BESTSELLERS

Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.

*--* Fiction weeks on list 1. The White Queen by Philippa Gregory (Touchstone: $25.99) 2 The wars of the Plantagenets, who ruled England before the Tudors, enmeshed with the mystery of the missing princes in the Tower of London. 2. South of Broad by Pat Conroy (Nan A. Talese: $29.95) A 2 gossip columnist’s homage to a close-knit group of friends from Charleston. 3. The Help by Kathryn Stockett (Putnam: $24.95) The lives 13 of a maid, a cook and a college graduate become intertwined while changing a Mississippi town. 4. The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson (Knopf: 5 $25.95) A hacker, implicated in two murders, must revisit her past to prove her innocence. 5. Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon (Penguin Press: $27.95) 4 Noir meets ‘60s Southern California groovy in a private eye’s psychedelic quest. 6. That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo (Knopf : $25.95) A 3 Cape Cod wedding spurs a middle-age man to reflect on his past, marriage, family and what the future holds. 7. The Magicians by Lev Grossman (Viking: $26.95) A group 2 of aspiring prestidigitators set out to save the enchanted land of Fillory. 8. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown: $19.99) Bella 59 must choose between her lover and a friend, between life and death. 9. Alex Cross’s Trial by James Patterson and Richard 1 DiLallo (Little, Brown: $27.99) Alex Cross’ great uncle joins with a lawyer to fight racism and lynchings in a Southern town at the turn of the 20th century. 10. The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Doubleday: 10 $26.95) A novelist in 1920s Barcelona takes a dangerous writing assignment. *--*

*--* Nonfiction 1. Culture of Corruption by Michelle Malkin (Regnery 5 Publishing: $27.95) An investigation into alleged corruption in the Obama administration. 2. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown: $27.99) 39 An exploration of the background of high achievers. 3. Zeitoun by Dave Eggers (McSweeney’s: $24) The 5 disappearance of a Syrian American father and good Samaritan in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. 4. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow 69 (Hyperion: $21.95) A professor’s terminal cancer inspires a call to seize life’s moments. 5. Liberty and Tyranny by Mark R. Levin (Threshold 22 Editions: $25) The talk-radio personality’s call to revitalize the conservative vision in America. 6. Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man by Steve Harvey 30 (Amistad: $23.99) The talk-show host lets women inside the mind-set of a man. 7. Golden Dreams by Kevin Starr (Oxford University 2 Press: $34.95) A look at the pivotal postwar period in Southern California from 1950 to 1963. 8. The Evolution of God by Robert Wright (Little, Brown: 2 $25.99) The origins of various religions and the gods they worship. 9. In the President’s Secret Service by Ronald Kessler 3 (Crown: $26) A behind-the-scenes look at the Secret Service and its agents. 10. Born to Run by Christopher McDougall (Knopf: $24.95) 1 An exploration of the Tarahumara Indians and their secrets of long-distance running. *--*