FictionLE DIVORCE by Diane Johnson. (Dutton: $23.95)...

Fiction

LE DIVORCE by Diane Johnson. (Dutton: $23.95) Americans abroad struggle with the barbs and mores of French society (14). Southern California ranking: 1; Last Weeks: 3; Week on List: 5

VENDETTA: Lucky’s Revenge by Jackie Collins. (ReganBooks: $25) The scheming widow of an old enemy plots to destroy Lucky Santangelo and take away Panther Studios (10). Southern California ranking: 2; Last Weeks: 9; Week on List: 2

TOTAL CONTROL by David Baldacci. (Warner: $24) A successful lawyer learns that her husband may have faked his own death in a fiery plane crash (2). Southern California ranking: 3; Last Weeks: 1; Week on List: 5

SOLE SURVIVOR by Dean Koontz. (Knopf: $25.95) Grieving the loss of his family in a plane crash, a reporter meets a mysterious woman who knows the secrets behind the tragedy (3). Southern California ranking: 4; Last Weeks: 2; Week on List: 3

TRUNK MUSIC by Michael Connelly. (Little, Brown: $23.95). Southern California ranking: 5; Last Weeks: 8; Week on List: 7

ASYLUM by Patrick McGrath. (Random House: $22) A passionate affair explodes between a psychiatrist’s wife and a murderous sculptor in a mental hospital. Southern California ranking: 6; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

HORNET’S NEST by Patricia D. Cornwell. (Putnam: $25.95) (1). Southern California ranking: 7; Last Weeks: 5; Week on List: 6

ALIAS GRACE by Margaret Atwood. (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday: $24.95) (12). Southern California ranking: 8; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 11

BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO: Stories by Mary Gaitskill. (Simon & Schuster: $22) Games of flirtation and passion played out in daily life. Southern California ranking: 9; Last Weeks: 10; Week on List: 2

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 (11). Southern California ranking: 10; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 4

Nonfiction

MONSTER: Living Off the Big Screen by John Gregory Dunne. (Random House: $21) Our reviewer, Michael Crichton, called Dunne’s book “a remarkable narrative ... that tells more about the experience of writing for Hollywood than any other book ever written.” Southern California ranking: 1; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 2

PERSONAL HISTORY by Katharine Graham. (Knopf: $29.95) The heiress at the helm of the Washington Post (4). Southern California ranking: 2; Last Weeks: 2; Week on List: 4

MURDER IN BRENTWOOD by Mark Fuhrman. (Regnery: $24.95) The controversial former LAPD detective promises new revelations and facts about the Simpson case. Southern California ranking: 3; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

ANGELA’S ASHES by Frank McCourt. (Scribner: $24) A memoir of childhood in a gloomy Irish city (3). Southern California ranking: 4; Last Weeks: 4; Week on List: 18

WHAT FALLS AWAY: A Memoir by Mia Farrow. (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday: $25) Memories of her Hollywood childhood and husbands. Reviewed on Page 6. Southern California ranking: 5; Last Weeks: 3; Week on List: 2

THE ARTHRITIS CURE by Jason Theodosakis, Barry Fox and Brenda Adderly. (St. Martin’s: $22.95) New treatments and preventive therapies to help millions of people (2). Southern California ranking: 6; Last Weeks: 10; Week on List: 3

A REPORTER’S LIFE by Walter Cronkite. (Knopf: $26.95) (6). Southern California ranking: 7; Last Weeks: 1; Week on List: 11

MASTERING THE ZONE: The Art of Achieving SuperHealth by Barry Sears. (ReganBooks: $24) (5). Southern California ranking: 8; Last Weeks: 8; Week on List: 7

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 (1). Southern California ranking: 9; Last Weeks: 5; Week on List: 28

EVIDENCE DISMISSED: The Inside Story of the Police Investigation of O.J. Simpson by Dets. Tom Lange and Philip Vannatter, as told to Dan E. Moldea. (Pocket: $24) (8). Southern California ranking: 10; Last Weeks: 6; Week on List: 4

Paperbacks: FICTION

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

2. THE RUNAWAY JURY by John Grisham. (Bantam: $7.99)

3. ABSOLUTE POWER by David Baldacci. (Warner: $7.50)

4. SHE’S COME UNDONE by Wally Lamb. (Pocket: $14)

5. ARCADIA by Tom Stoppard. (Faber & Faber: $9.95)

Paperbacks: NONFICTION

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

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

3. A CIVIL ACTION by Jonathan Harr. (Vintage: $13)

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

5. WOMEN WHO RUN WITH THE WOLVES by Clarissa Pinkola Estes. (Ballantine: $7.99)

Rankings based on Times’ poll of local bookstores. National hardcover rankings (in parentheses) are those of Publishers Weekly.