BESTSELLERS

*--* SO. CAL. RATING Fiction LAST WEEK WEEKS ON LIST 1 The Lighthouse by P.D. 2 5 James (Alfred A. Knopf: $25.95) Det. Adam Dalgliesh is called to the Cornish coast to solve the murder of an acclaimed novelist who had upset his very prominent neighbors.

2 S Is for Silence by Sue 1 3 Grafton (Putnam: $26.95) Kinsey Millhone is hired to find out what happened to a woman who disappeared 34 years earlier from a Central California agricultural town.

3 Christ the Lord by Anne 3 7 Rice (Alfred A. Knopf: $25.95) A 7-year-old Jesus returns to Nazareth after the death of King Herod and gradually discovers his power to heal and raise the dead.

4 Mary, Mary by James 4 5 Patterson (Little, Brown: $27.95) FBI Det. Alex Cross seeks the killer of an A-list actress, her chauffeur and a female movie producer as fear sweeps through Hollywood.

5 On Beauty by Zadie Smith 11 13 (Penguin: $25.95) Identity crises, adultery, racial conflict and religious zealotry afflict two families whose lives are a 21st century parallel to E.M. Forster’s “Howards End.”

6 The Sea by John Banville 8 7 (Alfred A. Knopf: $23) A widower struggles to rid himself of the yoke of memory by visiting the coastal town where he spent time as a boy.

7 Forever Odd by Dean Koontz 9 3 (Bantam: $27) Odd Thomas is back, still seeing ghosts as he tries to solve the murder of his friend’s stepfather and foil a wealthy porn entrepreneur.

8 Memories of My Melancholy 5 8 Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Alfred A. Knopf: $20) A nonagenarian journalist who falls for a 14-year-old virgin prostitute reflects on his life and loves.

9 The Truth About Diamonds -- 2 by Nicole Richie (ReganBooks: $23.95) A rock legend’s adopted daughter, part of Hollywood’s new elite, faces a best friend’s betrayal and a greedy birth father.

10 Harry Potter and the -- 19 Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling (Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic: $29.99) A teenage Harry faces a new darkness in his latest adventures.

11 The March by E.L. Doctorow 7 10 (Random House: $25.95) On the trail as Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman makes his historic sweep of Georgia, routs Confederate troops and destroys the countryside.

12 The Constant Princess by 13 2 Philippa Gregory (Touchstone: $24.95) Catherine of Aragon endures the loss of a husband, treachery and poverty in her quest to become queen of England.

13 Snow Flower and the Secret 10 21 Fan by Lisa See (Random House: $21.95) Two women in the cloistered society of 19th century China forge a close friendship that is threatened by misunderstanding.

14 Veronica by Mary Gaitskill 14 3 (Pantheon: $23) A former fashion model who now faces some of life’s ugly realities recalls a friendship with a woman who was an early casualty of AIDS.

15 The Da Vinci Code by Dan 15 136 Brown (Doubleday: $24.95) A Louvre curator’s killing leads to clues hidden in Leonardo’s paintings and a secret society with something to hide.

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction LAST WEEK WEEKS ON LIST 1 The Year of Magical 1 12 Thinking by Joan Didion (Alfred A. Knopf: $23.95) The author explores the nature of grief and survival in the months after her writer-husband’s sudden death.

2 Teacher Man by Frank 2 5 McCourt (Scribner: $26) In his third memoir in a series that began with “Angela’s Ashes,” the Irish immigrant plumbs 30 years of teaching high school English in New York City.

3 Team of Rivals by Doris 4 8 Kearns Goodwin (Simon & Schuster: $35) How country lawyer and one-term congressman Abraham Lincoln used his savvy to bring political rivals into his Cabinet.

4 The World Is Flat by 7 36 Thomas L. Friedman (Farrar, Straus & Giroux: $27.50) How technology and the forces of globalization are connecting -- and changing -- the world.

5 The Elements of Style 6 7 Illustrated by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White (The Penguin Press: $24.95) The classic manual of good writing, updated with fanciful illustrations by Maira Kalman.

6 Our Endangered Values by 3 7 Jimmy Carter (Simon & Schuster: $25) The former president writes of his concern about the rise in Christian fundamentalism and its influence in politics.

7 Amazing Peace by Maya 10 2 Angelou (Random House: $9.95) The poet writes of the promise of the Christmas season and the hope that the holiday’s spirit can help bring peace to the world.

8 Marley & Me by John Grogan 13 5 (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.

9 1776 by David McCullough 14 21 (Simon & Schuster: $32) The historian examines how Colonial forces took on the world’s greatest military power in the first battles of the American Revolution.

10 Freakonomics by Steven D. -- 30 Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner (William Morrow: $25.95) An economist deconstructs statistics and uses numbers to help explain human behavior.

11 A Man Without a Country by -- 12 Kurt Vonnegut (Seven Stories Press: $23.95) A collection of recent articles focuses on personal foibles and skewers those in power.

12 Are Men Necessary? by 5 6 Maureen Dowd (Putnam: $25.95) The columnist ponders relations between the sexes, the value of trapping a man and career women as artful minxes.

13 My Friend Leonard by James 11 10 Frey (Penguin: $24.95) The former cocaine addict’s sequel to “A Million Little Pieces” celebrates the mobster who helped him turn his life around.

14 The City of Falling Angels 9 11 by John Berendt (Penguin: $25.95) The author of “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” uses a fire that guts a Venice opera house to find the heart of the Italian city.

15 Love Smart by Phil McGraw 15 2 (Free Press: $26) How to take control of your love life, whether it’s finding a mate or holding on to the one you already have.

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