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Fiction

*--* Fiction weeks on list 1. A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore (Knopf : $25.95) A 1 naive Midwestern college coed takes a job as a nanny for a recently adopted toddler. 2. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic Press: 1 $17.99) The winners of the annual Hunger Games face the consequences of their victory. 3. The Help by Kathryn Stockett (Putnam: $24.95) The lives 15 of a maid, a cook and a college graduate become intertwined while changing a Mississippi town. 4. Homer & Langley by E.L. Doctorow (Random House: $26) 1 Two brothers, one blind, the other eccentric, live as reclusive hoarders in a Fifth Avenue mansion. 5. Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon (Penguin Press: $27.95) 6 Noir meets ‘60s Southern California groovy in a private eye’s psychedelic quest. 6. The White Queen by Philippa Gregory (Touchstone: $25.99) 4 The wars of the Plantagenets, who ruled England before the Tudors, enmeshed with the mystery of the missing princes in the Tower of London. 7. South of Broad by Pat Conroy (Nan A. Talese: $29.95) A 4 gossip columnist’s homage to a close-knit group of friends from Charleston. 8. The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson (Knopf: 7 $25.95) A hacker implicated in two murders must revisit her past to prove her innocence. 9. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown: $19.99) Bella 61 must choose between her lover and a friend, between life and death. 10. Alex Cross’s Trial by James Patterson and Richard 3 DiLallo (Little, Brown: $27.99) Alex Cross tells the story of his great-uncle and a lawyer fighting racism and lynchings in a Southern town at the turn of the 20th century. *--*

*--* Nonfiction 1. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown: $27.99) 41 An exploration of the background of high achievers. 2. L.A. Noir by John Buntin (Harmony: $26) Gangster 2 Mickey Cohen and LAPD Chief William Parker battle for control in midcentury Los Angeles. 3. Crazy for the Storm by Norman Ollestad (Ecco: $25.99) 13 The son of a daredevil tells of his life on the edge and how he survived a plane crash. 4. Culture of Corruption by Michelle Malkin (Regnery 7 Publishing: $27.95) An investigation into alleged corruption in the Obama administration. 5. Zeitoun by Dave Eggers (McSweeney’s: $24) The 7 disappearance of a Syrian American father and good Samaritan in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. 6. In the President’s Secret Service by Ronald Kessler 4 (Crown: $26) A behind-the-scenes look at the Secret Service and its agents. 7. Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man by Steve Harvey 31 (Amistad: $23.99) The talk-show host lets women inside the mind-set of a man. 8. Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder (Random 2 House: $26) The saga of a refugee from Burundi who, with the help of strangers, makes his way in America before going back to start a medical clinic. 9. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow 71 (Hyperion: $21.95) A professor’s terminal cancer inspires a call to seize life’s moments. 10. The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe by J. Randy 1 Taraborrelli (Grand Central: $26.99) Newly released FBI documents and interviews with family members shed fresh light on the life and death of the troubled star. *--*

1. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson ($14.95)

2. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout ($14)

3. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery ($15)

4. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger ($14.95)

5. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows ($14)

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Nonfiction

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

2. Julie & Julia by Julie Powell ($14.99)

3. My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prud’homme ($15)

4. The Family by Jeff Sharlet ($15.99)

5. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami ($14)

Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores. --

latimes.com/books

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