LOS ANGELES TIMES LIST FOR NOVEMBER 10, 2002

*--* SO. CAL. RATING Fiction

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*--* 1 White Oleander by Janet Fitch (Back Bay Books: $13.95) Her mother in jail, a teenager survives in L.A. foster homes

2 The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen (Picador: $15) A Midwestern family unravels at the 20th century’s end

3 Violets Are Blue by James Patterson (Warner: $7.99) A series of brutal deaths has links to a vampire underground

4 Empire Falls by Richard Russo (Vintage: $14.95) A warmhearted novel about working-class folk in Maine

5 Bel Canto by Ann Patchett (HarperPaperbacks: $13.95) Opera mingles with mayhem in South America

6 The Sigma Protocol by Robert Ludlum (St. Martin’s: $7.99) A shadowy multinational cartel has sinister global plans

7 The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon (Picador: $15) Cousins in the comics biz

8 Table for Two by Nora Roberts (Silhouette: $7.50) Love is stirring in the culinary world in this pair of romances

9 The Secret History by Donna Tartt (Ballantine: $14.95) A Vermont college clique gets caught up in murder

10 Fierce Pajamas edited by David Remnick and Henry Finder (Random House: $14.95) Laughs from the New Yorker

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction

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*--* 1 Nickel & Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich (Henry Holt: $13) A writer works in low-wage America to see how the poor live

2 Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand (Ballantine: $15) How a thoroughbred horse went from also-ran to sports icon

3 Lucky by Alice Sebold (Back Bay Books: $11.95) The writer recounts her rape when she was a college freshman

4 Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter (Techpress: $15.95) Fiscal parenting

5 Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom (Broadway: $11.95) Learning life lessons from a dying former teacher

6 The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz (Amber-Allen: $12.95) A code of conduct based on Toltec wisdom

7 John Adams by David McCullough (Touchstone: $18.95) The greatness of America’s second president

8 Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser (HarperCollins: $13.95) The unappetizing practices of the junk-food industry

9 Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution by Robert C. Atkins (Avon: $7.99) How a low-carb diet helps shed pounds

10 What to Expect When You’re Expecting by Heidi E. Murkoff et al. (Workman: $13.95) Pregnancy explained

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