BESTSELLERS

*--* SO. CAL. RATING Fiction LAST WEEK WEEKS ON LIST

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*--* 1 The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (Doubleday: $24.95) A 1 44 Louvre curator’s killing leads to clues hidden in Leonardo’s paintings and a secret society with something to hide.

2 The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom 3 18 (Hyperion: $19.95) An amusement park maintenance man faces his life, death and afterlife in this three-part parable.

3 Absolute Friends by John le Carre (Little, Brown: $26.95) 2 3 Two former Cold War spies are drawn into the rising political opposition to the United States’ invasion of Iraq.

4 The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler (Knopf: $24.95) A 4 3 mismatched couple struggles over the course of 30 years to make their marriage bearable.

5 The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier (Dutton: 9 4 $23.95) A 15th century artisan meets his patron’s daughter while designing the now-famous tapestries for the nobleman’s great hall.

6 Mr. Paradise by Elmore Leonard (William Morrow: $25.95) A 6 2 lingerie model in downtown Detroit finds herself embroiled in the contract murder of her call-girl roommate and a client.

7 The Best Awful by Carrie Fisher (Simon & Schuster: $24) 7 3 Suzanne Vale battles drugs and bipolar disorder in this black-comic sequel to “Postcards From the Edge.”

8 The Zero Game by Brad Meltzer (Warner Books: $25.95) -- 1 Bored congressional aides gamble in a clandestine game for fun, but things turn deadly in a hurry.

9 Pompeii by Robert Harris (Random House: $24.95) An 5 10 engineer repairing an aqueduct near Mt. Vesuvius in AD 79 notes ominous signs of its imminent eruption.

10 Old School by Tobias Wolff (Knopf: $22) A New England -- 10 prep school scholarship student with literary ambitions tries to win an audience with Ernest Hemingway.

11 Angels and Demons by Dan Brown (Atria: $17.95) A Harvard -- 5 scholar uncovers a vendetta against the Catholic Church by a secret society known as the Illuminati.

12 The Big Bad Wolf by James Patterson (Little, Brown: 8 10 $27.95) Lawman Alex Cross investigates the disappearance of pretty women and uncovers a sex-slave ring run by a Russian mobster.

13 New Spring by Robert Jordan (Tor Fantasy: $22.95) In this 11 3 prequel to the “Wheel of Time” series, an infant is born who, it is prophesied, will change the beleaguered world.

14 Paranoia by Joseph Finder (St. Martin’s Press: $24.95) A -- 1 bored employee sent to spy on a rival high-tech firm who finds himself skyrocketing to the top must choose between betrayal or prison.

15 Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (Ecco Press: $29.95) A -- 4 new translation of the exploits of the idealistic Spanish knight-erant and his faithful Sancho Panza.

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction LAST WEEK WEEKS ON LIST

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*--* 1 American Dynasty by Kevin Phillips (Viking: $25.95) An 2 3 account of the Bush family’s use of their Ivy League network, vast wealth and unsavory political maneuvering to obtain the White House.

2 The Price of Loyalty by Ron Suskind (Simon & Schuster: 1 3 $26) A scathing portrayal of the George W. Bush White House by former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill.

3 Down and Dirty Pictures by Peter Biskind (Simon & 3 4 Schuster: $26.95) A look at the rise of indie films and the influence of the Sundance Film Festival and Harvey and Bob Weinstein’s Miramax.

4 The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands by Laura 6 4 Schlessinger (HarperCollins: $24.95) Talk-show host tells how to manage the “very simple creature” that is man.

5 The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren (Zondervan: 8 46 $19.99) How the “God-ordained” principles of worship, community, discipleship, ministry and evangelism bring fulfillment.

6 The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach (Broadway Books: 4 3 $19.95) Common-sense financial planning that suggests “automating” your contributions to retirement and investment vehicles.

7 Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them by Al Franken 5 23 (Dutton: $24.95) A heaping dose of subversive wit aimed at politicos and pundits on the right, including Bill O’Reilly, Ann Coulter and others.

8 The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle (New World Library: 7 68 $21.95) How to improve one’s relationships and find contentment and even happiness by living in the now.

9 Homicide Special by Miles Corwin (Henry Holt: $25) A -- 1 writer rides with investigators from LAPD’s elite detective squad, Homicide Special, as they try to solve high-profile murders.

10 Dude, Where’s My Country? by Michael Moore (Warner Books: 9 16 $24.95) Advice from the veteran gadfly on how to take back the country from the conservative forces currently running it.

11 Who’s Looking Out for You? by Bill O’Reilly (Broadway: -- 14 $24.95) Talk-show host mixes outrage at corrupt politics, people and institutions with advice on how to identify whom to trust.

12 Naomi Judd’s Breakthrough Guide by Naomi Judd (Simon & -- 1 Schuster: $21) The country-singer superstar offers 20 personal choices that can transform your life.

13 American Sucker by David Denby (Little, Brown: $24.95) -- 1 The author and film critic explains how he lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in an obsessive bid to beat the stock market.

14 The Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Amy Wallace (Frog Ltd.: $26) -- 1 Author and daughter of Irving Wallace describes her life as lover, wife and apprentice of Carlos Castaneda.

15 Sojourner: An Insider’s View of the Mars Pathfinder -- 1 Mission by Andrew Mishkin (Berkley: $21.95) A NASA engineer details the effort behind its first rover to land on Mars in 1997.

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