BESTSELLERS / PAPERBACKS

*--* 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 Angels & Demons by Dan Brown (Pocket Books: $7.99) A scholar uncovers a vendetta against the Roman Catholic Church.

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

4 Little Scarlet by Walter Mosley (Warner Vision: $7.50) Easy Rawlins helps cops find a killer after the Watts riots.

5 R Is for Ricochet by Sue Grafton (Berkley: $7.99) A rich man hires Kinsey Millhone to keep his parolee daughter clean.

6 The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (Del Rey: $7.99) A hapless traveler creates galactic havoc.

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

8 The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory (Touchstone: $16) Two sisters vie for the love of Henry VIII.

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

10 Therapy by Jonathan Kellerman (Ballantine: $7.99) Alex Delaware suspects a celebrity psychologist in a double homicide.

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction

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

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

3 1,000 Places to See Before You Die by Patricia Schultz (Workman: $18.95) Trotting the globe.

4 Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki and Sharon L. Lechter (TechPress/Warner: $15.95) Fiscal parenting.

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

6 This Is Airtalk by Larry Mantle (Angel City Press: $18.95) A radio host discusses 20 years of conversations on KPCC.

7 Truth & Beauty by Ann Patchett (Perennial: $13.95) A memoir of friendship in the face of disfiguring cancer.

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

9 Bad Cat by Jim Edgar (Workman: $9.95) Meet 244 cats and kittens with attitude, all in living color.

10 Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom (Broadway: $12.95) A columnist learns life lessons from a dying teacher.

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Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.