BESTSELLERS

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Fiction LAST WEEK WEEKS ON LIST 1 Hollywood Station by 1 4 Joseph Wambaugh (Little, Brown: $24.99) Cops stationed in a Hollywood of meth tweakers and hustlers try to solve a jewelry heist and a security guard’s murder.

2 Next by Michael Crichton 2 3 (HarperCollins: $27.95) A cancer survivor, his daughter and grandson are the targets of unscrupulous genetic researchers determined to harvest disease-fighting cells for profit.

3 For One More Day by Mitch 4 12 Albom (Hyperion: $21.95) An alcoholic tries suicide and encounters his mother’s ghost, who tells him about her life and sacrifices as a single parent.

4 The Echo Maker by Richard -- 1 Powers (Farrar, Straus & Giroux: $25) A Nebraska mechanic emerges from a coma unable to recognize his sister, who enlists a neurologist’s help.

5 Hannibal Rising by Thomas 3 2 Harris (Delacorte Press: $27.95) Hannibal Lecter is rescued from a Soviet orphanage by his uncle, but the boy is haunted by demons.

6 The Boleyn Inheritance by 6 2 Philippa Gregory (Touchstone: $25.95) Anne Boleyn’s scheming sister-in-law continues her intrigues as lady-in-waiting to two more of Henry VIII’s wives.

7 The Shape Shifter by Tony 8 3 Hillerman (HarperCollins: $26.95) Joe Leaphorn is yanked from retirement to find a missing friend and revisit a long-ago murder tied to an ancient Navajo rug.

8 Against the Day by Thomas 12 4 Pynchon (Penguin: $35) Thirty years of the adventures of a crew of balloonists begins with a trip to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

9 Special Topics in Calamity -- 8 Physics by Marisha Pessl (Viking: $25.95) Brilliant, eccentric high school students and their film studies teacher are drawn into a murder mystery.

10 Cross by James Patterson 5 5 (Little, Brown: $27.99) Alex Cross quits tracking down serial killers for the sake of his family life until given the chance to hunt for his late wife’s murderer.

11 Mistral’s Kiss by Laurell -- 1 K. Hamilton (Ballantine: $23.95) Princess NicEssus tries to secure her claim to the throne by bedding potential consorts among her royal guards.

12 The Emperor’s Children by 13 11 Claire Messud (Knopf: $25) Three college friends stumble on their paths to becoming shining lights in the East Coast constellation of cultural elites.

13 Suite Francaise by Irene -- 34 Nemirovsky (Knopf: $25) Two novellas by a writer killed at Auschwitz about the exodus from Paris ahead of the Germans’ arrival and on life in a farming village under occupation.

14 Dear John by Nicholas -- 5 Sparks (Warner: $24.99) A soldier on leave falls in love with a student, but their relationship is put on hold when he returns to duty after Sept. 11.

15 The Lay of the Land by -- 4 Richard Ford (Knopf: $26.95) A suburban real estate agent faces his mortality as well as marital and familial woes in the new millennium.

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction LAST WEEK WEEKS ON LIST 1 I Feel Bad About My Neck 2 20 by Nora Ephron (Knopf: $19.95) The screenwriter ruminates on the effects of gravity and menopause, and reconciling herself to life among the post-bikini set.

2 The Audacity of Hope by 1 9 Barack Obama (Crown: $25) The U.S. senator from Illinois argues that his Democratic Party and the GOP must forgo partisanship to reclaim the American dream.

3 Palestine: Peace Not 3 4 Apartheid by Jimmy Carter (Simon & Schuster: $27) The former president writes that Palestinians must recognize Israel, and Israel must honor its peace commitments.

4 I Like You by Amy Sedaris 4 9 (Warner Books: $27.99) A guide to throwing the perfect party, with helpful hospitality hints and arch observations from the comic writer.

5 The Innocent Man by John 5 11 Grisham (Doubleday: $28.95) A true-crime tale about a former big league baseball player sent to death row for a murder he didn’t commit.

6 A Photographer’s Life by 11 6 Annie Leibovitz (Random House: $75) A collection of 15 years of the celebrated photographer’s work, including intimate portraits of family and friends.

7 Culture Warrior by Bill 10 12 O’Reilly (Broadway: $26) The Fox News TV host rails against “secular progressives,” billionaire Democrat George Soros, the ACLU and critics he dubs “smear merchants.”

8 The God Delusion by 6 10 Richard Dawkins (Houghton Mifflin: $27) The biologist criticizes religion for intolerance, rejecting scientific truth and threatening nonbelievers with eternal damnation.

9 Marley & Me by John Grogan 8 47 (William Morrow: $21.95) A columnist recalls how Marley, an incorrigible Labrador retriever, flunked obedience school, terrorized a pet sitter and won over his family.

10 Bird Songs by Les Beletsky -- 1 (Chronicle Books: $45) A detailed description of 250 North American birds with lavish illustrations and a built-in audio player of their songs and calls.

11 Schott’s Almanac 2007 by -- 1 Ben Schott (Bloomsbury: $25.95) A look at some of the most entertaining and interesting stories of 2006 and the details behind them.

12 The Doors by The Doors -- 2 with Ben Fong-Torres (Hyperion: $45) The seminal L.A. rock band’s story told in photos and interviews with surviving members and Jim Morrison’s friends and relatives.

13 Laurel Canyon by Michael -- 20 Walker (Faber & Faber: $25) A look at the ‘60s rock bands and artists whose creativity flowered in Laurel Canyon, then a sylvan enclave above Sunset Boulevard.

14 Letter to a Christian -- 6 Nation by Sam Harris (Knopf: $16.95) “The End of Faith” author chides religious dogmatists for rationalizing violence and fostering human suffering.

15 Point to Point Navigation 13 7 by Gore Vidal (Doubleday: $26) In a second volume of memoirs, the writer recalls childhood, his literary career, politics past and present and coping with his partner’s death.

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Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.