Los Angeles Times Bestsellers

2 SKIPPING CHRISTMAS by John Grisham (Doubleday: $19.95) Grisham takes a holiday from legal thrillers to poke fun at the suburban yuletide ritual. Last Week: 2 Weeks on List: 9

3 HATESHIP, FRIENDSHIP, COURTSHIP, LOVESHIP, MARRIAGE by Alice Munro (Alfred A. Knopf: $24) Stories tracing the nuanced lives of women and their relationships. Last Week: 7 Weeks on List: 8

4 BASKET CASE by Carl Hiaasen (Alfred A. Knopf: $25.95) Once a hot-shot reporter, an obituary writer for a small paper unravels the bizarre causes for the death of a rock star. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 1

5 ONE DOOR AWAY FROM HEAVEN by Dean Koontz (Bantam: $26.95) UFO-ology hovers over this tale of the FBI's pursuit of an unusual boy and a woman's efforts to save a girl from her parents. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 1

6 JACKDAWS by Ken Follett (Plume: $26.95) A group of female spies infiltrates a telephone exchange linking France to Germany as the Allies prepare to invade. Last Week: 3 Weeks on List: 5

7 THE SIGMA PROTOCOL by Robert Ludlum (St. Martin's: $27.95) A businessman and a beautiful secret agent pursue a shadowy, powerful cartel around the globe. Last Week: 12 Weeks on List: 8

8 A BEND IN THE ROAD by Nicholas Sparks (Warner: $23.95) A widower's romance with a small-town schoolteacher is threatened by the unsettling mystery surrounding his wife's death. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 10

9 AUSTERLITZ by W.G. Sebald (Random House: $25.95) An architectural historian retraces the steps of his escape from the Nazis on a kindertransport train. Last Week: 8 Weeks on List: 4

10 VIOLETS ARE BLUE by James Patterson (Little, Brown: $27.95) Police detective Alex Cross investigates a series of brutal deaths with links to a vampire underground. Last Week: 4 Weeks on List: 7

11 BALZAC AND THE LITTLE CHINESE SEAMSTRESS by Dai Sijie (Alfred A. Knopf: $18) Two Chinese youths use classic Western literature to free their minds in the face of communist re-education. Last Week: 9 Weeks on List: 5

12 HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE by J.K. Rowling (Scholastic: $25.95) Harry competes in the great Triwizard Tournament and is pursued by the sinister Lord Voldemort. Last Week: 11 Weeks on List: 9

13 THE HEART IS DECEITFUL ABOVE ALL THINGS by J.T. LeRoy (Bloomsbury: $23.95) A story collection about the harrowing life of a young boy on the run in San Francisco. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 1

14 HALF A LIFE by V.S. Naipaul (Alfred A. Knopf: $24) A writer drifts from bohemian London to colonial Africa in this tale of the collision of identity, class and politics. Last Week: 6 Weeks on List: 9

15 PURSUIT by Thomas Perry (Random House: $24.95) An ex-cop hunts down an assassin posing as a mass murderer in a life-or-death cat and mouse game. Last Week: 14 Weeks on List: 2

NONFICTION

Southern California Rating

1 JOHN ADAMS by David McCullough (Simon & Schuster: $35) The story of our second president, a man Thomas Jefferson called "the colossus of independence." Last Week: 1 Weeks on List: 34

2 THEODORE REX by Edmund Morris (Random House: $35) The second in a planned biographical trilogy about Teddy Roosevelt, charting his rise from patrician to progressive. Last Week: 2 Weeks on List: 7

3 BIAS by Bernard Goldberg (Regnery: $27.95) A veteran CBS reporter argues that the mainstream media have been seriously damaged by a liberal, close-minded worldview. Last Week: 11 Weeks on List: 3

4 JACK by Jack Welch with John A. Byrne (Warner: $29.95) The life and times of a respected chief executive, from a Massachusetts childhood to his successful reinvention of General Electric. Last Week: 4 Weeks on List: 17

5 BEST-LOVED POEMS OF JACQUELINE KENNEDY ONASSIS Edited by Caroline Kennedy (Hyperion: $21.95) A selection of Jackie's favorite verse and some of her own, introduced by her daughter. Last Week: 5 Weeks on List: 11

6 GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS 2002 (Guinness World Records: $27.95) New feats from the world of human possibilities, from "extreme" body sizes and stunts to sports and music. Last Week: 9 Weeks on List: 5

7 HOW I PLAY GOLF by Tiger Woods (Warner: $34.95) The links master explains his game in words and pictures, offering tips on the best ways to get from the tee to the cup. Last Week: 6 Weeks on List: 13

8 THE UNIVERSE IN A NUTSHELL by Stephen Hawking (Bantam: $35) The celebrated physicist offers up a look at space, time and the origin and future of the cosmos. Last Week: 3 Weeks on List: 9

9 THE NO-SPIN ZONE by Bill O'Reilly (Broadway: $24.95) The Fox News commentator presents interviews with famous figures in his tough, no-holds-barred style. Last Week: 8 Weeks on List: 12

10 THE NATIONAL ENQUIRER edited by Charles Melcher et al. (Talk Miramax: $45) Images of celebs caught by the paparazzi during the tabloid's 30 years. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 2