angeles edited by David L. Ulin (Library of -- 2 America: $40) The City of Angels as seen through the eyes of writers who have beheld it through the decades

13 The Greatest Game Ever Played by Mark Frost (Hyperion: -- 3 $30) The story of the 1913 U.S. Open, when a 20-year-old amateur stunned the golf world by defeating British champion Harry Vardon

14 My Losing Season by Pat Conroy (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday: 9 9 $27.95) The sorrows of life with a bullying father and the consolations of playing basketball at a South Carolina military college

15 Century edited by Bruce Bernard (Phaidon: $14.95) A “mini -- 1 edition” look at 100 years in the history of our world, with images, photographs and documents to boot

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