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

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

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

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

6 Snow by Orhan Pamuk (Vintage: $14.95) A Turkish poet returns from exile to find ideological strife.

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

8 Wicked by Gregory Maguire (ReganBooks: $16) The Wicked Witch of the West tells her side of the story.

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

10 Bangkok 9 by John Burdett (Vintage: $13.95) A Buddhist cop plunges into Thailand’s jade and sex trades.

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

3 The Book of Sudoku by Michael Mepham (Overlook: $9.95) An introduction to the number puzzle.

4 Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman (Scribner: $14) Essays on postmodern pop culture.

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

6 Sudoku: Easy to Hard by Will Shortz (St. Martin’s Griffin: $6.95) 100 wordless crossword puzzles.

7 1,000 Places to See Before You Die by Patricia Schultz (Workman: $18.95) Trotting the globe.

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

9 Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter (TechPress/Warner: $16.95) Fiscal parenting.

10 Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris (Back Bay: $14.95) The humorist on his family.

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