BESTSELLERS

*--* SO. CAL. RATING Fiction

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*--* 1 The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead: $14) A writer returns to Kabul to rescue the son of a childhood friend.

2 Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (Vintage: $12) An autistic teen seeks out a killer.

3 The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (Penguin: $14) A teenage girl is haunted by her mother’s death.

4 Black Rose by Nora Roberts (Jove: $7.99) A wealthy woman tries to identify the bride whose ghost haunts her mansion.

5 The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Penguin: $15) A quest for the truth about a Spanish novelist.

6 A Summer of Faulkner (Vintage: $29.95) A trio of novels by the great American writer.

7 Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen (Warner: $12.95) A marine biologist thinks he’s offed his wife, but she’s plotting revenge.

8 Are You Afraid of the Dark? by Sidney Sheldon (Warner: $7.99) Their husbands slain, two women are on the run.

9 The Master by Colm Toibin (Scribner: $14) A fictionalized imagining of the interior life of master novelist Henry James.

10 Bergdorf Blondes by Plum Sykes (Miramax: $13.95) Park Avenue princesses search for love and riches.

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction

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*--* 1 Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris (Back Bay: $14.95) The humorist on his family.

2 1,000 Places to See Before You Die by Patricia Schultz (Workman: $18.95) Trotting the globe.

3 The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (Vintage: $14.95) A serial killer haunts the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.

4 The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell (Back Bay: $14.95) How fads, trends and ideas behave like viruses in a society.

5 Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter (TechPress/Warner: $16.95) Fiscal parenting.

6 Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond (W.W. Norton: $16.95) A scientist’s take on Europe’s rise to dominance.

7 Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi (Random House: $13.95) A professor keeps literature alive for her students.

8 Truth & Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett (Perennial: $13.95) Reflections on friendship and devotion.

9 Gary Null’s Power Aging by Gary Null (New American Library: $14.95) Fighting aging with vitamins, diet and exercise.

10 The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle (New World Library: $14) How to attain enlightenment by living in the now.

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Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.