Southern California Rating:FICTION1 THE BARBARIANS ARE COMING...

Southern California Rating:

FICTION

1 THE BARBARIANS ARE COMING by David Wong Louie (Putnam: $23.95) A young man struggles to be both Chinese and American as he works toward the American dream of affluence.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

2 BRIDGET JONES: THE EDGE OF REASON by Helen Fielding (Viking: $24.95) Bridget finds the perfect mate--do they really exist?--in this sequel to the bestselling “Bridget Jones’sDiary.”

Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 2

3 HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS by J.K. Rowling (Arthur A. Levine Books: $17.95) Harry risks his life to solve a mystery at the Hogwarts School.

Last Week: 5; Weeks on List: 24

4 THE BRETHREN by John Grisham (Doubleday: $27.95) A scam by three former judges doing time in federal prison goes awry and ensnares a powerful man on the outside.

Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 6

5 HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN by J.K. Rowling (Scholastic: $19.95) Sirius Black--an escaped convict--is on the loose, and he’s after Harry.

Last Week: 8; Weeks on List: 24

6 TOUGH COOKIE by Diane Mott Davidson (Bantam: $23.95) Murder, mystery and meringue: The latest in the recipe-rich crime caper of chef-turned- sleuth Goldy Schulz.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

7 BEOWULF by Seamus Heaney (Farrar, Straus & Giroux: $25) An Irish poet breathes new life into an Anglo-Saxon masterpiece, with his new translation of the epic poem.

Last Week: 7; Weeks on List: 3

8 DAUGHTER OF FORTUNE by Isabel Allende (HarperCollins: $26) A young woman escapes from the bonds of her youthful passion to Gold Rush California.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 14

9 THE WHOLE TRUTH by Nancy Pickard (Pocket: $22.95) A true-crime author seeks out the origins of a child-killer as she covers his trial in search of material for her latest book.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

10 IN AMERICA by Susan Sontag (Farrar, Straus & Giroux: $26) Tale of the travels and travails of a Polish actress on the frontier in 19th century America.

Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 2

11 WAITING by Ha Jin (Pantheon: $24) An absurd loophole in Chinese law allows a pair of star-crossed lovers to be united after a long separation.

Last Week: 9; Weeks on List: 7

12 DISGRACE by J.M. Coetzee (Viking: $23.95) Fired from academe, a South African professor pursues the simple life on his daughter’s farm but finds danger in the post-apartheid world.

Last Week: 14; Weeks on List: 15

13 GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING by Tracy Chevalier (Dutton: $21.95) Who was the girl in Vermeer’s famous painting? A fictionalized life of one of art’s most enigmatic heroines.

Last Week: 13; Weeks on List: 3

14 BLINDSIDED by Clyde Phillips (William Morrow: $24) Jane Candiotti returns in search of a cop killer who’s bumping off her colleagues at a rather alarming rate.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

15 HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE by J.K. Rowling (Scholastic: $16.95) Unhappy at home, a young boy discovers that he is a magician with great powers.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 21

NONFICTION

1 THE OPERATOR by Tom King (Random House: $25.95) The patience, cunning and unbridled egotism behind David Geffen’s transformation into a powerful media mogul.

Last Week: 9; Weeks on List: 2

2 A HEARTBREAKING WORK OF STAGGERING GENIUS by Dave Eggers (Simon & Schuster: $23) Memoir of a twentysomething slacker, who must bring up his baby brother when their parents die of cancer.

Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 6

3 WHICH LIE DID I TELL? by William Goldman (Pantheon: $26.95) Adventures in the screen trade from the writer behind “All the President’s Men.” Reviewed by David Freeman, Page 1.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

4 WOODEN by John Wooden with Steve Jamison (NTC/Contemporary Publishing: $25) A lifetime of observations and reflections on and off the court from UCLA’s living legend.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 5

5 TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE by Mitch Albom (Doubleday: $19.95) A sportswriter’s empowering story about his weekly visits to see an older dying friend.

Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 114

6 THE DARK SIDE OF FORTUNE by Margaret Leslie Davis (University of California Press: $35) From itinerant prospector to oil tycoon, triumph and scandal in the life of Edward L. Doheny.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 2

7 GEORGIANA by Amanda Foreman (Random House: $29.95) Love affairs, drugs, gambling and scandals in the life of an 18th century ancestor of the late Princess Diana.

Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 6

8 THE GREATEST GENERATION by Tom Brokaw (Random House: $24.95) TV anchor tells the stories of the generation that came of age during the Depression and World War II.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 55

9 PEANUTS: A GOLDEN CELEBRATION by Charles Schulz (HarperResource: $45) Good grief: almost 50 years of art and stories from America’s favorite comic strip.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

10 M: THE MAN WHO BECAME CARAVAGGIO by Peter Robb (Henry Holt: $30) A new look at the painter known as Marisi, Moriggia, Merigi and, sometimes, simply “M,” who changed portraiture forever.

Last Week: 14; Weeks on List: 3

11 THE ROCK SAYS by “The Rock” with Joe Layden (ReganBooks: $26) The memoir of a World Wrestling Federation bad guy, describing his struggles in and out of the ring.

Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 11

12 CONVERSATIONS WITH WILDER by Cameron Crowe (Alfred A. Knopf: $35) The “Jerry Maguire” director coaxes Billy Wilder to reveal the secrets behind his movie hits and flops.

Last Week: 7; Weeks on List: 14

13 WHO MOVED MY CHEESE? by Spencer Johnson (Putnam: $19.95) This co-author of “The One Minute Manager” advises managers on how to get employees Y2K ready.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 10

14 THE GREATEST GENERATION SPEAKS by Tom Brokaw (Random House: $19.95) More stories of American heroism during the ‘30s and ‘40s in this sequel to “The Greatest Generation.”

Last Week: 10; Weeks on List: 13

15 HOME COMFORTS by Cheryl Mendelson (Scribner: $35) The art and science of keeping house; a guide to the ins and outs of domesticity, for beginners and experts.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 5

PAPERBACKS

FICTION

1 KILLER WEDDING by Jerrilyn Farmer (Twilight: $5.99) Something old, something new, something dead. . . .

2 THE HOURS by Michael Cunningham (Picador USA: $13) Three stories built around Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway.”

3 HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE by J.K. Rowling (Arthur A. Levine: $5.99) A young wizard-in-training.

4 THE POISONWOOD BIBLE by Barbara Kingsolver (HarperPerennial: $14) A missionary family’s ordeals.

5 THE TESTAMENT by John Grisham (Dell Island: $7.99) A billionaire’s changes to his will shock his greedy heirs.

6 IMMACULATE RECEPTION by Jerrilyn Farmer (Avon: $5.99) A murder might ruin the pope’s visit to L.A.

7 CHOCOLAT by Joanne Harris (Penguin: $12.95) A woman and her daughter open a chocolate store in a French village.

8 MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA by Arthur Golden (Vintage: $14) The life and loves of a teahouse entertainer in Kyoto.

9 WHILE I WAS GONE by Sue Miller (Ballantine: $12.95) A familiar stranger unsettles a veterinarian’s perfect world.

10 AMY AND ISABELLE by Elizabeth Strout (Vintage: $13.99) Bravery and hard choices in a small town.

PAPERBACKS

NONFICTION

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

2 THE PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN by Simon Winchester (HarperPerennial: $13) A madman with a flair for words.

3 GIRL, INTERRUPTED by Susanna Kaysen (Vintage: $12) A memoir of life in a psychiatric institute in 1967.

4 THE CLIMB by Anatoli Boukreev and G. Weston DeWalt (Tor: $6.99) Tragic ambitions and their aftermath on Everest.

5 TRAVELING MERCIES by Anne Lamott (Anchor: $13) The growth of Lamott’s beliefs and how they helped her overcome grief.

6 THE SEAT OF THE SOUL by Gary Zukav (Fireside: $13) The inward transformation of the human soul.

7 ANGELA’S ASHES by Frank McCourt (Touchstone: $7.99) Overcoming an Irish childhood during the Depression.

8 WOMAN by Natalie Angier (Doubleday: $15) A celebration of womanhood and the feminine mystique.

9 THE ELEGANT UNIVERSE by Brian Greene (Vintage: $15) Is the universe a symphony played by strings?

10 GUNS, GERMS AND STEEL by Jared Diamond (W.W. Norton: $14.95) The part played by this triad in history.

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Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.