Los Angeles Times Bestsellers

*--* Southern California Rating FICTION

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*--* 1 DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA-YA SISTERHOOD by Rebecca Wells (HarperPerennial: $14) Sisterhood in the South 2 THE BOURNE IDENTITY by Robert Ludlum (Bantam: $7.99) Jason Bourne’s a mystery man with assassins on his trail 3 THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND CLAY by Michael Chabon (Picador: $15) Cousins in the comics biz 4 P IS FOR PERIL by Sue Grafton (Ballantine: $7.99) Private eye Kinsey Millhone looks into a physician’s death 5 EMPIRE FALLS by Richard Russo (Vintage: $14.95) A warmhearted novel about working-class lives in Maine 6 LITTLE ALTARS EVERYWHERE by Rebecca Wells (HarperCollins: $13) More tales from the “Ya-Ya Sisterhood.” 7 FACE THE FIRE by Nora Roberts (Berkley: $7.99) A love affair poses problems for a witch as she faces an age-old curse 8 AMERICAN GODS by Neil Gaiman (HarperPaperbacks: $7.99) Ancient deities battle with the gods of consumerism 9 BEL CANTO by Ann Patchett (HarperPaperbacks: $13.95) A terrorist standoff in a South American town mirrors opera 10 THE SUM OF ALL FEARS by Tom Clancy (Berkley: $7.99) What happens when terrorists plant a nuclear bomb in the U.S

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*--* Southern California Rating NONFICTION

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*--* 1 SEABISCUIT by Laura Hillenbrand (Ballantine: $15) How a thoroughbred horse went from also-ran to sports icon 2 LIFE STRATEGIES by Phillip C. McGraw (Hyperion, $12.95) How to take responsibility for your life in order to change it 3 9-11 by Noam Chomsky (Seven Stories Press: $8.95) An alternative view of the U.S.-led war on terrorism 4 NICKEL & DIMED by Barbara Ehrenreich (Henry Holt: $13) A writer works in low-wage America to see how the poor live 5 GHOST SOLDIERS by Hampton Sides (Anchor: $14.95) A daring 1945 rescue of British and American war prisoners 6 THE FOUR AGREEMENTS by Don Miguel Ruiz (Amber-Allen: $12.95) Life lessons based on ancient Toltec wisdom 7 FOUNDING BROTHERS by Joseph Ellis (Vintage: $14) The genius, cunning and flaws of the nation’s architects 8 RICH DAD, POOR DAD by Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter (Techpress: $15.95) Adventures in fiscal parenting 9 PERPETUAL WAR FOR PERPETUAL PEACE by Gore Vidal (Thunder’s Mouth/Nation Books: $10) Civil liberties in peril 10 WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU’RE EXPECTING by Heidi E. Murkoff et al. (Workman: $13.95) Pregnancy explained

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