Southern California Rating:FICTION1 THE BONESETTER’S DAUGHTER by...

Southern California Rating:

FICTION

1 THE BONESETTER’S DAUGHTER by Amy Tan (Putnam: $25.95) A ghostwriter uncovers her family’s anguished past in China as her mother struggles with Alzheimer’s disease.

Last Week: 1; Weeks On List: 6

2 CHEMICAL PINK by Katie Arnoldi (Forge: $23.95) A single mother loses herself in the pursuit of her dream to be a bodybuilder and falls under the control of a manipulative trainer.

Last Week: 14; Weeks On List: 5

3 SCARLET FEATHER by Maeve Binchy (Dutton: $25.95) A pair of caterers make the best food in all of Dublin, feeding their clients’ stomachs as well as their souls.

Last Week: 10; Weeks On List: 3

4 DREAMCATCHER by Stephen King (Scribner: $28) Four boyhood friends return to a cabin in the Maine woods to recall old times and face horrifying bodysnatchers.

Last Week: --; Weeks On List: 1

5 A PAINTED HOUSE by John Grisham (Doubleday: $27.95) Tensions between two groups of farm workers result in a brutal murder in this tale of an Arkansas boyhood in 1952.

Last Week: 7; Weeks On List: 7

6 1st TO DIE by James Patterson (Little, Brown: $26.95) Four female professionals dubbed “The Women’s Murder Club” track a killer with a penchant for newlyweds.

Last Week: 2; Weeks On List: 3

7 OFF KECK ROAD by Mona Simpson (Alfred A. Knopf: $19) A novella about a tight-knit group of people coming of age and then growing old together in Green Bay, Wis.

Last Week: --; Weeks On List: 5

8 THE VILLA by Nora Roberts (Putnam: $25.95) The merger of two powerful family wineries in Napa, Calif., results in romance, intrigue, sabotage and murder.

Last Week: --; Weeks On List: 1

9 THE VENDETTA DEFENSE by Lisa Scottoline (HarperCollins: $25) An attorney struggles to defend a good man who is on trial for a crime of passion.

Last Week: 5; Weeks On List: 3

10 A DAY LATE AND A DOLLAR SHORT by Terry McMillan (Viking: $25.95) A matriarch, her husband and her children see life-and one another-on their own terms.

Last Week: 11; Weeks On List: 9

11 THE FIRST COUNSEL by Brad Meltzer (Warner: $25.95) In love with the president’s daughter, a young White House lawyer uncovers a murder plot that extends to the Oval Office.

Last Week: 15; Weeks On List: 11

12 EDGE OF DANGER by Jack Higgins (Putnam: $25.95) A British agent thwarts the plans of a wealthy half-British, half-Arab family intent on world domination.

Last Week: 13; Weeks On List: 3

13 LAST REFUGE OF SCOUNDRELS by Paul Lussier (Warner: $26.95) In Revolutionary War-era America, a naive merchant’s son falls in love with a spy for George Washington.

Last Week: 12; Weeks On List: 2

14 DROWNING RUTH by Christina Schwarz (Doubleday: $23.95) In early 20th century Wisconsin, a family is torn apart by a tragic death and the secrets that follow.

Last Week: --; Weeks On List: 9

15 SHOPGIRL by Steve Martin (Hyperion: $17.95) A young artist working days in the glove department of Neiman Marcus falls in love with a millionaire businessman.

Last Week: 11; Weeks On List: 22

NONFICTION

1 WHO MOVED MY CHEESE? by Spencer Johnson (Putnam: $19.95) The coauthor of “The One Minute Manager” uses the parable of mice in a maze to show people how to manage change.

Last Week: 4; Weeks On List: 54

2 FAST FOOD NATION by Eric Schlosser (Houghton Mifflin: $25) A journalist exposes the fast-food industry’s strategies, from meatpacking to the boardroom, to control American consumers.

Last Week: 1; Weeks On List: 7

3 SEABISCUIT by Laura Hillenbrand (Random House: $24.95) How three men transformed a thoroughbred horse from a neurotic also-ran into an American sports icon.

Last Week: 8; Weeks On List: 4

4 DARWIN AWARDS by Wendy Northcutt (Dutton: $16.95) Stupid human tricks: Honoring those who improve our gene pool by eliminating themselves from it.

5 Last Week: 11; Weeks On List: 13

A SHORT GUIDE TO A HAPPY LIFE by Anna Quindlen (Random House: $12.95) The columnist reflects on what it takes to “get a life” by living deeply rather than merely existing.

Last Week: 5; Weeks On List: 20

6 TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE by Mitch Albom (Doubleday: $19.95) A sportswriter’s story of the life lessons he received during weekly visits to an older dying friend.

