BESTSELLERS

Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.

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*--* -- Fiction weeks on list 1. Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri (Knopf: $25) 5 Stories of U.S.-born children and their Bengali parents straddling cultures. 2. The Whole Truth by David Baldacci (Grand Central: 1 $26.99) A defense contractor seeking riches faces a secret agency trying to keep the peace. 3. The Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall 2 Smith (Pantheon: $22.95) Mma Ramotswe has a new case, while her husband hears of a miracle cure for his daughter. 4. Hollywood Crows by Joseph Wambaugh (Little, 5 Brown: $26.99) Two cops become ensnared in a femme fatale’s nasty divorce. 5. Hold Tight by Harlan Coben (Dutton: $26.95) A 2 teen’s suicide and sadistic killings engulf a troubled New Jersey family. 6. Where Are You Now? by Mary Higgins Clark (Simon 3 & Schuster: $25.95) A law school grad seeks her missing brother, who may be linked to dark deeds. 7. Lush Life by Richard Price (Farrar, Straus & 8 Giroux: $26) The layered lives of victims and aggressors are explored after a Manhattan shooting. 8. Our Story Begins by Tobias Wolff (Knopf: $26.95) 5 Short stories reflecting contemporary American life. 9. Santa Fe Dead by Stuart Woods (Putnam: $25.95) A 1 man whose estranged wife has tried to murder him fears for his new girlfriend. 10. Compulsion by Jonathan Kellerman (Ballantine: 5 $27) A bloodstain in a stolen luxury car sets Alex Delaware on the trail of a serial killer. *--*

*--* -- Nonfiction weeks on list 1. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey 3 Zaslow (Hyperion: $21.95) A professor with terminal cancer urges us to seize life’s moments. 2. Just Who Will You Be? by Maria Shriver (Hyperion: 2 $14.95) Ask who, not what, you want to be. 3. Home by Julie Andrews (Hyperion: $26.95) The star 4 of stage and screen tells of life before “Mary Poppins.” 4. Bonk by Mary Roach (W.W. Norton: $24.95) What 3 science tells us about sex. 5. The Secret by Rhonda Byrne (Beyond Words: $23.95) 70 Life’s secrets distilled from oral tradition, literature, religion and philosophy. 6. The Soloist by Steve Lopez (Putnam: $25.95) The 2 L.A. Times columnist befriends a mentally ill homeless musician. 7. Beautiful Boy by David Sheff (Houghton Mifflin: 9 $24) A father’s struggle with his son’s meth addiction. 8. What Now? by Ann Patchett (Harper: $14.95) 2 Reflections on life’s journey, on finding joy and meeting new challenges. 9. Ladies of Liberty by Cokie Roberts (William 3 Morrow: $26.95) Portraits of the women who helped shape the young American nation. 10. Escape by Carolyn Jessop with Laura Palmer 2 (Broadway: $24.95) A woman’s tale of escaping the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. *--*

PAPERBACKS

Fiction

1. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen ($13.95)

2. The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs ($14)

3. Simple Genius by David Baldacci ($9.99)

4. The Witch of Portobello by Paulo Coelho ($13.95)

5. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini ($15)

Nonfiction

1. A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle ($14)

2. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert ($15)

3. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin ($15)

4. The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle ($14)

5. Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama ($14.95)