BESTSELLERS

*--* SO. CAL. RATING Fiction

*--*

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

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

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

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

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

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

7 The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien (Ballantine: $7.99) Sam and Frodo’s dark journey to destroy the evil ring

8 The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien (Ballantine: $7.99) Elves, trolls and humans unite to battle Sauron’s deadly army

9 Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (Harcourt: $18) A vivid picture of a single day in a woman’s life

10 Jackdaws by Ken Follett (Signet: $7.99) A World War II thriller about Allied agents blocking Nazi awareness of D-day

*--*

*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction

*--*

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

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

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

4 Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris (Little, Brown: $8.95) Elf love, Santa’s diaries and more about the season’s dark side

5 World Almanac and Book of Facts 2003 (World Almanac Books: $11.95) Just the facts, ma’am

6 Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (Little, Brown: $14.95) Quirky reflections on life in Paris and elsewhere

7 Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis (Vintage: $14) The genius, cunning and flaws of the nation’s architects

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

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

10 Old Farmer’s Almanac 2003 (Yankee: $5.95) The granddaddy of trivia books returns with weather, stars and more

*--*