Last Week: 2; Weeks On List: 160

7 ICE BOUND by Jerri Nielsen (Talk Miramax: $23.95) A doctor struggles with breast cancer while serving at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station on Antarctica.

Last Week: 14; Weeks On List: 7

8 THE O’REILLY FACTOR by Bill O’Reilly (Broadway Books: $23) The TV pundit pontificates on the good, the bad and the completely ridiculous in American life.

Last Week: 11; Weeks On List: 24

9 AN HOUR BEFORE DAYLIGHT by Jimmy Carter (Simon & Schuster: $26) Memories of the former president’s boyhood on a Georgia farm during the Great Depression.

Last Week: 13; Weeks On List: 11

10 CHANCES OF A LIFETIME by Warren Christopher (Scribner: $26) The former secretary of state shares his recollection of leaders and events that shaped the end of the 20th century.

-- Last Week: ; Weeks On List: 7

11 IN THE WAKE OF THE PLAGUE by Norman Cantor (The Free Press: $25) How the Black Death devastated 14th century Europe and affected the course of civilization for centuries.

Last Week: --; Weeks On List: 1

12 THE FLANEUR by Edmund White (Bloomsbury: $16.95) Leisurely strolls through the City of Light prompt the novelist to discuss everything from Baudelaire to Paris’ expatriate residents.

Last Week: 7; Weeks On List: 2

13 FOUNDING BROTHERS by Joseph J. Ellis (Alfred A. Knopf: $26 ) The intertwined lives of America’s founders, their squabbles and collaborations, long before they were deified in history books.

Last Week: --; Weeks On List: 2

14 SECRETS OF THE BABY WHISPERER by Tracy Hogg with Melinda Blau (Ballantine: $22) A neonatal nurse blends intuition with simple techniques to help parents and infants to bond.

Last Week: 10; Weeks On List: 4

15 THE HOLE IN THE UNIVERSE by K.C. Cole (Harcourt Brace: $24) The search for the point of nothingness and all that it has taught us about our universe.

Last Week: 9; Weeks On List: 4

PAPERBACKS

FICTION

1 GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING by Tracy Chevalier (Plume: $12) The woman who inspired a Vermeer painting.

2 WE WERE THE MULVANEYS by Joyce Carol Oates (Plume: $13.95) An ideal family’s world is rocked by tragedy.

3 ICY SPARKS by Gwyn Hyman Rubio (Penguin: $13.95) An orphan copes with Tourette’s syndrome in a small town.

4 SICK PUPPY by Carl Hiaasen (Alfred A. Knopf: $25) An eco-terrorist and a Labrador retriever among the thugs.

5 GIRL IN HYACINTH BLUE by Susan Vreeland (Penguin: $12) Eight stories linked by a Dutch master’s painting.

6 SHORT CUTS by Raymond Carver (Vintage: $10) Stories of unhappy modern life that inspired Robert Altman’s film.

7 THE RED TENT by Anita Diamant (Picador USA: $14) The blossoming of Dinah, Jacob’s only daughter, in Genesis.

8 INTERPRETER OF MALADIES by Jhumpa Lahiri (Mariner: $12) Stories of love, loss and Indian customs.

9 HORSE HEAVEN by Jane Smiley (Ballantine: $14.95) Lives of the trainers, jockeys and aficionados of the sport of kings.

10 ALONG CAME A SPIDER by James Patterson (Warner: $7.99) A serial killer kidnaps two children from an elite school.Southern California

NONFICTION

1 A HEARTBREAKING WORK OF STAGGERING GENIUS by Dave Eggers (Vintage: $14) A 22-year-old raises his brother.

2 ORDINARY PEOPLE, EXTRAORDINARY WEALTH by Ric Edelman (HarperResource: $15) Middle-class tycoons.

3 THE WORST-CASE SCENARIO SURVIVAL HANDBOOK by Joshua Piven & David Borgenicht (Chronicle: $14.95) S-O-S!

4 GALILEO’S DAUGHTER by Dava Sobel (Penguin: $14) The famous astronomer and his daughter, a cloistered nun.

5 THE GHOSTS OF ECHO PARK by Ron Emler (Echo Park Publishing: $15 ) A pictorial history of the neighborhood.

6 OH NO! NOT ANOTHER PROBLEM by Jeanette A. Griver and Michele W. Vodrey (Compsych: $12.95) Problem solving.

7 THE NINE STEPS TO FINANCIAL FREEDOM by Suze Orman (Three Rivers Press: $13.95) Tips for managing your money.

8 RICH DAD, POOR DAD by Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter (Techpress: $15.95) Adventures in fiscal parenting.

9 ENEMY AT THE GATES by William Craig (Penguin: $14) The epic battle for Stalingrad against the Nazi juggernaut.

10 THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES by Eve Ensler (Villard: $12.95) The award-winning play in book form.

Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.