Bestsellers / Paperbacks

*--* SO. CAL. RATING Fiction

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

2 Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (Vintage: $12) An autistic teen seeks a killer.

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

4 The Last Juror by John Grisham (Dell: $7.99) A killer on parole is bent on retribution as he returns to his small town.

5 The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (Harvest: $14) A time traveler meets the child he later marries.

6 The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant (Random House: $13.95) A love story amid the artistic ferment of 14th century Italy.

7 The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (HarperSanFrancisco: $13) An Andalusian shepherd boy seeks treasure in Egypt.

8 Life of Pi by Yann Martel (Harvest: $14) A boy shares a lifeboat with a tiger on a harrowing trip.

9 3rd Degree by James Patterson and Andrew Gross (Warner: $7.99) Four women investigate an act of political terror.

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

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction

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*--* 1 The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (Vintage: $14.95) How a serial killer haunted the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.

2 Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi (Random House: $13.95) A professor keeps literature alive for her students.

3 1000 Places to See Before You Die by Patricia Schultz (Workman: $18.95) Trotting the globe.

4 A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson (Broadway: $15.95) From the primordial to the present.

5 Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama (Three Rivers: $13.95) The senator traces his mixed-raced heritage.

6 The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle (New World Library: $14) How to attain enlightenment by living in the now.

7 Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki and Sharon L. Lechter (TechPress/Warner: $15.95) Fiscal parenting.

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

9 Don't Think of an Elephant by George Lakoff (Chelsea Green: $10) A guide for political progressives.

10 Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress by Susan Jane Gilman (Warner: $12.95) A '70s Manhattan childhood.

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