Los Angeles Times Bestsellers

January 13, 2002

FICTION

Southern California Rating

1 THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY by Michael Chabon (Picador: $15) Cousins in the comics biz.

2 THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING by J.R.R. Tolkien (Houghton Mifflin: $6.99) Volume 1 of “The Lord of the Rings.”

3 THE HOBBIT by J.R.R. Tolkien (Houghton Mifflin: $12) The adventures of Bilbo Baggins in the world of Middle-earth.

4 HARRY POTTER & THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN by J.K. Rowling (Scholastic: $7.99) Showdown with Sirius Black.

5 SHOPGIRL by Steve Martin (Theia: $10.95) Department store clerk Mirabelle meets an older man too good to be true.

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

7 HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS by J.K. Rowling (Scholastic: $6.99) A trap awaits Harry at Hogwarts.

8 HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE by J.K. Rowling (Scholastic: $6.99) Young Harry trains as a wizard.

9 THE RETURN OF THE KING by J.R.R. Tolkien (Houghton Mifflin: $12) Volume 3 of “The Lord of the Rings.”

10 THE TWO TOWERS by J.R.R. Tolkien (Houghton Mifflin: $12) Volume 2 of “The Lord of the Rings.”

NONFICTION

Southern California Rating

1 BLACK HAWK DOWN by Mark Bowden (Signet: $7.99) A gritty account of a disastrous 1993 military operation in Somalia.

2 THE FOUR AGREEMENTS by Don Miguel Ruiz (Amber-Allen: $12.95) Life lessons based on ancient Toltec wisdom.

3 ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY by David Sedaris (Little, Brown: $14.95) Wisecracking essays on life in Paris and elsewhere.

4 PRAYERS by Don Miguel Ruiz (Amber-Allen: $12.95) Meditations on wisdom, healing, courage and love.

5 PERSONAL HISTORY by Katharine Graham (Vintage: $15) A memoir by the late publisher of the Washington Post.

6 FROM BEIRUT TO JERUSALEM by Thomas L. Friedman (Anchor: $15.95) A journey into the Arab-Israeli conflict.

7 HORNY? LOS ANGELES by Jessica Hundley and Jon Alain Guzik (Really Great: $18.95) The city’s steamy hot spots.

8 9-11 by Noam Chomsky (Seven Stories Press: $8.95) An alternative view on the U.S.-led war on terrorism.

9 HEARTSONGS by Matthew Stepanek (Vacation Spot: $11.50) Musings on life by a boy with muscular dystrophy.

10 A BEAUTIFUL MIND by Sylvia Nasar (Touchstone: $16) A brilliant mathematics professor’s battle with schizophrenia.