BESTSELLERS

Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.

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*--* -- Fiction weeks on list 1. The Host by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown: 1 $25.99) A woman refuses to give in to alien invaders who take over the minds, but not the bodies, of humans. 2. Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri (Knopf: $25) 7 Stories of U.S.-born children and their Bengali parents straddling cultures. 3. Careless in Red by Elizabeth George (Harper: 1 $27.95) A detective mourning his late wife stumbles upon the body of a young man. 4. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot 16 Diaz (Riverhead: $24.95) A sci-fi-loving nerd and his immigrant family are haunted by the past. 5. Phantom Prey by John Sandford (Putnam: $26.95) A 1 wealthy widow returns home to find her hallway bloody and her Goth daughter missing. 6. The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich (Harper: 2 $25.95) A North Dakota family’s murder reverberates through four generations. 7. Sundays at Tiffany’s by James Patterson and 2 Gabrielle Charbonnet (Little, Brown: $24.99) A woman’s invisible friend from childhood returns. 8. Lush Life by Richard Price (Farrar, Straus & 10 Giroux: $26) A shooting shatters a New York neighborhood. 9. The Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall 4 Smith (Pantheon: $22.95) Mma Ramotswe helps a woman find her identity. 10. Hold Tight by Harlan Coben (Dutton: $26.95) 4 Killings engulf a troubled New Jersey family. *--*

*--* -- Nonfiction weeks on list 1. Audition by Barbara Walters (Knopf: $29.95) The 1 pioneering newswoman’s boldface-name life. 2. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey 5 Zaslow (Hyperion: $21.95) A professor with terminal cancer urges us to seize life’s moments. 3. A Remarkable Mother by Jimmy Carter (Simon & 3 Schuster: $22.95) The life of the fiery Miss Lillian. 4. A Wolf at the Table by Augusten Burroughs (St. 3 Martin’s: $24.95) An exploration of a terrifying relationship between father and son. 5. Home by Julie Andrews (Hyperion: $26.95) The star 6 of stage and screen tells of life before “Mary Poppins.” 6. Just Who Will You Be? by Maria Shriver (Hyperion: 4 $14.95) Ask who, not what, you want to be. 7. The Soloist by Steve Lopez (Putnam: $25.95) The 4 L.A. Times columnist befriends a mentally ill homeless musician. 8. Ladies of Liberty by Cokie Roberts (William 5 Morrow: $26.95) Women who helped shape the young nation. 9. The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria (W.W. 1 Norton: $25.95) The Newsweek columnist argues the U.S. is no longer dominant in the global economy. 10. Girls Like Us by Sheila Weller (Atria: $27.95) A 3 generation of women seen through icons Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon. Reviewed on Page 8. *--*

PAPERBACKS

Fiction

1. The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon ($15.95)

2. Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson ($14)

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

4. After Dark by Haruki Murakami ($13.95)

5. No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July ($14)

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. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver with Steven L. Hopp and Camille Kingsolver ($14.95)