BESTSELLERS / PAPERBACKS

Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.

*--* SO. CAL. RATING Fiction 1 Gilead by Marilynne Robinson (Picador: $14) An ailing minister explains his life and beliefs to his young son.

2 Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx (Scribner: $9.95) Two cowboys in love face a harsh world.

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

4 Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami (Vintage: $14.95) A Tokyo teen runs from his Oedipal fears.

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

6 Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden (Vintage: $14.95) The life and loves of a teahouse entertainer.

7 Close Range by Annie Proulx (Scribner: $14) Stories of hardship and more in the Wyoming territory.

8 Honeymoon by James Patterson and Howard Roughan (Warner Books: $13.95) An FBI agent tracks a female serial killer.

9 The Known World by Edward P. Jones (Amistad: $13.95) Love and betrayal on a black slave owner’s plantation.

10 Runaway by Alice Munro (Vintage: $14.95) Stories of the surprises, betrayals and limits of love.

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction 1 A Million Little Pieces by James Frey (Anchor: $14.95) A tarnished memoir of addiction and 12-step treatment.

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

3 In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (Vintage: $14) The masterful writer’s account of a Kansas family’s brutal murder.

4 Collapse by Jared Diamond (Penguin: $17) Why the Maya, the Anasazi and other societies died out.

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

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

7 The Power of Intention by Wayne W. Dyer (Hay House: $14.95) How to get the life you want.

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

9 The Book of Sudoku, No. 1 by Michael Mepham (Overlook: $9.95) An introduction to the numbers puzzle.

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

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