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

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

7 The Cat Who Went Up the Creek by Lilian Jackson Braun (Jove: $6.99) Felines help solve mysteries in Moose County

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

9 Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner (Washington Square Press: $13) A tell-all column helps a woman change her life

10 Peace Like a River by Leif Enger (Grove: $13) A family travels the Great Plains in search of its outlaw son

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction 1 Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand (Ballantine: $15) How a thoroughbred horse went from also-ran to sports icon

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

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

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

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

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

7 The Wisdom of Menopause by Christiane Northrup (Bantam: $18.95) Symptoms and treatments

8 What Went Wrong by Bernard Lewis (HarperPerennial: $12.95) The Islamic Middle East’s fall into repression

9 The Gangs of New York by Herbert Asbury (Thunder’s Mouth Press: $14.95) A history of Gotham’s underworld

10 8 Minutes in the Morning by Jorge Cruise (HarperResource: $14.95) Strength training to lose weight

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