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

4 The Sinister Pig by Tony Hillerman (HarperTorch: $7.99) Navajo detectives investigate a stranger’s death.

5 Skipping Christmas by John Grisham (Dell: $6.99) A couple’s decision to skip Christmas comes back to haunt them.

6 The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (HarperSan Francisco: $13) An Andalusian shepherd boy seeks treasure in Egypt.

7 The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler (Ballantine: $14.95) A mismatched couple struggle to make life bearable.

8 The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (Harvest: $14) A time traveler falls in love with a teen heiress.

9 Blue Dahlia by Nora Roberts (Jove: $7.99) A widowed mother of two boys returns to Tennessee to renew her life.

10 The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (Mariner: $14) A Bengali couple and their son try to find their way in America.

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction

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*--* 1 The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (Vintage: $14.95) How a serial killer haunted the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.

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

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

4 The Perricone Prescription by Nicholas Perricone (HarperResource: $15.95) How to slow aging.

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

6 Don’t Think of an Elephant by Howard Dean et al. (Chelsea Green: $10) A guide for political progressives.

7 A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson (Broadway: $15.95) From the primordial to the present.

8 Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz (Amber-Allen: $12.95) A code of conduct based on Toltec wisdom.

9 The 9/11 Commission Report by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks (Norton: $10) The report.

10 Dude, Where’s My Country by Michael Moore (Warner: $14.95) How to wrest control from conservatives.

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