BESTSELLERS / PAPERBACKS

*--* SO. CAL. RATING Fiction

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*--* 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 a killer.

3 The Constant Gardener by John le Carre (Pocket: $7.99) A diplomat uncovers multinational mischief in Kenya.

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

5 The Hour Game by David Baldacci (Warner: $7.99) Private eyes try to catch a copycat 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 Angels & Demons by Dan Brown (Pocket: $7.99) A scholar uncovers a vendetta against the Roman Catholic Church.

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

10 Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer (Perennial: $13.95) A young man’s European journey.

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction

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

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

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

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

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

6 1,000 Places to See Before You Die by Patricia Schultz (Workman: $18.95) Trotting the globe.

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

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

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

10 Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson (Ballantine: $7.50) Two men find a buried German U-boat off New Jersey.

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Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.