BESTSELLERS

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Fiction LAST WEEK WEEKS ON LIST 1 Twelve Sharp by Janet 2 2 Evanovich (St. Martin’s: $26.95) Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum tries to find a crazed killer with the help of a mysterious man accused of kidnapping his own child.

2 Terrorist by John Updike 1 4 (Alfred A. Knopf: $24.95) An Irish Egyptian American teen living in a dying New Jersey town becomes enthralled with a local radical cleric.

3 Literacy and Longing in 6 6 L.A. by Jennifer Kaufman and Karen Mack (Delacorte: $22) A book-obsessed divorcee stalks her movie-mogul ex-husband until she meets a literature major.

4 Digging to America by Anne -- 7 Tyler (Knopf: $24.95) A friendship between two couples adopting Korean girls becomes an exploration of culture and family.

5 Everyman by Philip Roth 3 11 (Houghton Mifflin: $24) A self-centered New Jersey adman with a lifelong obsession that his death is imminent reflects on what he’s missed.

6 Suite Francaise by Irene 5 10 Nemirovsky (Knopf: $25) A posthumously published novel on the Jewish exodus from Paris to a German-occupied village, penned by a celebrated writer killed at Auschwitz.

7 Danse Macabre by Laurell -- 1 K. Hamilton (Berkley: $25.95) Federal marshal and vampire hunter Anita Blake deals with possible pregnancy, paternity and bringing up baby in her line of work.

8 The Husband by Dean Koontz 4 5 (Bantam: $27) A gardener has 60 hours to raise $2 million to free his wife and in the process finds himself dealing with killers and a child pornographer.

9 There Will Never Be 9 6 Another You by Carolyn See (Random House: $24.95) A UCLA dermatologist suspects biological terrorism or an experiment gone awry when cats turn up dead.

10 Black Order by James -- 1 Rollins (William Morrow: $24.95) Members of the U.S. military’s super-secret Sigma Force battle a plot that threatens to disrupt evolutionary theory.

11 Water for Elephants by 11 4 Sara Gruen (Algonquin: $23.95) A nursing-home patient recalls his life and loves as a penniless college student who dropped out to join the circus in the 1930s.

12 Beach Road by James 8 9 Patterson and Peter de Jonge (Little, Brown: $27.95) Three young men are shot to death on a billionaire’s basketball court, and suspicion falls on a star high school player.

13 Coming Out by Danielle -- 1 Steel (Delacorte Press: $20) A woman must confront the issues of elitism and racism when her twin teenage daughters are invited to a debutante ball.

14 The Book of the Dead by 10 5 Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Warner: $25.95) A psychotic killer grinds a museum’s gem exhibit to dust, then interferes with an Egyptian tomb restoration.

15 Cover of Night by Linda -- 1 Howard (Ballantine: $25.95) A young Idaho widow turns to a mysterious townsman for help when armed men come looking for a guest who vanished from her bed-and-breakfast.

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction LAST WEEK WEEKS ON LIST 1 The One Percent Doctrine 1 2 by Ron Suskind (Simon & Schuster: $27) How the analyses of U.S. counterterrorism experts were exaggerated or dismissed to justify going to war with Iraq.

2 Dispatches From the Edge 2 6 by Anderson Cooper (HarperCollins: $24.95) The son of heiress Gloria Vanderbilt recounts personal tragedies and wars and disasters he has covered for CNN.

3 Marley & Me by John Grogan 3 33 (William Morrow: $21.95) A columnist recalls how Marley, an incorrigible Labrador retriever, flunked obedience school, terrorized a pet sitter and won over his family.

4 Godless by Ann Coulter 4 4 (Crown Forum: $27.95) The conservative commentator argues that liberalism has taken on many of the attributes of a religion and also argues against the certainty of evolution.

5 Heat by Bill Buford 7 5 (Knopf: $25.95) The journalist chronicles his time as a “kitchen slave” to TV chef Mario Batali and reveals the secrets of a three-star restaurant.

6 Laurel Canyon by Michael 8 6 Walker (Faber & Faber: $25) A look at the ‘60s rock bands and artists whose creativity flowered in Laurel Canyon, then a sylvan enclave above Sunset Boulevard.

7 Mayflower by Nathaniel 11 8 Philbrick (Viking: $29.95) The story of devout English Christians landing in the New World and the natives they meet as they found Plymouth Colony.

8 The World Is Flat by 10 62 Thomas L. Friedman (Farrar, Straus & Giroux: $30) How technology and globalization are changing the world and the training that is needed to compete.

9 Cesar’s Way by Cesar 6 13 Millan with Melissa Jo Peltier (Harmony: $24.95) The TV show host gives tips on understanding and correcting common canine behavior problems.

10 Freakonomics by Steven D. -- 54 Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner (William Morrow: $25.95) An economist deconstructs statistics and uses numbers to help explain human behavior.

11 A Heckuva Job by Calvin -- 1 Trillin (Random House: $12.95) Humorous verse skewering the Bush presidency, the advisors who frequent the White House and the war in Iraq.

12 Fun Home by Alison Bechdel -- 1 (Houghton Mifflin: $19.95) An autobiography in graphic novel format of a lesbian who grew up with a father who was a funeral director, English teacher and secretly gay.

13 Eat, Pray, Love by 9 11 Elizabeth Gilbert (Viking: $24.95) After deciding that marriage and motherhood aren’t for her, the author embarks on a journey of self-discovery in Italy, India and Indonesia.

14 Secrets of the Millionaire -- 4 Mind by T. Harv Eker (HarperCollins: $19.95) A physical fitness entrepreneur reveals the secrets of how millionaires acquire wealth.

15 Hotel California by Barney 15 2 Hoskyns (Wiley: $25.95) How music by the early ‘70s came to be dominated by mellow rock, drug use and hyper-managers eager to find the next big act.

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Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.