BESTSELLERS

*--* SO. CAL. RATING Fiction

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*--* 1 Angels & Demons by Dan Brown (Pocket Books: $7.99) A Harvard scholar uncovers a vendetta against the Catholic Church.

2 Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (Picador: $15) A Greek family embraces the American dream.

3 Life of Pi by Yann Martel (Harvest Books: $14) A boy shares a lifeboat with a tiger on a harrowing trip.

4 The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl (Random House: $13.95) A killer in 1865 Boston takes his cues from Dante.

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

6 Digital Fortress by Dan Brown (Griffin: $14.95) A new technology threatens the balance of international power.

7 Deception Point by Dan Brown (Pocket Books: $7.99) A president’s reelection rests on an object buried in the Arctic.

8 The King of Torts by John Grisham (Dell: $7.99) A street killing is linked to a conspiracy involving a pharmaceutical giant.

9 One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Perennial: $14) A century in Macondo.

10 Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier (Vintage: $14.95) A disillusioned Confederate soldier makes his way home.

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction

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

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

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

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

5 What Not to Wear by Trinny Woodall (Riverhead: $15) Straight talk on dressing for your shape and personality.

6 Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling by Ross King (Penguin: $15) The story of the painting of the Sistine Chapel.

7 Scary Monsters and Super Freaks by Mike Sager (Thunder’s Mouth: $15.95) Stories of celebrity and notoriety.

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

9 The Game of Life and How to Play It by Florence Scovel-Shinn (C.W. Daniel: $9.99) Solving problems.

10 The Ultimate Weight Solution Food Guide by Phil McGraw (Pocket Books: $7.99) No-nonsense weight loss.

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Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.