FictionAIRFRAME by Michael Crichton (Alfred A. Knopf:...

Fiction

AIRFRAME by Michael Crichton (Alfred A. Knopf: $26) A mysterious glitch threatens the production of a profitable jetliner (1). Southern California ranking: 1; Last Weeks: 1; Week on List: 6

THE CLINIC by Jonathan Kellerman. (Bantam: $24.95) Alex Delaware must unlock the secrets of a murdered psychology professor before he can catch her killer (3). Southern California ranking: 2; Last Weeks: 7; Week on List: 2

SILENT WITNESS by Richard North Patterson. (Knopf: $25.95) A student’s murder brings attorney Tony Lord back to his hometown to face the killer and old memories of his first love’s death. Southern California ranking: 3; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

THE LAWS OF OUR FATHERS by Scott Turow. (Farrar, Straus & Giroux: $26.95) (6)*. Southern California ranking: 4; Last Weeks: 2; Week on List: 12

TRUNK MUSIC by Michael Connelly. (Little, Brown: $23.95) Odd clues from a Mafia hit send Harry Bosch to Las Vegas and into the middle of a deadly scheme. Southern California ranking: 5; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

ALIAS GRACE by Margaret Atwood. (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday: $24.95) A 19th century psychologist helps a murderess with memory loss to recall her crime (13). Southern California ranking: 6; Last Weeks: 6; Week on List: 8

GONE FISHIN’ by Walter Mosley. (Black Classic Press: $22) A prequel to the Easy Rawlins’ series, when Easy and Mouse were younger, but life was still dangerous. Southern California ranking: 7; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

THE FALLEN MAN by Tony Hillerman. (HarperCollins: $24) Two sleuths track a killer after finding a human skeleton at the top of a Navajo shrine (7)*. Southern California ranking: 8; Last Weeks: 2; Week on List: 12

THE CELESTINE PROPHECY by James Redfield. (Warner: $17.95) An ancient manuscript is discovered in the rain forest of Peru (4)*. Southern California ranking: 9; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 83

THE TAILOR OF PANAMA by John le Carre. (Alfred A. Knopf: $25) Clothier to Central America’s elite turns British agent for the power and the money*. Southern California ranking: 10; Last Weeks: 3; Week on List: 12

Nonfiction

THE ZONE by Barry Sears with Bill Lawren. (HarperCollins/ReganBooks: $22) (8)*. Southern California ranking: 1; Last Weeks: 2; Week on List: 44

MASTERING THE ZONE: The Art of Achieving SuperHealth by Barry Sears with Mary Goodbody. (ReganBooks: $24) (7). Southern California ranking: 2; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

ANGELA’S ASHES by Frank McCourt. (Scribner: $24) A memoir of childhood in a gloomy Irish city (5). Southern California ranking: 3; Last Weeks: 3; Week on List: 12

A REPORTER’S LIFE by Walter Cronkite. (Alfred A. Knopf: $26.95) (1)*. Southern California ranking: 4; Last Weeks: 1; Week on List: 5

SIMPLE ABUNDANCE: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy by Sarah Ban Breathnach. (Warner: $17.95) A collection of meditations to take women through a year of self-discovery (4). Southern California ranking: 5; Last Weeks: 4; Week on List: 22

GREAT BOOKS: My Adventures with Homer, Rousseau, Woolf, and Other Indestructible Writers of the Western World by David Denby. (Simon & Schuster: $30). Southern California ranking: 6; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 4

DOWN IN THE GARDEN by Anne Geddes. (Cedco Publishing: $39.95) Adorable infants posed as flowers, peas in a pod and other floral delights. Southern California ranking: 7; Last Weeks: 10; Week on List: 6

THE PATH TO LOVE: Renewing the Power of Spirit in Your Life by Deepak Chopra. (Harmony/Crown: $24) (14). Southern California ranking: 8; Last Weeks: 6; Week on List: 3

EVERYONE IS ENTITLED TO MY OPINION by David Brinkley. (Alfred A. Knopf: $20) Wry insights by the legendary newscaster culled from 15 years of television broadcasts (15). Southern California ranking: 9; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 2

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED AND BEYOND: Spiritual Growth in an Age of Anxiety by M. Scott Peck. (Simon & Schuster: $23). Southern California ranking: 10; Last Weeks: 9; Week on List: 2

Paperbacks: FICTION

1. THE ENGLISH PATIENT by Michael Ondaatje. (Vintage: $11)

2. THE BOOK OF RUTH by Jane Hamilton. (Anchor: $11.95)

3. PORTRAIT OF A LADY by Henry James. (Signet: $5.99)

4. THE HUNDRED SECRET SENSES by Amy Tan. (Ballantine: $6.99)

5. FIVE DAYS IN PARIS by Danielle Steel. (Dell: $6.50)

Paperbacks: NONFICTION

1. ZAGAT SURVEY 1997 LOS ANGELES/SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA RESTAURANT GUIDE edited by Merrill Shindler and Karen Berk. (Zagat Survey: $10.95)

2. CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE WOMAN’S SOUL by J. Canfield, M.V. Hansen, J. Hawthorne and M. Shimoff. (Health Communications: $12.95)

3. THE RULES: Time-Tested Secrets for Capturing the Heart of Mr. Right by Ellen Fein and Sherrie Schneider. (Warner: $14.95)

4. THE ARTIST’S WAY by Julia Cameron. (Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam: $13.95)*

5. VIEW WITH A GRAIN OF SAND by Wislawa Szymborska. (Harcourt Brace and Company: $12)

Rankings based on Times’ poll of local bookstores. National hardcover rankings (in parentheses) are those of Publishers Weekly. Asterisk (*) indicates book also available on audio (source: Sound Audio Books Distributing, Agoura Hills).