BESTSELLERS

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

*--*

*--* 1 The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (Little, Brown: $21.95) 1 27 A murdered girl tells the story of her grieving family still learning to cope, the killer and the detective who hunts him

2 Prey by Michael Crichton (HarperCollins: $26.95) A foray 2 5 into the chilling world of nanotechnology as a programmer tries to stop a destructive swarm of tiny machines

3 Four Blind Mice by James Patterson (Little, Brown: 4 5 $27.95) Alex Cross helps a friend save the life of an old Army buddy, who’s been framed by a quartet of murderers for a killing spree

4 Life of Pi by Yann Martel (Harcourt: $25) After a ship 3 6 disaster, a lone Indian man shares a raft with a Bengal tiger during a harrowing and hallucinatory trip

5 I Don’t Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson (Alfred 8 11 A. Knopf: $23) A darkly humorous tale of a woman juggling her high-powered career and family life

6 Reversible Errors by Scott Turow (Farrar, Straus & 7 8 Giroux: $28) Defense attorney Arthur Raven uncovers new twists in a 10-year-old murder case as the defendant awaits execution

7 Skipping Christmas by John Grisham (Doubleday: $14.95) 13 17 Grisham takes a holiday from legal thrillers to poke fun at the suburban yuletide ritual

8 Red Rabbit by Tom Clancy (Putnam: $28.95) In the early -- 11 1980s, newcomer Jack Ryan stumbles upon a KGB plot to assassinate the pope and create global chaos

9 The Christmas Train by David Baldacci (Warner: $19.95) A 12 6 washed-up journalist tries to reignite sparks with his lost love as they ride the rails in this cross-country holiday tale

10 Hornet Flight by Ken Follett (Dutton: $26.95) A World War 11 3 II yarn in which Danish amateur spies help to foil the Nazis’ use of radar, which has neutralized British bombers

11 Blackwood Farm by Anne Rice (Alfred A. Knopf: $26.95) A -- 7 vampire who inhabits a Southern manse seeks out Lestat to free himself from his ghostly double

12 Answered Prayers by Danielle Steel (Delacorte: $26.95) -- 3 There’s always a church door open to Faith Madison, a New York socialite trapped in a loveless marriage and praying for a new life

13 Esther’s Gift by Jan Karon (Viking: $10.95) Mitford 5 3 resident Esther Bolick wonders whether it’s worth the effort and expense to make her legendary marmalade cakes for all on her holiday list

14 Baudolino by Umberto Eco (Harcourt: $27) A trickster with -- 7 a knack for telling fantastic tales dupes a 12th century emperor and journeys to the Far East in search of an earthly paradise

15 Ignorance by Milan Kundera (HarperCollins: $23.95) Two -- 3 expatriate Czechs returning to Prague for a visit rediscover one another and the depth of emotion that homecoming brings

*--*

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

*--*

*--* 1 Bush at War by Bob Woodward (Simon & Schuster: $28) 1 5 Inside the White House since the 2001 attacks, as the Bush administration runs the war on terrorism and puts Iraq in its gun sights

2 Sandy Koufax by Jane Leavy (HarperCollins: $23.95) A look 4 14 at the career of the Dodger pitcher, arguably the game’s greatest southpaw, and the social mores he confronted

3 Journals by Kurt Cobain (Riverhead Books: $29.95) 7 8 Reproductions of the Nirvana lead singer’s journals, filled with drawings, plans for the band and his feelings on fame and music

4 Stupid White Men and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of 2 42 the Nation by Michael Moore (ReganBooks: $24.95) Lampooning the Bush administration and more

5 Leadership by Rudolph W. Giuliani (Miramax: $25.95) The 3 12 former New York City mayor recalls how life’s lessons helped him deal with the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks

6 Portrait of a Killer by Patricia Cornwell (Putnam: 6 5 $27.95) The bestselling thriller writer spent millions on new forensic technology to unmask the man she believes was Jack the Ripper

7 The Conquerors by Michael R. Beschloss (Simon & Schuster: 11 6 $26.95) How American strategists and their Allies drew up a plan for a post-World War II Europe and a defanged Germany

8 The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle (New World Library: 9 20 $21.95) How to improve relationships and encourage happiness and contentment by living in the present

9 A Long Way From Home by Tom Brokaw (Random House: $24.95) 10 6 Relying on other people’s stories for his books on the “Greatest Generation,” the NBC newsman turns to his South Dakota upbringing

10 Live From New York by Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller 8 11 (Little, Brown: $25.95) A backstage recounting of the comic genius and egos of “Saturday Night Live.”

11 Everyday Grace by Marianne Williamson (Riverhead Books: 5 4 $19.95) Finding the spiritual in everything from being stuck in traffic to a boardroom confrontation

12 My Losing Season by Pat Conroy (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday: 14 10 $27.95) The sorrows of life with a bullying father and the consolations of playing basketball at a South Carolina military college

13 When You Ride Alone You Ride With Bin Laden by Bill Maher -- 6 (New Millennium: $27.95) A guide to the ineptitude of Americans and their government in the war on terrorism

14 Longitudes and Attitudes by Thomas L. Friedman (Farrar, -- 12 Straus & Giroux: $26) The New York Times foreign affairs columnist reflects on the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks

15 Writing Los Angeles edited by David L. Ulin (Library of 12 3 America: $40) An anthology about the City of Angels as seen through the eyes of writers over the decades

*--*