Southern California Rating:FICTION1 THE BONESETTER’S DAUGHTER ...

Southern California Rating:

FICTION

1 THE BONESETTER’S DAUGHTER by Amy Tan (Putnam: $25.95) A ghostwriter uncovers her family’s anguished past in China in her mother’s memoir, written before the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.

Last Week: 14; Weeks on List: 2

2 THE DEATH OF VISHNU by Manil Suri (W.W. Norton: $24.95) A dying man’s soul eavesdrops on his neighbors in a Bombay apartment building as he tries to solve the riddle of his own mortality.

Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 5

3 A DAY LATE AND A DOLLAR SHORT by Terry McMillan (Viking: $25.95) A matriarch, her husband and her children see life--and one another--on their own terms.

Last Week: 6; Weeks on List: 6

4 A PAINTED HOUSE by John Grisham (Doubleday: $27.95) Tensions between two groups of farm workers result in a brutal murder in this tale of an Arkansas boyhood in 1952.

Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 3

5 A DARKNESS MORE THAN NIGHT by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown: $25.95) A retired FBI agent teams with an LAPD homicide detective to investigate a series of ritual killings.

Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 6

6 MYSTIC RIVER by Dennis Lehane (William Morrow: $25) A young girl’s murder in a Massachusetts neighborhood causes three friends to confront the skeletons in their closets.

Last Week: 5; Weeks on List: 5

7 THIS HEART OF MINE by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (William Morrow: $24) A children’s book author, scion of a football team-owning family, has a crush on the star quarterback.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

8 THE BODY ARTIST by Don DeLillo (Scribner: $22) In a ghostly seaside house, an artist encounters a strange, ageless man. Reviewed by Nicole Krauss, Page 8.

Last Week: 11; Weeks on List: 6

9 THE FIRST COUNSEL by Brad Meltzer (Warner: $25.95) In love with the president’s daughter, a young White House lawyer uncovers a murder plot that extends to the Oval Office.

Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 7

10 AIDING AND ABETTING by Muriel Spark (Doubleday: $21) A novel based on the story of the seventh earl of Lucan, missing since 1974, when he accidentally killed his children’s nanny.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

11 SHOPGIRL by Steve Martin (Hyperion: $17.95) A young artist who works days in the glove department at Neiman Marcus falls abruptly in love with a millionaire businessman.

Last Week: 7; Weeks on List: 21

12 EDGE OF DANGER by Jack Higgins (Putnam: $25.95) A British agent thwarts the plans of a wealthy half-British, half-Arab family intent on world domination.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

13 PRODIGAL SUMMER by Barbara Kingsolver (HarperCollins: $26) In southern Appalachia, three stories of human love intersect within a larger tapestry.

Last Week: 9; Weeks on List: 18

14 FROM THE CORNER OF HIS EYE by Dean Koontz (Bantam: $26.95) A boy born on a day of tragedy and terror finds that the events of his life live up to the remarkable circumstances of his birth.

Last Week: 10; Weeks on List: 7

15 CHEMICAL PINK by Katie Arnoldi (Forge: $23.95) A poor single mother loses herself in the pursuit of her dream to be a world-class bodybuilder, as she falls under the control of a manipulative trainer.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

NONFICTION

1 RULES FOR AGING by Roger Rosenblatt (Harcourt Brace: $18) Fifty-six rules for navigating the golden years, living longer and seeking to attain perfection.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

2 WHO MOVED MY CHEESE? by Spencer Johnson (Putnam: $19.95) This co-author of “The One Minute Manager” uses the parable of mice in a maze to show people how to manage change.

Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 50

3 A SHORT GUIDE TO A HAPPY LIFE by Anna Quindlen (Random House: $12.95) The columnist reflects on what it takes to “get a life” by living deeply rather than merely existing.

Last Week: 5; Weeks on List: 16

4 BUDDHA by Karen Armstrong (Viking/Lippert: $19.95) This short biography explores the life of Sidhatta Gotama and makes connections between his time and our own.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

5 ICE BOUND by Jerri Nielsen (Talk Miramax: $23.95) A doctor struggles with breast cancer while serving at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station on Antarctica.

Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 4

6 TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE by Mitch Albom (Doubleday: $19.95) A sportswriter’s story of the life lessons he received during weekly visits to an older dying friend.

Last Week: 13; Weeks on List: 157

7 CONSTANTINE’S SWORD by James Carroll (Houghton Mifflin: $28) A Catholic novelist wrestles with the roots of his church’s 2,000-year relationship with Judaism.

