BESTSELLERS

*--* SO. CAL. RATING Fiction

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*--* 1 The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (Penguin: $14) A teenage girl is haunted by her mother’s death

2 Life of Pi by Yann Martel (Harvest Books: $14) An Indian boy shares a lifeboat with a tiger on a harrowing trip

3 Three Junes by Julia Glass (Anchor: $14) A Scottish family comes together over three summers

4 The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus (Griffin: $13.95) The travails of an overworked caregiver

5 The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith (Anchor: $11.95) Botswana’s female private eye

6 Angels & Demons by Dan Brown (Pocket Books: $7.99) A Harvard scholar uncovers a vendetta against the Catholic Church

7 Beach House by James Patterson and Peter de Jonge (Warner: $7.99) A man seeks justice in his brother’s death

8 The Shelters of Stone by Jean M. Auel (Bantam: $7.99) Cavewoman Ayla negotiates between warring tribes

9 Stone Kiss by Faye Kellerman (Warner: $7.99) A police detective uncovers secrets after his half-brother winds up dead

10 Bel Canto by Ann Patchett (HarperPaperbacks: $13.95) Opera mingles with mayhem in South America

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*--* SO. CAL. 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 Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution by Robert C. Atkins (Quill: $13.95) Shedding pounds with a low-carb diet

3 Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs (Picador: $14) A boy goes to live with his mother’s psychiatrist

4 Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter (Techpress: $15.95) Fiscal parenting

5 Self Matters by Phillip C. McGraw (Free Press: $14) The self-help guru teaches how to “create your life from the inside out.”

6 Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser (HarperCollins: $13.95) The unappetizing practices of the junk-food industry

7 Lucky by Alice Sebold (Back Bay: $11.95) A memoir of the author’s rape in college and how it plunged her life into chaos

8 Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz (Amber-Allen: $12.95) A code of conduct based on Toltec wisdom

9 What to Expect When You’re Expecting by Heidi E. Murkoff et al. (Workman: $13.95) Pregnancy explained

10 The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey (Simon & Schuster: $14) Tapping your potential

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