BESTSELLERS

Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.

*--* SO. CAL. RATING Fiction LAST WEEK WEEKS ON LIST 1 Ten Days in the Hills by -- 1 Jane Smiley (Knopf: $26) Hollywood denizens spend 10 days together talking about movies, making love and arguing about the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

2 Step on a Crack by James 7 2 Patterson and Michael Ledwidge (Little, Brown: $27.99) Ruthless men storm St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City during the funeral of a former first lady.

3 You Suck: A Love Story by 11 5 Christopher Moore (William Morrow: $21.95) A couple of San Francisco vampires enjoy the nightlife as they evade a wacky crowd of pursuers.

4 The Castle in the Forest 8 4 by Norman Mailer (Random House: $27.95) Imagining Adolf Hitler as a boy, a power-hungry child born of incest who is guided by a devil to relish evil and mass slaughter.

5 Sisters by Danielle Steel -- 1 (Delacorte Press: $27) Connecticut sisters with divergent careers pull together when a car accident kills their mother and blinds their artist sister.

6 House of Meetings by 2 5 Martin Amis (Knopf: $23) A former inmate of Stalin’s gulag recounts his horrific experiences and the love triangle that bloomed with the wife of his brother, a fellow prisoner.

7 High Profile by Robert B. 3 2 Parker (Putnam: $24.95) A conservative radio commentator is murdered and his pregnant mistress is later found dead in sleepy Paradise, Mass.

8 What Is the What by Dave -- 8 Eggers (McSweeney’s: $26) A Sudanese refugee fights to survive and create a new life in America but finds safety and a sense of belonging elusive.

9 Water for Elephants by -- 15 Sara Gruen (Algonquin: $23.95) A nursing-home patient recalls his life and loves as a penniless student who dropped out of college to join the circus in the 1930s.

10 Past Perfect by Susan -- 1 Isaacs (Scribner: $25) A fired Cold War-era CIA agent gets a call for help from a former co-worker who goes missing and whose East German charges now living in America are dying.

11 The Alexandria Link by -- 2 Steve Berry (Ballantine: $25.95) Evildoers snatch the son of a rare-book seller hoping he will reveal information regarding the legendary lost library in Egypt.

12 For One More Day by Mitch 9 21 Albom (Hyperion: $21.95) An alcoholic tries suicide and encounters his mother’s ghost, who tells him about her life and sacrifices as a single parent.

13 Dust by Martha Grimes 10 5 (Viking: $25.95) Scotland Yard’s Richard Jury discovers that a wealthy bachelor’s murder in a seedy London hotel has its roots amid Britain’s World War II code breakers.

14 The Terror by Dan Simmons 6 4 (Little, Brown: $25.99) The saga of the doomed 19th century Franklin expedition through the Canadian Arctic retold with a kick of fantastical horror.

15 The Bastard of Istanbul by -- 1 Elif Shafak (Viking: $24.95) An Armenian American woman meets her Turkish relatives in Istanbul and encounters the enmity that divides Turks and Armenians.

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction LAST WEEK WEEKS ON LIST 1 The Secret by Rhonda Byrne 1 10 (Beyond Words: $23.95) The book promises the distillation of a life-transforming “secret” gathered from oral tradition, literature, religion and philosophy.

2 The Audacity of Hope by 3 18 Barack Obama (Crown: $25) The U.S. senator from Illinois argues that his Democratic Party and the GOP must forgo partisanship to reclaim the American dream.

3 Bambi vs. Godzilla by 6 2 David Mamet (Pantheon: $22) The director-screenwriter explains how the film and television industry should work and details how greed and stupidity get in the way.

4 About Alice by Calvin 14 6 Trillin (Random House: $14.95) The writer expands his New Yorker magazine essay about his late wife to paint a revealing portrait of marriage, family and coping with loss.

5 I Feel Bad About My Neck 2 30 by Nora Ephron (Knopf: $19.95) The screenwriter ruminates on the effects of gravity and menopause, and reconciling herself to life among the post-bikini set.

6 A Long Way Gone by Ishmael -- 1 Beah (Farrar, Straus & Giroux: $22) A refugee from Sierra Leone tells of becoming a child soldier, ending up at a UNICEF camp and coming to America.

7 Palestine: Peace Not 4 13 Apartheid by Jimmy Carter (Simon & Schuster: $27) The former president writes that Palestinians must recognize Israel, and Israel must honor its peace commitments.

8 The Proper Care and 7 7 Feeding of Marriage by Laura Schlessinger (HarperCollins: $25.95) How women should fulfill their role as homemaker, helpmate and sex partner.

9 I Like You by Amy Sedaris -- 14 (Warner: $27.99) A guide to throwing the perfect party, with helpful cooking and hospitality hints and arch observations from the comic writer.

10 The Intellectual 10 6 Devotional by David Kidder and Noah Oppenheim (Rodale: $22.50) How to complete your education and roam confidently through the cultured classes in 365 short lessons.

11 Catching the Big Fish by 5 7 David Lynch (Tarcher: $19.95) The filmmaker details how Transcendental Meditation has allowed him to dive within, “catch” ideas and develop his creativity.

12 The God Delusion by -- 17 Richard Dawkins (Houghton Mifflin: $27) The biologist criticizes religion for intolerance, rejecting scientific fact and for threatening nonbelievers with eternal damnation.

13 Secrets of the Millionaire -- 5 Mind by Harv Eker (HarperCollins: $19.95) A physical fitness entrepreneur reveals the secrets of how millionaires think and acquire wealth.

14 Teach Like Your Hair’s on -- 1 Fire by Rafe Esquith (Viking: $24.95) The National Medal of Arts winner explains how he inspires his fifth-grade students at Los Angeles’ Hobart Elementary School.

15 On the Shoulders of Giants -- 1 by Kareem Abdul-Jabar with Raymond Obstfeld (Simon & Schuster: $26) The basketball legend tells the story of Harlem’s renaissance and how it has shaped him.

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