BESTSELLERS / PAPERBACKS

*--* SO. CAL. RATING Fiction

*--*

*--* 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 scholar uncovers a vendetta against the Roman Catholic Church.

3 The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Penguin: $15) A quest for the truth about a Spanish novelist.

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

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

6 Bergdorf Blondes by Plum Sykes (Miramax: $13.95) Park Avenue princesses search for love and riches.

7 R Is for Ricochet by Sue Grafton (Berkley: $7.99) A rich man hires Kinsey Millhone to keep his parolee daughter clean.

8 The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory (Touchstone: $16) Two sisters vie for the love of Henry VIII.

9 The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (Del Rey: $7.99) A hapless traveler creates galactic havoc.

10 The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant (Random House: $13.95) A love story amid the artistic ferment of 14th century Italy.

*--*

*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction

*--*

*--* 1 The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell (Back Bay: $14.95) How fads, trends and ideas behave like viruses in a society.

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

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

4 What’s the Matter With Kansas? by Thomas Frank (Owl Books: $14) How conservatives won America’s heartland.

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

6 100 Words Every Lover Should Know (American Heritage/Houghton Mifflin: $4.95)

7 Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond (W.W. Norton: $16.95) A scientist’s take on Europe’s rise to dominance.

8 Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom (Broadway: $12.95) A columnist learns life lessons from a dying teacher.

9 All Over but the Shoutin’ by Rick Bragg (Vintage: $14) The Pulitzer Prize winner writes about his hardscrabble youth.

10 The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle (New World Library: $14) How to attain enlightenment by living in the now.

*--*

Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.