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 ABOUT A BOY by Nick Hornby (Riverhead Books: $12.95) A hipster pretends he’s a single dad to attract women 4 HOW TO BE GOOD by Nick Hornby (Jove: $13) A doctor must weigh her adulterous desire with being a faithful wife 5 BEL CANTO by Ann Patchett (HarperPaperbacks: $13.95) A terrorist standoff in a South American town mirrors opera 6 THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND CLAY by Michael Chabon (Picador: $15) Cousins in the comics biz 7 THE SUM OF ALL FEARS by Tom Clancy (Berkley: $7.99) What happens when terrorists plant a nuclear bomb in the U.S 8 BACK WHEN WE WERE GROWNUPS by Anne Tyler (Ballantine: $14.95) A mom gets another chance at love 9 SUZANNE’S DIARY FOR NICHOLAS by James Patterson (Warner: $12.95) A love story from the scribe of suspense 10 CHOSEN PREY by John Sandford (Berkley: $7.99) Cop Lucas Davenport hunts for the killer behind a field of corpses

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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 PERPETUAL WAR FOR PERPETUAL PEACE by Gore Vidal (Thunder’s Mouth/Nation Books: $10) Civil liberties in peril 3 NICKEL & DIMED by Barbara Ehrenreich (Henry Holt: $13) A writer works in low-wage America to see how the poor live 4 9-11 by Noam Chomsky (Seven Stories Press: $8.95) An alternative view of the U.S.-led war on terrorism 5 THE FOUR AGREEMENTS by Don Miguel Ruiz (Amber-Allen: $12.95) Life lessons based on ancient Toltec wisdom 6 FAST FOOD NATION by Eric Schlosser (HarperCollins: $13.95) The unappetizing practices of the junk-food industry 7 GHOST SOLDIERS by Hampton Sides (Anchor: $14.95) A daring 1945 rescue of British and American war prisoners 8 RICH DAD, POOR DAD by Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter (Techpress: $15.95) Adventures in fiscal parenting 9 WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU’RE EXPECTING by Heidi E. Murkoff et al (Workman: $13.95) Pregnancy explained 10 ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY by David Sedaris (Little, Brown: $14.95) Wisecracking essays on life in Paris and elsewhere

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