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

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

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

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 Truly, Madly Manhattan by Nora Roberts (Harlequin: $7.50) A comics writer and an actress yearn for love

8 Empire Falls by Richard Russo (Vintage: $14.95) A warmhearted novel about working-class folk in Maine

9 Portrait in Sepia by Isabelle Allende (HarperPerennial: $13.95) Saga of a late 19th century Chilean family

10 Everything’s Eventual by Stephen King (Pocket: $7.99) “Riding the Bullet,” “Autopsy Room Four” and other dark tales

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

9 9-11 by Noam Chomsky (Seven Stories Press: $8.95) An alternative view of the U.S.-led war on terrorism

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

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