BESTSELLERS / PAPERBACKS

*--* SO. CAL. RATING Fiction

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*--* 1 The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead: $14) A writer returns to Kabul to rescue the son of a childhood friend.

2 Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (Vintage: $12) An autistic teen seeks a killer.

3 Angels & Demons by Dan Brown (Pocket Books: $7.99) A scholar uncovers a vendetta against the Roman Catholic Church.

4 The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (HarperSanFrancisco: $13) An Andalusian shepherd boy seeks treasure in Egypt.

5 The Murder Room by P.D. James (Vintage: $13.95) Adam Dalgliesh investigates an unpopular museum trustee’s murder.

6 The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (Harvest: $14) A time traveler falls in love with a teen heiress.

7 Absolute Friends by John le Carre (Back Bay Books: $13.95) Cold War spies are drawn into opposing the Iraq invasion.

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

9 Trojan Odyssey by Clive Cussler (Berkley: $7.99) Dirk Pitt races to the scene as a mega-hurricane hits the Caribbean.

10 The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander M. Smith (Anchor: $11.95) Botswana’s favorite private eye.

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction

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*--* 1 The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (Vintage: $14.95) How a serial killer haunted the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.

2 Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi (Random House: $13.95) A professor keeps literature alive for her students.

3 1,000 Places to See Before You Die by Patricia Schultz (Workman: $18.95) Trotting the globe.

4 World Almanac and Book of Facts 2005 (World Almanac Books: $11.95) Just the facts, ma’am.

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

6 Don’t Think of an Elephant by Howard Dean et al. (Chelsea Green: $10) A guide for political progressives.

7 The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle (New World Library: $14) How to attain enlightenment by living in the now.

8 Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki and Sharon L. Lechter (TechPress/Warner: $15.95) Fiscal parenting.

9 The Bush Survival Bible by Gene Stone (Villard: $9.99) A humorous take on surviving the next four years.

10 A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson (Broadway: $15.95) From the primordial to the present.

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