BESTSELLERS / PAPERBACKS

Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.

*--* SO. CAL. RATING Fiction 1 Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See (Random House: $13.95) Two women in 19th century China.

2 The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd (Penguin: $14) A woman confronts her long-dormant desires.

3 Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (Vintage: $14) Reunited boarding-school graduates explore their shared past.

4 In the Company of Cheerful Ladies by Alexander M. Smith (Anchor: $12.95) New cases for “No. 1 Ladies’ ” detectives.

5 Gilead by Marilynne Robinson (Picador: $14) An ailing minister explains his life and beliefs to his young son.

6 The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead: $14) A writer returns to Kabul to rescue the son of a childhood friend.

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 The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom (Hyperion: $12) A repairman considers his life.

10 Ask the Dust by John Fante (HarperPerennial: $12.95) A young writer struggles to survive in 1930s L.A.

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction 1 Night by Elie Wiesel (Hill & Wang: $9) A teenager’s harrowing year spent in four concentration camps.

2 Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins (Plume: $15) How the U.S. pressures poor countries.

3 In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (Vintage: $14) The writer’s masterful account of a Kansas family’s brutal murder.

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

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

6 The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (Scribner: $14) A memoir of breaking away from dysfunctional parents.

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

8 Collapse by Jared Diamond (Penguin: $17) Why the Maya, the Anasazi and other societies died out.

9 Blink by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown: $14.95) Considering the power and perception of the human mind.

10 I Love You More Than You Know by Jonathan Ames (Black Cat: $13) Essays exploring life’s intricacies.

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