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

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

4 Blow Fly by Patricia Cornwell (Berkley: $7.99) Pathologist Kay Scarpetta investigates gruesome bayou murders.

5 Split Second by David Baldacci (Warner Vision: $7.99) Disgraced federal agents attack crime on the campaign trail.

6 The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (Mariner: $14) A Bengali couple and their son try to find their way in America.

7 The Known World by Edward P. Jones (Amistad: $13.95) Love and betrayal on a black slave owner’s plantation.

8 The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck (Washington Square: $14) A farming couple’s struggle in pre-revolutionary China.

9 The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks (Warner: $12.95) Teen lovers, interrupted by World War II, get another chance.

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

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction

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*--* 1 The 9/11 Commission Report by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks (Norton: $10) The report.

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

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

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

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

6 Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom (Broadway: $12.95) Learning life’s lessons from a dying former teacher.

7 Black Dahlia Avenger by Steve Hodel (Perennial: $14.95) A theory in the infamous 1947 killing of a young woman.

8 Dude, Where’s My Country? by Michael Moore (Warner: $14.95) How to wrest control from conservatives.

9 The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire by Deepak Chopra (Three Rivers: $14) How to harness coincidence.

10 Moneyball by Michael Lewis (W.W. Norton: $13.95) How the Oakland A’s built a winning team without big bucks.

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