BESTSELLERS

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

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*--* 1 Lipstick Jungle by Candace Bushnell (Hyperion: $24.95) 3 2 Three high-powered New York women stop at nothing to make it big in business, even if it means leaving their men in the dust.

2 On Beauty by Zadie Smith (Penguin: $25.95) Identity -- 1 crises, adultery, racial conflict and religious zealotry afflict two families whose lives are a 21st century parallel to E.M. Forster’s “Howards End.”

3 The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (Little, Brown: 1 15 $25.95) A teenager discovers a medieval book and a stash of letters and sets out on a hunt for the real story of Dracula, a quest close to home.

4 Shalimar the Clown by Salman Rushdie (Random House: 11 2 $25.95) A diplomat’s murder in Los Angeles uncovers a saga with roots in Kashmir, Nazi Europe and modern terrorism.

5 Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See (Random -- 11 House: $21.95) Two women in the cloistered society of 19th century China forge a close friendship that is threatened by misunderstanding.

6 The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (Doubleday: $24.95) A 7 131 Louvre curator’s killing leads to clues hidden in Leonardo’s paintings and a secret society with something to hide.

7 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling 8 10 (Arthur A. Levine / Scholastic: $29.99) A teenage Harry faces a new darkness in his latest adventures.

8 Thud! by Terry Pratchett (HarperCollins: $24.95) A dwarf -- 1 is bludgeoned to death as the anniversary of the battle between the dwarfs and trolls nears in Vol. 30 of the Discworld series.

9 Cinnamon Kiss by Walter Mosley (Little, Brown: $24.95) -- 1 To raise cash for his daughter’s operation, Easy Rawlins threads his way through post-Watts riots L.A. and flower-power San Francisco.

10 The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd (Viking: $24.95) A -- 22 woman who is called home to cope with her troubled mother finds herself drawn to a Benedictine monk on an island off South Carolina.

11 Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis (Alfred A. Knopf: 5 6 $24.95) The author-turned-protagonist tries to dry out and remake his life in a suburbia possessed by strange spirits.

12 Polar Shift by Clive Cussler with Paul Kamprecos 9 3 (Putnam: $26.95) A special ops team tries to reverse a shift of Earth’s magnetic poles, a plot to disrupt the world’s industrialized nations.

13 Eldest (Inheritance, Book 2) by Christopher Paolini 4 4 (Alfred A. Knopf: $21) Eragon hones his battle skills as his cousin finds himself the target of evil forces.

14 The Widow of the South by Robert Hicks (Warner: $24.95) -- 1 A Confederate soldier’s wife, mourning the deaths of several children, turns her Tennessee plantation into a hospital and cemetery.

15 Slow Burn by Julie Garwood (Ballantine: $25.95) A woman -- 2 who returns to her tiny hometown doesn’t know whom to trust as she becomes a suspect in a brutal decades-old murder.

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

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*--* 1 A Man Without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut (Seven Stories 7 4 Press: $23.95) A collection of recent articles focuses on personal foibles and skewers those in power.

2 Natural Cures “They” Don’t Want You to Know About by 4 13 Kevin Trudeau (Alliance Publishing: $29.95) The infomercial mogul touts alternative therapies and supplements.

3 The World Is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman (Farrar, Straus & 3 23 Giroux: $27.50) How technology and the forces of globalization are connecting -- and changing -- the world.

4 Blink by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown: $25.95) 2 36 Gladwell explores why decisions are so often made in an instant and whether we can really trust those first instincts.

5 Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner 5 22 (William Morrow: $25.95) An economist deconstructs statistics and uses numbers to help explain human behavior.

6 You: The Owner’s Manual by Michael F. Roizen and Mehmet 1 19 C. Oz (HarperCollins: $24.95) An anti-aging guru and a heart surgeon offer a wry and witty guide to staying healthy.

7 1776 by David McCullough (Simon & Schuster: $32) The 8 16 historian looks at how the American forces took on the world’s greatest military power in the Revolution’s first battles.

8 New Rules: Polite Musings From a Timid Observer by Bill 6 9 Maher (Rodale Books: $24.95) The political satirist and TV host brings his acerbic humor to the written page.

9 The Game by Neil Strauss (ReganBooks: $29.95) A “regular 9 2 guy” transforms himself into a highly trained pickup artist and enters a subculture where seduction and betrayal live in close discomfort.

10 The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer (Hyperion: $23.95) A 10 3 Los Angeles Times writer’s memoir of being poor and fatherless, seeking male role models among regulars at a Long Island bar.

11 Encyclopedia Prehistorica: Dinosaurs by Robert Sabuda and 11 5 Matthew Reinhart (Candlewick: $26) An intricate pop-up book on those all-time favorite prehistoric critters.

12 It’s Not Easy Being Green by Jim Henson, the Muppets and -- 1 Friends (Hyperion: $16.95) A collection of memorable quotes from the late puppeteer, his characters, friends and family.

13 Bait and Switch by Barbara Ehrenreich (Metropolitan 12 2 Books: $24) The world of the white-collar job seeker, peopled by perky consultants, hustlers and well-meaning “transition counselors.”

14 Night Draws Near by Anthony Shadid (Henry Holt: $26) The -- 1 Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter recounts the invasion of Iraq and the effects of war on U.S. soldiers and Iraqis.

15 The Modern Jewish Girl’s Guide to Guilt edited by Ruth -- 1 Andrew Ellenson (Dutton: $24.95) An edgy collection of humor and pathos on the road to a 21st century Jewish identity.

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