BESTSELLERS

*--* SO. CAL. RATING Fiction LAST WEEK WEEKS ON LIST

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*--* 1 The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd (Viking: $24.95) A 1 4 woman called home to cope with her troubled mother finds herself drawn to a Benedictine monk on an island off South Carolina.

2 Saturday by Ian McEwan (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday: $26) A 2 6 day in the life of a neurosurgeon brings both quotidian and earth-shattering struggles in post-Sept. 11 London.

3 In the Company of Cheerful Ladies by Alexander McCall -- 1 Smith (Pantheon: $19.95) The newly married proprietor of Botswana’s No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency has a new crop of colorful cases.

4 The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (Doubleday: $24.95) A 10 110 Louvre curator’s killing leads to clues hidden in Leonardo’s paintings and a secret society with something to hide.

5 Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (Alfred A. Knopf: $24) 9 7 Inside the walls of a seemingly charming school in the English countryside is a place where destiny is anything but idyllic.

6 True Believer by Nicholas Sparks (Warner: $24.95) A 3 2 science writer who exposes fraud is called to a North Carolina town to investigate mysterious lights in a local cemetery.

7 Gilead by Marilynne Robinson (Farrar, Straus & Giroux: 4 14 $23) An aging minister facing death explains his life and religious beliefs in a letter to his young son.

8 Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran 8 7 Foer (Houghton Mifflin: $24.95) A 9-year-old wunderkind seeks the lock that fits a key belonging to his dead father.

9 Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith by Matthew Woodring 7 4 Stover (Del Rey: $25.95) Yoda and fellow masters try to protect the Jedi Council amid civil war and the arrival of a dark new Sith lord.

10 Company Man by Joseph Finder (St. Martin’s: $24.95) The -- 1 owner of a company in financial straits faces bigger problems when he kills a deranged intruder and hides the body.

11 With No One as Witness by Elizabeth George 15 6 (HarperCollins: $26.95) New Scotland Yard is all over the trail of a serial killer once the latest victim turns out to be white.

12 The History of Love by Nicole Krauss (W. W. Norton: -- 1 $23.95) A writer escapes the Nazis but loses his life’s love and will to create, and a teenager attempts to heal her widowed mother’s broken heart.

13 No Place Like Home by Mary Higgins Clark (Simon & 12 3 Schuster: $25.95) A young woman is confronted with a past she spent years trying to escape.

14 The Da Vinci Code Special illustrated Edition by Dan -- 17 Brown (Doubleday: $35) The blockbuster thriller, complete with images of the artwork, symbols and sites in the text.

15 Ya-Yas in Bloom by Rebecca Wells (HarperCollins: $24.95) 5 4 How the unconditional bonds of the sisterhood of Ya-Ya were forged through marriages, child-rearing, bigotry and crises of faith.

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction LAST WEEK WEEKS ON LIST

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*--* 1 My Life So Far by Jane Fonda (Random House: $26.95) The 1 3 actress, antiwar activist, fitness guru and feminist icon tells the story of her life, with a heavy emphasis on the men along the way.

2 Blink by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown: $25.95) 2 15 Gladwell explores why decisions are so often made in an instant and whether we can really trust those first instincts.

3 The World Is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman (Farrar, Straus 4 2 & Giroux: $27.50) How technology and the forces of globalization are connecting -- and changing -- the world.

4 Winning by Jack Welch with Suzy Welch (HarperBusiness: 5 3 $27.95) How to succeed in business (and life) by staying optimistic, making no excuses and getting things done.

5 And One More Thing Before You Go ... by Maria Shriver 3 3 (Free Press: $13.95) Ten rules for teenagers and adults alike on how to find abundance and love by knowing what is important in life.

6 The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren (Zondervan: 7 108 $19.99) How the “God-ordained” principles of worship, community, discipleship, ministry and evangelism bring fulfillment.

7 On Bull... by Harry G. Frankfurt (Princeton University 6 6 Press: $9.95) A leading philosopher takes on society’s view of what sometimes seems to be the fine line between truth and lying.

8 Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott 11 7 (Riverhead: $24.95) The novelist and essayist offers a new compilation of columns that examines her country and her Christian faith.

9 America (The Book): A Citizen’s Guide to Democracy by -- 25 Jon Stewart et al. (Warner: $24.95) Comedy writers poke fun at U.S. politics and our institutions of democracy.

10 Chronicles, Volume One by Bob Dylan (Simon & Schuster: -- 26 $24) The songwriter reflects on the influences that helped shape him and his struggle to rediscover his creativity.

11 The Greedy Bastard Diary by Eric Idle 10 2 (HarperEntertainment: $23.95) The Monty Python alum ruminates on life and humor while on a comic tour of North America.

12 DisneyWar by James B. Stewart (Simon & Schuster: $29.95) -- 9 A look inside the personality conflicts that raged inside the media giant, making it anything but the happiest place on Earth.

13 Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner -- 1 (William Morrow: $25.95) An economist deconstructs statistics and uses numbers to help explain human behavior.

14 French Women Don’t Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano (Knopf: 8 16 $22) The chief executive of the French wine conglomerate Clicquot Inc. reveals the French secret of eating for pleasure without the bulge.

15 The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke by Suze -- 6 Orman (Riverhead: $24.95) How to get out from under student loans and credit-card debt and manage money.

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