BESTSELLERS / PAPERBACKS

Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.

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

3 The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst (Bloomsbury: $14.95) An Oxford student is caught up in go-go 1980s London.

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

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

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

7 The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (HarperSanFrancisco: $13) An Andalusian shepherd boy searches for treasure in Egypt.

8 The Constant Gardener by John le Carre (Pocket Star: $7.90) A diplomat uncovers multinational mischief in Kenya.

9 Wicked by Gregory Maguire (ReganBooks: $15) The Wicked Witch of the West tells her side of the story.

10 The Virgin’s Lover by Philippa Gregory (Touchstone: $16) A young Queen Elizabeth I falls for a married man.

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction 1 A Million Little Pieces by James Frey (Anchor: $14.95) A memoir of addiction, rehabilitation and 12-step treatment.

2 Why Do Men Have Nipples? by Mark Leyner and Billy Goldberg (Three Rivers Press: $12.95) What’s up, doc?

3 Chronicles, Vol. 1 by Bob Dylan (Simon & Schuster: $14) The songwriter reflects on his life and creativity.

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

5 Bad Dog by R.D. Rosen et al (Workman: $9.95) Photographs of 278 canines with attitude.

6 Sudoku: Easy to Hard by Will Shortz (St. Martin’s Griffin: $6.95) One hundred wordless crossword puzzles.

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

8 Imperial Ambitions by Noam Chomsky (Metropolitan: $15) A left-wing critique of current U.S. policies.

9 Will in the World by Stephen Greenblatt (W.W. Norton: $14.95) How Shakespeare became Shakespeare.

10 Sudoku Easy by Will Shortz (St. Martin’s Griffin: $6.95) Volume 1 of the popular puzzle book.

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