BESTSELLERS

*--* SO. CAL. RATING Fiction LAST WEEK WEEKS ON LIST 1 Rise and Shine by Anna -- 1 Quindlen (Random House: $24.95) A TV morning host finds her life turned upside down after her husband announces he’s leaving her and she makes a faux pas on camera.

2 Special Topics in Calamity 1 4 Physics by Marisha Pessl (Viking: $25.95) Brilliant, eccentric high school students and their film studies teacher are drawn into a murder mystery.

3 The Emperor’s Children by -- 1 Claire Messud (Knopf: $25) Three college friends stumble on their paths to become shining lights in the East Coast constellation of cultural elites.

4 The Afghan by Frederick 7 2 Forsyth (Putnam: $26.95) A British soldier goes undercover with the Taliban in Afghanistan to foil a terrorist plot discovered on an Al Qaeda member’s computer.

5 White Sister by Stephen J. 5 2 Cannell (St. Martin’s: $24.95) Det. Shane Scully scours the world of L.A. rap musicians for the person who shot and critically wounded his wife.

6 Blind Willow, Sleeping -- 1 Woman by Haruki Murakami (Knopf: $24.95) A collection of stories by the celebrated author, touching upon both the cerebral and the fantastic.

7 Hunters of Dune by Brian 3 2 Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson (Tor Books: $27.95) Based on Frank Herbert’s final outline, this novel picks up with Duncan Idaho’s ghola fleeing a dark sisterhood.

8 The Return of the Player -- 1 by Michael Tolkin (Grove Press: $24) Griffin Mill, down to his last $6 million and with a family in disarray, plans his second act.

9 Judge & Jury by James 6 5 Patterson and Andrew Gross (Little, Brown: $27.99) An FBI agent finally gets his man, but a brutal mob boss hires a killer to make sure no conviction comes down.

10 Suite Francaise by Irene 2 20 Nemirovsky (Knopf: $25) Two novellas from a writer killed at Auschwitz on the exodus from Paris ahead of the Germans’ arrival and on life in a farming village under occupation.

11 The Ruins by Scott Smith -- 6 (Knopf: $24.95) Four American friends in Cancun who agree to help a German tourist find his missing brother end up in a Mexican jungle a la TV’s “Lost.”

12 The Messenger by Daniel 8 6 Silva (Putnam: $25.95) Israeli art restorer and spymaster Gabriel Allon tries to avert an Islamic militant’s assassination plot against the pope.

13 Messenger of Truth by 12 2 Jacqueline Winspear (Henry Holt: $24) Private eye Maisie Dobbs suspects foul play in the death of a World War I veteran and artist in 1930s Britain.

14 Armageddon’s Children by -- 1 Terry Brooks (Del Rey: $26.95) An apocalyptic vision of the near future has the Knights of the Word battling the demons of the Void for the fate of civilization.

15 Three Days to Never by Tim 14 4 Powers (William Morrow: $25.95) A man who discovers he is a descendant of Albert Einstein battles a shadowy Gnostic seeking a time-travel machine.

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction LAST WEEK WEEKS ON LIST 1 I Feel Bad About My Neck: 1 6 And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman by Nora Ephron (Knopf: $19.95) The screenwriter considers the effects of gravity and aging.

2 Fiasco: The American 2 6 Military Adventure in Iraq by Thomas E. Ricks (Penguin: $27.95) The Washington Post reporter details the administration’s “reckless” war in Iraq.

3 Elizabeth by J. Randy -- 1 Taraborrelli (Warner: $26.99) The motives behind the marriages, the Oscars, the addictions, the passions, the activism of Elizabeth Taylor.

4 State of Emergency by 3 2 Patrick J. Buchanan (Thomas Dunne Books: $24.95) The conservative pundit asserts that Mexico is deliberately trying to reclaim the U.S. Southwest.

5 Marley & Me by John Grogan 5 42 (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.

6 I Feel Earthquakes More 11 4 Often Than They Happen by Amy Wilentz (Simon & Schuster: $26) Leaving the East Coast behind, the author takes on California.

7 Lies at the Altar by Robin -- 3 L. Smith (Hyperion: $24.95) How to make sure that unspoken expectations before the wedding don’t derail the strengths of a marriage.

8 Chuck Klosterman IV: A -- 1 Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas by Chuck Klosterman (Scribner: $25) A caustic look at pop culture via interviews, columns and fiction.

9 The World Is Flat by 7 72 Thomas L. Friedman (Farrar, Straus & Giroux: $30) How technology and globalization are changing the world and the training that is needed to compete.

10 The Looming Tower by 6 4 Lawrence Wright (Knopf: $27.95) A penetrating explanation of the ideological roots of Al Qaeda and how Osama bin Laden came to hate America.

11 Freakonomics by Steven D. 9 63 Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner (William Morrow: $25.95) An economist deconstructs statistics and uses numbers to help explain human behavior.

12 Laurel Canyon by Michael 4 14 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.

13 Static by Amy Goodman and -- 1 David Goodman (Hyperion: $23.95) A critique of the Bush administration on the subjects of torture, military contractors and the response to Hurricane Katrina.

14 Reading Like a Writer by -- 1 Francine Prose (HarperCollins: $23.95) The novelist calls upon great works of the past and contemporary examples to show how reading can inform good writing.

15 Cesar’s Way by Cesar 8 22 Millan with Melissa Jo Peltier (Harmony: $24.95) The “Dog Whisperer” of TV gives tips on understanding and correcting common canine behavior problems.

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