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 48 Louvre curator’s killing leads to clues hidden in Leonardo’s paintings and a secret society with something to hide.

2 The Last Juror by John Grisham (Doubleday: $27.95) A 2 4 convicted killer on parole for a brutal rape and murder is bent on retribution as he returns to his small town.

3 The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom 3 22 (Hyperion: $19.95) An amusement park maintenance man faces his life, death and afterlife in this three-part parable.

4 The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler (Knopf: $24.95) A 6 7 mismatched couple struggle over the course of 30 years to make their marriage bearable.

5 The Best Awful by Carrie Fisher (Simon & Schuster: $24) 5 7 Suzanne Vale battles drugs and bipolar disorder in this black-comic sequel to “Postcards From the Edge.”

6 Angels & Demons by Dan Brown (Atria: $17.95) A Harvard 7 9 scholar uncovers a vendetta against the Catholic Church by a secret society known as the Illuminati.

7 The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (Houghton Mifflin: $24) An -- 20 immigrant Bengali couple and their son, named for the writer Nikolai Gogol, experience cultural jolts in America.

8 The Zero Game by Brad Meltzer (Warner Books: $25.95) -- 4 Bored congressional aides gamble in a clandestine game for fun, but things turn deadly in a hurry.

9 Absolute Friends by John le Carre (Little, Brown: $26.95) 4 7 Two former Cold War spies are drawn into the rising political opposition to the United States’ invasion of Iraq.

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

11 Ain’t She Sweet by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (William -- 1 Morrow: $24.95) The girl everyone loved to hate grows up, and the denizens of her small Mississippi town are looking to get even.

12 The Pleasure of My Company by Steve Martin (Hyperion: 14 15 $19.95) A man suffering from agoraphobia and obsessive-compulsive disorder copes with the vicissitudes of life.

13 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark -- 16 Haddon (Doubleday: $22.95) Falsely accused, an autistic teen looks for the real murderer of a neighbor’s poodle.

14 Old School by Tobias Wolff (Knopf: $22) A New England 13 14 prep school scholarship student with literary ambitions tries to win an audience with Ernest Hemingway.

15 High Country by Nevada Barr (Putnam: $24.95) Four young -- 1 workers are missing in Yosemite National Park, and ranger Anna Pigeon uncovers more than frozen ground in her search.

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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 1 8 Schlessinger (HarperCollins: $24.95) Talk show host tells how to manage the “very simple creature” that is man.

2 The Price of Loyalty by Ron Suskind (Simon & Schuster: 2 7 $26) A scathing portrayal of the George W. Bush White House by former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill.

3 Deliver Us From Evil by Sean Hannity (Regan Books: -- 1 $26.95) The conservative pundit argues against appeasement and multilateralism and for a proactive stance in fighting our enemies.

4 American Dynasty by Kevin Phillips (Viking: $25.95) An 4 7 account of the Bush family’s use of their Ivy League network, political maneuvering and vast wealth to win the White House.

5 Queer Eye for the Straight Guy by Ted Allen (Clarkson 7 2 Potter: $27.50) How to be better dressed, groomed, cultivated and more knowledgeable about food and wine and culture.

6 The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren (Zondervan: 5 50 $19.99) How the “God-ordained” principles of worship, community, discipleship, ministry and evangelism bring fulfillment.

7 Hollywood Animal by Joe Eszterhas (Alfred A. Knopf: 6 4 $26.95) The noted screenwriter takes on the beast that is the movie industry in telling the tale of his life’s journey.

8 Down and Dirty Pictures by Peter Biskind (Simon & 3 8 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.

9 The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach (Broadway Books: 8 6 $19.95) A common-sense guide to financial planning through automatic contributions to retirement plans and investment vehicles.

10 The Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene (Knopf: $28.95) 9 2 The nature of reality is explored through simple explanations of concepts such as string theory and inflationary cosmology.

11 Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them by Al Franken 12 27 (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.

12 The Sorrows of Empire by Chalmers Johnson (Metropolitan: 15 6 $25) A view of the United States as an imperialist and militaristic nation bent on global domination.

13 The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle (New World Library: 10 71 $21.95) How to improve one’s relationships and find contentment and even happiness by living in the now.

14 Superfoods Rx by Steven Pratt and Kathy Matthews (William -- 1 Morrow: $24.95) How eating blueberries, pumpkin, soy and other common foods can lead to a healthier life.

15 Madame Secretary by Madeleine Albright (Miramax: $27) The -- 5 first woman secretary of state recounts her life from European refugee to hard-driving diplomat.

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