Los Angeles Times Bestsellers

*--* Southern California Rating FICTION Last Week Weeks on List

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*--* 1 THE EMPEROR OF OCEAN PARK by Stephen L. Carter (Alfred A. 4 2 Knopf: $26.95) A professor is drawn into the underworld of Washington, D.C., by the secrets of his late father, a federal judge 2 THE NANNY DIARIES by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus 1 16 (St. Martin’s: $24.95) The travails of an overworked and underappreciated Park Avenue caregiver 3 THE BEACH HOUSE by James Patterson and Peter de Jonge -- 1 (Little, Brown: $26.95) A law student seeks his own justice after his brother’s body is found outside a Long Island manse 4 JOLIE BLON’S BOUNCE by James Lee Burke (Simon & Schuster: 6 2 $25) Ghosts from his past haunt Dave Robicheaux as he tries to exonerate a Cajun blues singer charged with murder 9 EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED by Jonathan Safran Foer 9 9 (Houghton Mifflin: $24) A comic novel about a man’s search for his family’s past in Ukraine and the history of a forgotten shtetl 6 FIRE ICE by Clive Cussler with Paul Kemprecos (Putnam: 7 2 $26.95) Old Cold War rivals team up to fight a crazed Russian mobster with czarist aspirations and ecological disaster on his mind 7 THE WAILING WIND by Tony Hillerman (HarperCollins: 10 6 $25.95) A body found in a parked car helps Navajo police officers Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee solve an old case 8 THE SUMMONS by John Grisham (Doubleday: $27.95) A man 14 19 discovers $3 million in his dead father’s house and hides it from his prodigal brother and a mysterious extortioner 9 THE DIVE FROM CLAUSEN’S PIER by Ann Packer (Alfred A. -- 1 Knopf: $24) A young woman flees from her fiance in an attempt to find herself after catastrophe changes their lives 10 IN THIS MOUNTAIN by Jan Karon (Viking: $25.95) Father Tim 5 3 and his wife, Cynthia, receive a warm embrace from the townspeople of Mitford on their return from Whitecap Island 11 ATONEMENT by Ian McEwan (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday: $26) A 2 15 haunting novel of guilt and redemption that follows several lives through the chaos of England in World War II 12 CITY OF BONES by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown: $25.95) -- 8 Det. Harry Bosch is after the truth behind the 20-year-old murder of a child whose bones are discovered in Laurel Canyon 13 THIEVES’ PARADISE by Eric Jerome Dickey (Dutton: $19.95) 12 4 The prospect of fast money lures two buddies into a world rife with con men and beautiful women 14 MORTAL PREY by John Sandford (Putnam: $26.95) Minneapolis 8 5 cop Lucas Davenport is headed for the altar, but first he has to stop the killing spree by his nemesis 15 CONFESSIONS OF A SOCIOPATHIC SOCIAL CLIMBER by Adele Lang -- 1 (Dunne Books: $22.95) An ad agency toiler tallies up a lot of dish along with her expenses

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*--* Southern California Rating NONFICTION Last Week Weeks on List

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*--* 1 STUPID WHITE MEN ... AND OTHER SORRY EXCUSES FOR THE 1 17 STATE OF THE NATION by Michael Moore (ReganBooks: $24.95) Lampooning the Bush administration and more 2 YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS by John McEnroe with James Kaplan -- 1 (Putnam: $25.95) The brash tennis great serves up career highlights laced with insight 3 SELF MATTERS by Phillip C. McGraw (Simon & Schuster: 2 22 $25) A self-improvement guru and “Oprah” regular teaches readers how to “create your life from the inside out.” 4 THE RIGHT WORDS AT THE RIGHT TIME by Marlo Thomas 3 7 (Pocket Books: $25) The actress and author is joined by a host of luminaries sharing words of wisdom they’ve found useful 5 JOHN ADAMS by David McCullough (Simon & Schuster: $35) -- 45 The story of our second president, a man Thomas Jefferson called “the colossus of independence.” 6 WEALTH AND DEMOCRACY by Kevin Phillips (Broadway Books: -- 3 $29.95) A look at the ways capitalists embrace government influence when they can use it to their advantage 7 SHOOT OUT by Peter Bart and Peter Guber (Putnam: $26.95) 4 3 Two Hollywood veterans describe the clash of egos, artistic vision and economics that go into the making of movies 8 FIREHOUSE by David Halberstam (Hyperion: $22.95) The -- 1 honor and pain felt by those in a New York City firehouse that lost 12 members on Sept. 11 9 A NEW KIND OF SCIENCE by Stephen Wolfram (Wolfram Media: -- 1 $44.95) The universe and other complex systems explained through simple computer experiments 10 WHO MOVED MY CHEESE? By Spencer Johnson (Putnam: $19.95) 10 116 The coauthor of “The One-Minute Manager” uses the parable of mice in a maze to discuss managing change 11 MASTER OF THE SENATE by Robert A. Caro (Alfred A. Knopf: 7 8 $35) How LBJ awakened a moribund Senate through civil rights reform and set his sights on the White House 12 THE SEXUAL LIFE OF CATHERINE M. by Catherine Millet 14 2 (Grove Press: $23) A French art critic with a gifted superego looks back on 30 years of indulging her id 13 BODY-FOR-LIFE by Bill Phillips and Michael D’Orso -- 9 (HarperCollins: $26) A 12-week program of weightlifting and cardiovascular exercise along with nutrition and motivation tips 14 GOOD TO GREAT by Jim Collins (HarperCollins: $27.50) How -- 1 a great product, a healthy corporate culture and a disciplined work force can propel a company to success 15 THE BEST DEMOCRACY MONEY CAN BUY by Greg Palast (Pluto 9 3 Press: $25) Polemics by a reporter who writes for the BBC against globalization and its harmful effect on the world

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