Los Angeles Times Bestsellers

*--* Southern California Rating FICTION

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*--* 1 EMPIRE FALLS by Richard Russo (Vintage: $14.95) A warmhearted novel about working-class lives in Maine 2 DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA-YA SISTERHOOD by Rebecca Wells (HarperPerennial: $14) Sisterhood in the South 3 GOOD IN BED by Jennifer Weiner (Washington Square Press: $13) A tell-all column helps a woman change her life 4 BACK WHEN WE WERE GROWNUPS by Anne Tyler (Ballantine: $14.95) A mom gets another chance at love 5 HOW TO BE GOOD by Nick Hornby (Jove: $13) A doctor must weigh her adulterous desire with being a faithful wife 6 BEL CANTO by Ann Patchett (HarperPaperbacks: $13.95) A terrorist standoff in a South American town mirrors opera 7 SUZANNE’S DIARY FOR NICHOLAS by James Patterson (Warner: $12.95) A love story from the scribe of suspense 8 CHOSEN PREY by John Sandford (Berkley: $7.99) Cop Lucas Davenport hunts for the killer behind a field of corpses 9 THE LAST TIME THEY MET by Anita Shreve (Little, Brown: $13.95) Two poets share a lifelong passion 10 ABOUT A BOY by Nick Hornby (Riverhead Books: $12.95) A hipster pretends he’s a single dad to attract women

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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 FAST FOOD NATION by Eric Schlosser (HarperCollins: $13.95) The unappetizing practices of the junk-food industry 3 JUSTICE by Dominick Dunne (Three Rivers Press: $14) The writer describes high-profile crimes and personal tragedy 4 RICH DAD, POOR DAD by Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter (Techpress: $15.95) Adventures in fiscal parenting 5 ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY by David Sedaris (Little, Brown: $14.95) Wisecracking essays on life in Paris and elsewhere 6 PERPETUAL WAR FOR PERPETUAL PEACE by Gore Vidal (Thunder’s Mouth/Nation Books: $10) Civil liberties in peril 7 GHOST SOLDIERS by Hampton Sides (Anchor: $14.95) A daring 1945 rescue of British and American war prisoners 8 THE FOUR AGREEMENTS by Don Miguel Ruiz (Amber-Allen: $12.95) Life lessons based on ancient Toltec wisdom 9 WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU’RE EXPECTING by Heidi E. Murkoff et al. (Workman: $13.95) Pregnancy explained 10 THE BLESSING OF A SKINNED KNEE by Wendy Mogel (Penguin: $14) Applying Jewish thought to raising children

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