BESTSELLERS

*--* SO. CAL. RATING Fiction LAST WEEK WEEKS ON LIST

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*--* 1 The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (Little, Brown: $21.95) 3 41 A murdered girl tells the story of her grieving family still learning to cope, the killer and the detective who hunts him

2 The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (Doubleday: $24.95) A 1 2 Louvre curator’s murder leads to clues hidden in Leonardo’s paintings and a secret society with something to hide

3 The King of Torts by John Grisham (Doubleday: $27.95) The 4 9 case of a young man charged in a street killing turns out to be tied to a conspiracy involving a pharmaceutical giant

4 Life of Pi by Yann Martel (Harcourt: $25) After a ship 2 20 disaster, a lone Indian boy shares a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger during a harrowing and hallucinatory trip

5 The Jester by James Patterson and Andrew Gross (Little, 5 4 Brown: $27.95) An 11th century French innkeeper returns from the Crusades to find his wife imprisoned by a tyrannical lord

6 Dating Game by Danielle Steel (Delacorte Press: $26.95) A 10 4 Connecticut woman makes a new life for herself in San Francisco after her husband of 24 years leaves her for a younger woman

7 Sugar Skull by Denise Hamilton (Scribner: $25) Feisty -- 1 reporter Eve Diamond looks for the connection between the deaths of a runaway and a socialite during the Mexican Day of the Dead in L.A

8 Drop City by T.C. Boyle (Viking: $25.95) Mounting 11 5 pressures cause the denizens of a commune in 1970s California to relocate to the wilds of Alaska

9 Someone to Watch Over Me by Judith McNaught (Atria Books: 9 6 $25) A leading Broadway actress investigates her wealthy husband’s mysterious disappearance

10 Back Story by Robert B. Parker (Putnam: $24.95) Boston 7 3 P.I. Spenser finds that people on both sides of the law don’t want him digging up a 30-year-old murder case involving a bank holdup

11 Cold Pursuit by T. Jefferson Parker (Hyperion: $23.95) -- 1 Homicide cop Tom McMichael probes the murder of a wealthy old man who’d been bitterly feuding with his family for many years

12 Cosmopolis by Don DeLillo (Scribner: $25) A high-flying 14 2 Wall Streeter takes an epic limo ride across Manhattan at the height of the dot-com boom

13 Lost Light by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown: $25.95) A -- 1 film employee’s murder and the heist of $1 million used as a movie prop draw Harry Bosch into the role of avenging angel

14 The Vanished Man by Jeffrey Deaver (Simon & Schuster: 6 3 $25) With the help of a spunky apprentice magician, Lincoln Rhyme hopes to catch a murderer who’s a master illusionist

15 The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl (Random House: $24.95) 15 5 Longfellow just a poet? Hardly: He teams up with other 19th century intellectuals to hunt a murderer inspired by Dante

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction LAST WEEK WEEKS ON LIST

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*--* 1 Stupid White Men and Other Sorry Excuses for the State 1 56 of the Nation by Michael Moore (ReganBooks: $24.95) Lampooning the Bush administration and more

2 Leap of Faith by Queen Noor (Miramax Books: $25.95) The 2 2 life and times of a Princeton student who is courted by a Middle Eastern monarch and becomes Jordanian royalty

3 Jarhead by Anthony Swofford (Scribner: $24) A blunt and 8 4 bittersweet Gulf War memoir from a former Marine sniper, recounting the loneliness and brutality of life as a soldier

4 The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (Crown: 5 7 $25.95) A chronicle of how a serial killer, posing as a charming doctor, haunted the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair

5 Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson (Putnam: $19.95) -- 147 The co-author of “The One-Minute Manager” uses the parable of mice in a maze to discuss managing change

6 Atkins for Life by Robert C. Atkins (St. Martin’s: 7 10 $24.95) The physician continues his mission against low-fat diets, arguing that carbohydrates are the true culprits in weight gain

7 The Mailroom by David Rensin (Ballantine: $24.95) -- 7 Hollywood agents past and present describe what it’s like to start at the bottom in a talent agency and dream of the top

8 What Should I Do With My Life? by Po Bronson (Random 4 10 House: $24.95) A look at 50 professionals, some successful, some not, and their thoughts on pursuing dreams through their careers

9 The Laws of Money, the Lessons of Life by Suze Orman -- 4 (Free Press: $26) Plans of action for uncertain times to organize your savings and stash away money for retirement

10 Dereliction of Duty by Robert Patterson (Regnery: 11 2 $27.95) A onetime military aide to President Clinton faults the former leader for failing to lead the country with dignity and honor

11 The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr and Tony 3 3 Schwartz (Free Press: $26) A pair of executive trainers offer a guide for stressed-out individuals who need help balancing life and work

12 The Savage Nation by Michael Savage (WND Books: $24.99) 9 12 The confrontational radio show host is on a mission to save the nation from itself, railing against feminism and the lack of school prayer

13 Pigs at the Trough by Arianna Huffington (Crown: $22) -- 9 Pundit-columnist Huffington takes aim at the effect of corporate and political greed on the nation

14 The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle (New World Library: 6 34 $21.95) How to improve relationships and encourage happiness and contentment by living in the present

15 The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren (Zondervan: 12 6 $19.99) How the principles of worship, community, discipleship, ministry and evangelism lead to a fulfilled life

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