Bestsellers

*--* SO. CAL. RATING Fiction

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*--* 1 Life of Pi by Yann Martel (Harvest Books: $14) A boy shares a lifeboat with a tiger on a harrowing trip.

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

3 Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (Picador: $15) A Greek family embraces the American dream.

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

5 The King of Torts by John Grisham (Dell: $7.99) A street killing is linked to a conspiracy involving a pharmaceutical giant.

6 The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander M. Smith (Anchor: $11.95) Botswana’s favorite private eye.

7 Master and Commander by Patrick O’Brian (W.W. Norton: $13) Adventure on the high seas in the Napoleonic Wars.

8 Prey by Michael Crichton (Avon: $7.99) Self-replicating nanobots escape the laboratory and threaten their creators’ lives.

9 Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier (Plume: $14) Imagining the young woman who inspired Vermeer’s painting.

10 The Crimson Petal and the White by Michael Faber (Harvest: $15) A London prostitute, her lover and his wife.

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction

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*--* 1 Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris (Little, Brown: $8.95) Elf love, Santa’s diaries and more about the season’s dark side.

2 1,000 Places to See Before You Die by Patricia Schultz (Workman: $18.95) For real and armchair travelers.

3 Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich (Free Press: $14) A blackjack team from MIT bests Las Vegas casinos.

4 Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom (Broadway: $12.95) Learning life’s lessons from a dying former teacher.

5 100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know by American Heritage (Houghton Mifflin: $4.95)

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

7 Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (Little, Brown: $14.95) Quirky reflections on life in Paris and elsewhere.

8 Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki & Sharon Lechter (Techpress: $15.95) Fiscal parenting.

9 It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want to Be by Paul Arden (Phaidon: $7.95) How to succeed.

10 Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand (Ballantine: $15.95) How an also-ran became America’s favorite racehorse.

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