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 43 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 2 16 (Hyperion: $19.95) An amusement park maintenance man faces his life, death and afterlife in this three-part parable.

3 The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler (Knopf: $24.95) A -- 1 mismatched couple (repressed male, volatile and romantic female) try over the course of 30 years to make their marriage work.

4 The Best Awful by Carrie Fisher (Simon & Schuster: $24) -- 1 Suzanne Vale battles drugs and bipolar disorder in this black-comic sequel to “Postcards From the Edge.” Reviewed on page 4.

5 Pompeii by Robert Harris (Random House: $24.95) An 7 8 engineer repairing an aqueduct near Mt. Vesuvius in AD 79 notes ominous signs of its imminent eruption.

6 Old School by Tobias Wolff (Knopf: $22) A New England 13 9 prep school scholarship student with literary ambitions tries to win an audience with Ernest Hemingway.

7 Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (Ecco Press: $29.95) A 10 3 new translation, by Edith Grossman, of the exploits of the idealistic Spanish knight-errant and his faithful Sancho Panza.

8 New Spring by Robert Jordan (Tor Fantasy: $22.95) In this -- 1 prequel to the “Wheel of Time” series, an infant is born who, it is prophesied, will change the beleaguered world.

9 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.

10 The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier (Dutton: 3 2 $23.95) A 15th-century artisan meets his patron’s daughter while designing the now-famous tapestries for the nobleman’s great hall.

11 Retreat, Hell by W.E.B. Griffin (Putnam: $26.95) A -- 1 fictional take on the travails of Gen. Douglas MacArthur and the embattled U.S. Marines during the Korean War.

12 Absolute Friends by John le Carre (Little, Brown: $26.95) -- 1 Two former Cold War spies are drawn into the rising political opposition to the United States’ invasion of Iraq.

13 Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz (Bantam: $26.95) A short-order -- 4 cook talks to ghosts and senses the presence of malevolent spirits who threaten his small desert town.

14 Trojan Odyssey by Clive Cussler (Putnam: $27.95) Dirk 6 7 Pitt rushes to rescue his undersea exploring twins as a mega-hurricane bears down on the Caribbean and a luxury floating hotel.

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

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

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*--* 1 The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands by Laura 6 2 Schlessinger (HarperCollins: $24.95) Talk-show host tells how to manage the “very simple creature” that is man.

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

3 Down and Dirty Pictures by Peter Biskind (Simon & 5 2 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 Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them by Al Franken 2 22 (Dutton: $24.95) A heaping dose of subversive wit aimed at political leaders and pundits on the right and left.

5 Dude, Where’s My Country? by Michael Moore (Warner Books: 1 14 $24.95) Advice from the veteran gadfly on how to take back the country from the conservative forces currently running it.

6 The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren (Zondervan: 4 13 $19.99) How the “God-ordained” principles of worship, community, discipleship, ministry and evangelism bring fulfillment.

7 The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle (New World Library: 10 67 $21.95) How to improve one’s relationships and find contentment and even happiness by living in the now.

8 The Sorrows of Empire by Chalmers Johnson (Metropolitan: -- 1 $25) A view of the United States as an imperialist and militaristic nation bent on global domination.

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

10 My Prison Without Bars by Pete Rose (Rodale Press: -- 1 $24.95) The erstwhile Cincinnati Reds slugger and infamous baseball exile contemplates the ups and downs of his career.

11 Natalie Wood by Gavin Lambert (Knopf: $25.95) An -- 1 examination of Wood’s turbulent life, detailing her struggles and triumphs as an actress, her romantic involvements and her tragic death.

12 Where I Was From by Joan Didion (Knopf: $23) A California -- 8 native daughter recasts the once-promising Golden State as a place of wasteful extravagance and greed, built on federal funding.

13 The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach (Broadway Books: -- 1 $19.95) Common-sense financial planning that suggests “automating” your contributions to retirement and investment vehicles.

14 In an Uncertain World by Robert E. Rubin and Jacob -- 1 Weisberg (Random House: $35) Rubin’s Wall Street career and tenure as presidential advisor and Treasury secretary.

15 Over the Edge of the World by Laurence Bergreen (William -- 1 Morrow: $27.95) An account of Magellan’s circumnavigation of the globe in the 16th century.

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