Los Angeles Times Bestsellers

*--* Southern California Rating FICTION

*--*

*--* 1 EMPIRE FALLS by Richard Russo (Vintage: $14.95) A warmhearted novel about working-class lives in Maine 2 THE CORRECTIONS by Jonathan Franzen (Picador: $15) A Midwestern family’s unraveling at the 20th century’s end 3 BEL CANTO by Ann Patchett (HarperPaperbacks: $13.95) A terrorist standoff in a South American town mirrors opera 4 GOOD IN BED by Jennifer Weiner (Washington Square Press: $13) A tell-all column helps a woman change her life 5 HOW TO BE GOOD by Nick Hornby (Riverhead: $13) Hornby’s trademark wit is on display as a couple copes with infidelity 6 POSSESSION by A.S. Byatt (Vintage: $14) Two literary sleuths find their lives entwined with two Victorian poets 7 PURITY IN DEATH by J.D. Robb (Berkley: $7.99) A cop looks for the maker of a computer virus that kills bad guys 8 PEACE LIKE A RIVER by Leif Enger (Grove: $13) A family travels the Great Plains in search of its outlaw son 9 THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND CLAY by Michael Chabon (Picador: $15) Cousins in the comics biz 10 LAST MAN STANDING by David Baldacci (Warner: $7.99) A guilt-ridden FBI agent probes the ambush of his team

*--*

*--* Southern California Rating NONFICTION

*--*

*--* 1 SEABISCUIT by Laura Hillenbrand (Ballantine: $15) How a thoroughbred horse went from also-ran to sports icon 2 THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE by Robert Evans (New Millennium: $17.95) A producer’s rise, fall and rise again 3 DR. ATKINS’ NEW DIET REVOLUTION by Robert C. Atkins (Avon: $7.99) How a low-carb diet helps shed pounds 4 THE WRINKLE CURE by Nicholas Perricone (Warner: $13.95) Using antioxidants to keep the skin looking young 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 FOUNDING BROTHERS by Joseph Ellis (Vintage: $14) The genius, cunning and flaws of the nation’s architects 8 NICKEL & DIMED by Barbara Ehrenreich (Henry Holt: $13) A writer works in low-wage America to see how the poor live 9 RICH DAD, POOR DAD by Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter (Techpress: $15.95) Adventures in fiscal parenting 10 PERPETUAL WAR FOR PERPETUAL PEACE by Gore Vidal (Thunder’s Mouth: $10) The U.S. against the world

*--*