BESTSELLERS

*--* SO. CAL. RATING Fiction LAST WEEK WEEKS ON LIST

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*--* 1 The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (Doubleday: $24.95) A 1 66 Louvre curator’s killing leads to clues hidden in Leonardo’s paintings and a secret society with something to hide.

2 The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason 2 6 (Dial: $24) Four Princeton roommates use clues from a 15th century manuscript to find a buried Roman treasure.

3 The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom 5 39 (Hyperion: $19.95) An amusement park maintenance man faces his life, death and afterlife in this three-part parable.

4 The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler (Putnam: 4 6 $23.95) Five women and a man plumb Austen’s novels, revealing their own foibles and reveries along the way.

5 Bergdorf Blondes by Plum Sykes (Miramax: $23.95) Botoxed, 7 12 peeled and tanned to kill, Park Avenue princesses search for an ATM (rich boyfriend) or a P.H. (potential husband).

6 The Narrows by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown: $25.95) 8 8 Harry Bosch struggles against man and nature to capture an FBI profiler’s killer, a serial murderer with a fondness for Edgar Allan Poe.

7 The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah by Stephen King 3 2 (Donald M. Grant/Scribner: $30) A black civil rights activist’s body is hijacked by a pregnant white demon from a parallel world.

8 In the Moon of Red Ponies by James Lee Burke (Simon & -- 1 Schuster: $24.95) A Texas Ranger turned Montana lawyer fights government corruption as he defends a young eco-activist.

9 Angels & Demons by Dan Brown (Atria: $19.95) A Harvard 10 26 scholar uncovers a vendetta against the Roman Catholic Church by a secret society known as the Illuminati.

10 The Southern Belles of Honeysuckle Way by Linda 6 8 Bruckheimer (Dutton: $24.95) Three sisters reunite in a Kentucky town for their mother’s 75th birthday.

11 Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination by Helen 9 2 Fielding (Viking: $24.95) Olivia Joules, international spy, tries to nab an alluring man who may be a terrorist.

12 A Good Year by Peter Mayle (Alfred A. Knopf: $24) An 11 3 ex-financier makes a new life for himself after inheriting a wine-growing estate in Provence.

13 Oblivion by David Foster Wallace (Little, Brown: $25.95) 14 2 Eight short stories explore individual power and weakness against a backdrop of American malaise.

14 Ten Big Ones by Janet Evanovich (St. Martin’s: $25.95) A -- 1 notorious gang is after New Jersey bounty hunter Stephanie Plum after she stumbles upon a convenience store robbery.

15 The Taking by Dean Koontz (Bantam: $27) A novelist and 15 4 her ex-priest husband see wild animals cower from a luminous rain drenching their San Bernardino mountain home.

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction LAST WEEK WEEKS ON LIST

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*--* 1 Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris 2 4 (Little, Brown: $24.95) Popular humorist recounts childhood experiences with his delightfully dysfunctional family.

2 Big Russ & Me by Tim Russert (Miramax: $22.95) The NBC 3 6 newsman writes a paean to his dad, a World War II veteran who worked two jobs to raise his Irish Catholic family in Buffalo, N.Y.

3 Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss (Gotham: $17.50) A 1 10 British novelist and journalist offers her zero-tolerance approach to bad punctuation drawn from a pioneering BBC series.

4 Plan of Attack by Bob Woodward (Simon & Schuster: $28) A 4 10 behind-the-scenes look at how George W. Bush and his war council came to launch a preemptive attack on Iraq.

5 The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach (Broadway Books: -- 11 $19.95) A common-sense guide to financial planning through automatic contributions to retirement plans and investment vehicles.

6 My Life by Bill Clinton (Alfred A. Knopf: $35) The former -- 1 president’s memoirs, from his Arkansas childhood to the highs and lows of his two terms in the White House.

7 The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren (Zondervan: 6 68 $19.99) How the “God ordained” principles of worship, community, discipleship, ministry and evangelism bring fulfillment.

8 Father Joe by Tony Hendra (Random House: $24.95) After an 9 3 adolescent tryst with a neighbor’s wife, Hendra develops a bond with a Benedictine monk who helps him through life’s struggles.

9 Worse Than Watergate by John W. Dean (Little, Brown: -- 11 $22.95) Former White House counsel argues that President Bush has done more damage to the nation than President Nixon or Watergate.

10 The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands by Laura 7 25 Schlessinger (HarperCollins: $24.95) The talk show host tells how to manage the “very simple creature” that is man.

11 My Personal Best by John Wooden (McGraw-Hill: $19.95) The -- 1 iconic former UCLA basketball coach recounts life lessons he’s learned along the way.

12 Chick: His Unpublished Memoirs and the Memories of Those 8 5 Who Loved Him by Chick Hearn and Steve Springer (Triumph: $27.95) Remembering the Laker broadcaster.

13 The Power of Intention by Wayne W. Dyer (Hay House: 5 13 $24.95) How to spark creativity and get the life you want by drawing on a field of energy that exists all around us.

14 Battle Ready by Tom Clancy with Tony Zinni and Tony Koltz -- 2 (Putnam: $28.95) Retired Gen. Zinni reviews his military career and criticizes U.S. preparations for the Iraq war.

15 Stranger Than Fiction by Chuck Palahniuk (Doubleday: -- 1 $23.95) True tales from the unsettling and underground world frequented by the novelist of “Fight Club” and “Choke.”

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