Last Week: 14; Weeks on List: 5

8 CHANCES OF A LIFETIME by Warren Christopher (Scribner: $26) The former secretary of state shares his recollections of leaders and events that shaped the end of the 20th century.

Last Week: 15; Weeks on List: 4

9 AN HOUR BEFORE DAYLIGHT by Jimmy Carter (Simon & Schuster: $26) Memories of the former president’s boyhood on a Georgia farm during the Great Depression.

Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 7

10 THE O’REILLY FACTOR by Bill O’Reilly (Broadway Books: $23) The TV pundit pontificates on what he finds to be the good, the bad and the completely ridiculous in American life.

Last Week: 10; Weeks on List: 21

11 FAST FOOD NATION by Eric Schlosser (Houghton Mifflin: $25) A journalist exposes the fast-food industry’s strategies to control American consumers. Reviewed by Tom Vanderbilt, Page 5.

Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 3

12 ON HER OWN GROUND by A’Lelia Bundles (Scribner: $30) The life of Madam C.J. Walker, a 19th-century social activist and benefactor of black institutions who built a successful hair-care company.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 2

13 SECRETS OF THE BABY WHISPERER by Tracy Hogg with Melinda Blau (Ballantine: $22) A neonatal nurse offers tips on how to calm, connect and communicate with your baby.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

14 CALLUS ON MY SOUL by Dick Gregory with Sheila P. Moses (Longstreet Press: $25) The comedian, civil rights activist and nutritionist puts his life story down on paper.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 2

15 IBM AND THE HOLOCAUST by Edwin Black (Crown: $27.50) Black argues that IBM allied itself with the Third Reich, providing customized data technologies that made genocide more efficient.

Last Week: 12; Weeks on List: 2

PAPERBACKS

FICTION

1 GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING by Tracy Chevalier (Plume: $12) The life of the woman who inspired a famous Vermeer painting.

2 HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG by Andre Dubus III (Vintage: $14) Two families clash over an auctioned house in this tragic tale.

3 WE WERE THE MULVANEYS by Joyce Carol Oates (Penguin: $13.95) An ideal family’s world is rocked by tragedy.

4 GIRL IN HYACINTH BLUE by Susan Vreeland (Penguin: $12) Eight stories linked by a Dutch master’s painting.

5 CRAZY FOR CORNELIA by Chris Gilson (Warner: $12.95) A Fifth Avenue debutante finds high-voltage love.

6 THE RED TENT by Anita Diamant (Picador USA: $14) The blossoming of Dinah, Jacob’s only daughter, in Genesis.

7 INTERPRETER OF MALADIES by Jhumpa Lahiri (Mariner: $12) Indian customs color the lives of people coping with loss.

8 THE BRETHREN by John Grisham (Dell Island: $7.99) A scam by three former judges doing time goes awry.

9 THE COLDEST WINTER EVER by Sister Souljah (Pocket: $6.99) Life in a wealthy drug-dealing family.

10 CHOCOLAT by Joanne Harris (Penguin: $12.95) A new chocolate shop arouses French villagers’ desires in the middle of Lent.

PAPERBACKS

NONFICTION

1 A HEARTBREAKING WORK OF STAGGERING GENIUS by Dave Eggers (Vintage: $14) A 22-year-old raises his brother on his own.

2 GEORGE W. BUSHISMS edited by Jacob Weisberg (Simon & Schuster: $9.95) The accidental wit of the 43rd president.

3 GALILEO’S DAUGHTER by Dava Sobel (Penguin: $14) The famous astronomer and his daughter, a cloistered nun.

4 RICH DAD, POOR DAD by Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter (Techpress: $15.95) Adventures in fiscal parenting.

5 THE GHOSTS OF ECHO PARK by Ron Emler (Echo Park Publishing: $15) A pictorial history of the L.A. neighborhood.

6 THE WORST-CASE SCENARIO SURVIVAL HANDBOOK by Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht (Chronicle: $14.95) S-O-S!

7 OH NO! NOT ANOTHER PROBLEM by Jeanette A. Griver and Michele W. Vodrey (Compsych Systems Inc.: $12.95) Problem solving.

8 THE NINE STEPS TO FINANCIAL FREEDOM by Suze Orman (Three Rivers Press: $13.95) Practical tips for managing money.

9 TALKING DIRTY WITH THE QUEEN OF CLEAN by Linda Cobb (Pocket: $8.99) Quick, inexpensive housekeeping tips galore.

10 DESIRE OF THE EVERLASTING HILLS by Thomas Cahill (Anchor: $14) How the Jesus Movement swept the world.

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Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.