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 London Bridges by James Patterson (Warner Vision: $7.99) Alex Cross battles nuclear terrorists.

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

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

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

6 It Happened One Autumn by Lisa Kleypas (Avon: $7.50) An American heiress beds an earl.

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

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

9 Northern Lights by Nora Roberts (Jove: $9.99) An Alaska police chief finds new love and murder.

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

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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 Book of Sudoku, No. 1 by Michael Mepham (Overlook: $9.95) An introduction to the number puzzle.

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

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

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

8 Su Doku for Dummies by Andrew Herson and Edmund James (Wiley: $9.99) Puzzle-solving hints and 240 puzzles.

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

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

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