BESTSELLERS

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

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*--* 1 Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke 2 4 (Bloomsbury: $27.95) A reclusive magician teams with a risk-taking younger man to delve into England’s magical past.

2 Trace by Patricia Cornwell (Putnam: $26.95) Medical 1 3 examiner Kay Scarpetta is called back to Richmond, Va., to help her former colleagues determine what killed a 14-year-old girl.

3 Are You Afraid of the Dark? by Sidney Sheldon (William -- 1 Morrow: $25.95) Two widows try to find out who killed their husbands and wants them dead too.

4 The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (Doubleday: $24.95) A 3 79 Louvre curator’s killing leads to clues hidden in Leonardo’s paintings and a secret society with something to hide.

5 The Inner Circle by T.C. Boyle (Viking: $25.95) An 7 2 assistant to zoology professor Alfred Kinsey becomes immersed in an inner circle of researchers participating in sexual experiments.

6 Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen (Knopf: $24.95) A shady 4 10 Florida marine biologist thinks he’s offed his wife, but she’s only playing dead as she plots her revenge.

7 The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom 6 52 (Hyperion: $19.95) An amusement park maintenance man faces his life, death and afterlife in this three-part parable.

8 The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason 5 19 (Dial: $24) Four Princeton roommates use clues from a 15th century manuscript to find a buried Roman treasure.

9 Tijuana Straits by Kem Nunn (Scribner: $25) A washed-up -- 4 surfer gets the chance to help a fellow soul on the run from danger in the no-man’s land along the Mexican border.

10 The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Penguin: -- 9 $24.95) In postwar Barcelona, the son of a bookstore owner tries to unearth the story of a long-dead novelist.

11 Wife of Moon by Margaret Coel (Berkley: $22.95) Eight -- 1 short stories explore the reality of the American urban male on the edge of discovery and loss, agony and delight.

12 The Falls by Joyce Carol Oates (Ecco: $26.95) A -- 1 newlywed’s jump over Niagara Falls casts a shadow over two generations in a tale of greed, corruption and tragedy.

13 Snow by Orhan Pamuk (Alfred A. Knopf: $26) A Turkish poet 8 5 returning from exile in Germany finds himself caught in a society torn between secular and religious forces.

14 Angels & Demons by Dan Brown (Atria: $19.95) A Harvard 13 37 scholar uncovers a vendetta against the Roman Catholic Church by a secret society known as the Illuminati.

15 Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernieres (Knopf: $25.95) -- 2 At the end of the Ottoman empire, Turks, Greeks and Armenians in an Anatolian town struggle amid war and the pressures of nationalism.

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

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*--* 1 The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty by Kitty -- 1 Kelley (Doubleday: $29.95) A critical look at an insular, powerful dynasty that has spawned two presidents, two governors and a senator.

2 Unfit for Command by John E. O’Neill and Jerome R. Corsi 1 6 (Regnery: $27.95) Vietnam vets accuse presidential nominee John F. Kerry of misdeeds regarding his wartime service.

3 Confessions of an Heiress by Paris Hilton (Fireside: $22) 2 3 The do’s and don’ts of beauty, fashion, etiquette -- and life in general -- from the hotel-chain heiress, model and current it-girl.

4 Chain of Command by Seymour M. Hersh (HarperCollins: -- 1 $25.95) Investigative reporter traces the nation’s path from Sept. 11 to abuse at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison. (Reviewed on Page 3)

5 Family First by Phil McGraw (Free Press: $26) A -- 1 day-by-day guide to raising cooperative, caring and competent children through effective parenting and putting family first.

6 Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston (Atria: -- 1 $26) How a climber freed himself after six days trapped between a boulder and a canyon wall in Utah by amputating his right arm.

7 In the Shadow of No Towers by Art Spiegelman (Pantheon: 9 2 $19.95) In cartoon format, a chain-smoking Manhattan pessimist is convinced that the world ended with the Sept. 11 attacks.

8 Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss (Gotham: $17.50) A 5 23 British novelist and journalist offers her zero-tolerance approach to bad punctuation, drawn from her pioneering BBC series.

9 The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren (Zondervan: 7 81 $19.99) How the “God ordained” principles of worship, community, discipleship, ministry and evangelism bring fulfillment.

10 Bushworld: Enter at Your Own Risk by Maureen Dowd 3 7 (Putnam: $25.95) A decade of the New York Times op-ed columnist’s collected works, especially those on Bush pere and fils.

11 Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris 8 17 (Little, Brown: $24.95) Popular humorist recounts childhood experiences with his delightfully dysfunctional family.

12 America (The Book): A Citizen’s Guide to Democracy -- 1 Inaction by Jon Stewart et al (Warner: $24.95) Comedy writers poke fun at U.S. politics and our institutions of democracy.

13 How to Make Love Like a Porn Star by Jenna Jameson with 6 5 Neil Strauss (ReganBooks: $27.95) The adult-movie queen tells how a sexual assault propelled her into a life of porn and drugs.

14 He’s Just Not That Into You by Greg Behrendt and Liz -- 1 Tuccillo (Simon Spotlight Entertainment: $19.95) The no-excuses guide to help women understand guys and get on with their lives.

15 The Future Dictionary of America edited by Jonathan -- 2 Safran Foer et al (McSweeney’s: $28) Writers and artists spin new words and new definitions to lampoon the Bush administration.

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