BESTSELLERS / PAPERBACKS

Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.

*--* SO. CAL. RATING Fiction 1 The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards (Penguin: $14) A father hides the birth of a twin from his wife.

2 The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (HarperSanFrancisco: $13) An Andalusian shepherd boy searches for treasure in Egypt.

3 The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai (Grove: $14) A retired judge is caught up in Nepal’s independence movement.

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

5 Honeymoon by James Patterson and Howard Roughan (Warner Books: $13.95) An FBI agent trails a female serial killer.

6 Little Children by Tom Perrotta (St. Martin’s Griffin: $13) Anxiety-ridden parents raise their suburban offspring.

7 The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult (Washington Square: $15) A Maine family unravels over allegations of rape.

8 Point Blank by Catherine Coulter (Jove: $7.99) Married FBI agents are taunted by an elusive cellphone caller.

9 Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See (Random House: $13.95) Two women in 19th century China.

10 Bangkok 8 by John Burdett (Vintage: $13.95) A Royal Thai police inspector seeks the killer of a U.S. Marine.

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction 1 The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (Scribner: $14) A memoir of breaking away from dysfunctional parents.

2 Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama (Three Rivers: $14.95) The senator traces his mixed-raced heritage.

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

4 The Pursuit of Happyness by Chris Gardner (Amistad: $14.95) A homeless man’s struggle to be a successful stockbroker.

5 The Freedom Writers Diary with Erin Gruwell (Broadway: $13.95) Long Beach teens write about their lives.

6 The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan (Mariner Books: $14.95) Surviving the Dust Bowl disaster in the 1930s.

7 A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle (Plume: $14) How transcending ego can end conflict and suffering.

8 The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz (Amber-Allen: $12.95) A code of conduct based on Toltec wisdom.

9 The Places in Between by Rory Stewart (Harvest: $14) A trek across post-Taliban Afghanistan.

10 The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 2007 (World Almanac Books: $12.99)

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