Los Angeles Times Bestsellers

*--* Southern California Rating FICTION

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*--* 1 BEL CANTO by Ann Patchett (HarperPaperbacks: $13.95) A terrorist standoff in a South American town mirrors opera 2 EMPIRE FALLS by Richard Russo (Vintage: $14.95) A warmhearted novel about working-class lives in Maine 3 THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND CLAY by Michael Chabon (Picador: $15) Cousins in the comics biz 4 DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA-YA SISTERHOOD by Rebecca Wells (HarperPerennial: $14) Sisterhood in the South 5 THE BOURNE IDENTITY by Robert Ludlum (Bantam: $7.99) Jason Bourne’s a mystery man with assassins on his trail 6 P IS FOR PERIL by Sue Grafton (Ballantine: $7.99) P.I. Kinsey Millhone looks into who killed a respected physician 7 DEAD SLEEP by Greg Iles (Signet: $7.99) A photographer finds a link between missing women and an art exhibit 8 GOOD IN BED by Jennifer Weiner (Washington Square Press: $13) A tell-all column helps a woman change her life 9 HOSTAGE by Robert Crais (Fawcett: $7.99) Things are not as they seem for a negotiator trying to gain a family’s release 10 THE JURY by Steve Martini (Jove: $7.99) A doctor involved in genetics goes on trial for killing an ambitious colleague

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*--* Southern California Rating NONFICTION

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*--* 1 SEABISCUIT by Laura Hillenbrand (Ballantine: $15) How a thoroughbred horse went from also-ran to sports icon 2 FOUNDING BROTHERS by Joseph Ellis (Vintage: $14) The genius, cunning and flaws of the nation’s architects 3 RICH DAD, POOR DAD by Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter (Techpress: $15.95) Adventures in fiscal parenting 4 NICKEL & DIMED by Barbara Ehrenreich (Henry Holt: $13) A writer works in low-wage America to see how the poor live 5 PERPETUAL WAR FOR PERPETUAL PEACE by Gore Vidal (Thunder’s Mouth/Nation: $10) Civil liberties in danger 6 FAST FOOD NATION by Eric Schlosser (HarperCollins: $13.95) The unappetizing practices of the junk-food industry 7 GHOST SOLDIERS by Hampton Sides (Anchor: $14.95) A daring 1945 rescue of British and American war prisoners 8 LIFE STRATEGIES by Phillip C. McGraw (Hyperion, $12.95) How to take responsibility for your life to change it 9 DAY HIKES AROUND LOS ANGELES by Robert B. Stone (Day Hike Books: $11.95) A guide to trails for the nonserious hiker 10 9-11 by Noam Chomsky (Seven Stories Press: $8.95) An alternative view of the U.S.-led war on terrorism

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