BESTSELLERS / PAPERBACKS

Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.

*--* SO. CAL. RATING Fiction 1 The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards (Penguin: $14) A father hides the birth of a twin from his wife.

2 The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (HarperSanFrancisco: $13) An Andalusian shepherd boy searches for treasure in Egypt.

3 The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead: $14) A writer returns to Kabul to rescue the son of a childhood friend.

4 The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai (Grove: $14) A retired judge is caught up in Nepal’s independence movement.

5 The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell by Lilian Jackson Braun (Jove: $7.99) Murder in bucolic Pickax City, Mich.

6 The Fallen by T. Jefferson Parker (Harper: $7.99) An investigator’s murder is linked to corruption in San Diego.

7 The Hunt Club by John Lescroart (Signet: $9.99) Two San Francisco detectives team up to find the killer of a federal judge.

8 Honeymoon by James Patterson and Howard Roughan (Warner Books: $13.95) An FBI agent trails a female serial killer.

9 The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult (Washington Square: $15) A Maine family unravels over allegations of rape.

10 Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Vintage: $11.95) A man reflects on his life.

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction 1 The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (Scribner: $14) A memoir of breaking away from dysfunctional parents.

2 Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama (Three Rivers: $14.95) The senator traces his mixed-raced heritage.

3 The Iraq Study Group Report by James A. Baker III, Lee H. Hamilton et al. (Vintage: $10.95) On the situation in Iraq.

4 Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter (TechPress/Warner: $16.95) Fiscal parenting.

5 Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs (Picador: $14) A boy goes to live with his mother’s psychiatrist.

6 The Freedom Writers Diary with Erin Gruwell (Broadway: $13.95) Long Beach teens write about their lives.

7 The Pursuit of Happyness by Chris Gardner (Amistad: $14.95) A homeless man’s struggle to be a successful stockbroker.

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

9 The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands by Laura Schlessinger (Harper: $13.95) How to manage men.

10 The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan (Mariner Books: $14.95) Surviving the Dust Bowl disaster in the 1930s.

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