BESTSELLERS

*--* SO. CAL. RATING Fiction

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*--* 1 The Hours by Michael Cunningham (Picador: $13) Three women linked across time by Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway.”

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

3 Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie (Anchor Books: $10) Literary light in a communist village

4 Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (Harvest Books: $12) A day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway and her London coterie

5 The Summons by John Grisham (Dell: $7.99) A dead judge leaves his sons an old house that contains a $3-million secret

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

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

8 The Oath by John Lescroart (Signet: $7.99) A lawyer and a cop sense that something is amiss at a San Francisco HMO

9 The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (Houghton Mifflin: $20) An epic journey to destroy a dark lord’s evil ring

10 Basket Case by Carl Hiaasen (Warner: $7.99) An obituary writer unravels the bizarre causes of a rock star’s death

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction

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*--* 1 Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution by Robert C. Atkins (Quill: $13.95) How a low-carb diet helps shed pounds

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

3 Dreaming War by Gore Vidal (Thunder’s Mouth: $11.95) Arguing that greed, not justice, underlies Bush’s focus on Iraq

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

5 Catch Me if You Can by Frank W. Abagnale (Broadway: $14.95) The world-class cons of a high school dropout

6 The Culture of Fear by Barry Glassner (Basic Books: $15) Hype and paranoia spread by the mass media

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

8 Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond (W.W. Norton: $16.95) A scientist’s take on Europe’s rise to dominance

9 Lucky by Alice Sebold (Back Bay: $11.95) An unsparing, powerful memoir of the author’s rape as a college freshman

10 The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean (Ballantine: $14) Centuries of theft, hatred and greed over a delicate flower

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