BESTSELLERS / PAPERBACKS

Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.

*--* SO. CAL. RATING Fiction 1 The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (Anchor: $7.99) A Louvre curator’s killing leads to a secret society.

2 Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See (Random House: $13.95) Two women in 19th century China.

3 The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd (Penguin: $14) A woman confronts her long-dormant desires.

4 Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (Vintage: $14) Reunited boarding-school graduates explore their shared past.

5 The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead: $14) A writer returns to Kabul to rescue the son of a childhood friend.

6 In the Company of Cheerful Ladies by Alexander M. Smith (Anchor: $12.95) New cases for “No. 1 Ladies’ ” detectives.

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

8 Gilead by Marilynne Robinson (Picador: $14) An ailing minister explains his life and beliefs to his young son.

9 Ask the Dust by John Fante (HarperPerennial: $12.95) A young writer struggles to survive in 1930s L.A.

10 Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld (Random House: $13.95) An Indiana teen on a scholarship tries to fit in at a Massachusetts prep school.

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction 1 In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (Vintage: $14) The writer’s masterful account of a Kansas family’s brutal murder.

2 The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (Vintage: $14.95) A serial killer haunts the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.

3 The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell (Back Bay: $14.95) How fads, trends and ideas behave like viruses in a society.

4 Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter (TechPress/Warner: $16.95) Fiscal parenting.

5 Night by Elie Wiesel (Hill & Wang: $9) A teenager’s harrowing year spent in four concentration camps.

6 Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins (Plume: $15) How the U.S. pressures poor countries.

7 A Million Little Pieces by James Frey (Anchor: $14.95) A memoir of addiction, rehabilitation and 12-step treatment.

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

9 Animals in Translation by Temple Grandin (Harvest Books: $15) How autism explains animal behavior.

10 Su Doku for Dummies by Andrew Heron and Edmund James (Wiley: $9.99) Puzzle-solving hints and 240 puzzles.

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