Los Angeles Times Bestsellers

*--* Southern California Rating FICTION

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*--* 1 THE CORRECTIONS by Jonathan Franzen (Picador: $15) A Midwestern family’s unraveling at the 20th century’s end 2 EMPIRE FALLS by Richard Russo (Vintage: $14.95) A warmhearted novel about working-class lives in Maine 3 BEL CANTO by Ann Patchett (HarperPaperbacks: $13.95) A terrorist standoff in South America mirrors opera 4 WHITE OLEANDER by Janet Fitch (Back Bay Books: $13.95) Her mother in jail, a teenager survives in L.A. foster homes 5 TRAITOR TO MEMORY by Elizabeth George (Warner: $7.99) A child murder case holds clues in a vicious hit-and-run 6 CARTER BEATS THE DEVIL by Glen David Gold (Hyperion: $14.95) A magician comes of age in 1920s San Francisco 7 GOOD IN BED by Jennifer Weiner (Washington Square Press: $13) A tell-all column helps a woman change her life 8 THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND CLAY by Michael Chabon (Picador: $15) Cousins in the comics biz 9 FULL HOUSE by Janet Evanovich (St. Martin’s: $6.99) A divorced mother falls for a wealthy man with a kooky family 10 HOW TO BE GOOD by Nick Hornby (Riverhead: $13) Hornby’s trademark wit is on display as a couple copes with infidelity

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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 JOHN ADAMS by David McCullough (Touchstone: $18.95) The greatness of America’s second president 3 SAVAGE BEAUTY by Nancy Milford (Random House: $14.95) Edna St. Vincent Millay’s pursuit of poetry and seduction 4 FAST FOOD NATION by Eric Schlosser (HarperCollins: $13.95) The unappetizing practices of the junk-food industry 5 DR. ATKINS’ NEW DIET REVOLUTION by Robert C. Atkins (Avon: $7.99) How a low-carb diet helps shed pounds 6 9-11 by Noam Chomsky (Seven Stories Press: $8.95) An alternative view of the U.S.-led war on terrorism 7 LUCKY by Alice Sebold (Back Bay Books: $11.95) The writer recounts her rape when she was a college freshman 8 THE FOUR AGREEMENTS by Don Miguel Ruiz (Amber-Allen: $12.95) Life lessons based on ancient Toltec wisdom 9 RICH DAD, POOR DAD by Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter (Techpress: $15.95) Adventures in fiscal parenting 10 WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU’RE EXPECTING by Heidi E. Murkoff et al. (Workman: $13.95) Pregnancy explained

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