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

3 The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (Harvest: $14) A time traveler meets the child he later marries.

4 The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (HarperSanFrancisco: $13) An Andalusian shepherd boy seeks treasure in Egypt.

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

6 The Last Juror by John Grisham (Dell: $7.99) A killer on parole is bent on retribution as he returns to his small town.

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

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

9 The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith (Anchor: $11.95) Botswana’s female private eye.

10 Wicked by Gregory Maguire (Regan Books: $15) The Wicked Witch of the West tells her side of the story.

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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 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 World Almanac and Book of Facts 2005 (World Almanac Books: $11.95) Just the facts, ma’am.

5 100 Words Almost Everyone Confuses & Misuses (American Heritage/Houghton Mifflin: $4.95)

6 The Bush Survival Bible by Gene Stone (Villard: $9.99) A humorous take on surviving the next four years.

7 Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (Little, Brown: $14.95) Quirky reflections on life in Paris and elsewhere.

8 Final Edition edited by Wallace Shawn (Seven Stories Press: $10) Politics and the arts via interview, fiction and essay.

9 Leonard Maltin’s 2005 Movie Guide (Signet: $8.99) Reviews to keep in mind while DVD hunting.

10 Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris (Little, Brown: $8.95) Elf love, Santa’s diaries and more about the season’s dark side.

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