BESTSELLERS

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*--* 1 The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (Penguin: $14) A teenage girl is haunted by her mother’s death

2 The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus (Griffin: $13.95) The travails of an overworked caregiver

3 Atonement by Ian McEwan (Anchor: $14) A haunting novel of guilt and redemption in World War II England

4 Daddy’s Little Girl by Mary Higgins Clark (Pocket Books: $7.99) A reporter faces a family protecting one of its own

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

6 The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith (Anchor: $11.95) Botswana’s female private eye

7 Life of Pi by Yann Martel (Harvest Books: $14) An Indian boy shares a lifeboat with a tiger on a harrowing trip

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

9 The Dive From Clausen’s Pier by Ann Packer (Vintage: $14) Catastrophe forces a woman to struggle with the meaning of life

10 The Murder Book by Jonathan Kellerman (Ballantine: $7.99) Alex Delaware receives a gruesome photo album

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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 What Went Wrong? by Bernard Lewis (HarperPerennial: $12.95) The rise and fall of Islamic culture

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

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

6 Why Are We at War? by Norman Mailer (Random House: $7.99) The U.S. is making war for empire, not security

7 War Talk by Arundhati Roy (South End Press: $12) Essays critical of the U.S., arguing that war pits rich against poor

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

9 Trading Spaces: Behind the Scenes edited by Brian Kramer (Meredith Books: $19.95) Quick room makeovers

10 The No Spin Zone by Bill O’Reilly (Broadway: $14) Insights from the outspoken Fox cable interviewer

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