Bestsellers

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) A pair of cowboys in love face a harsh world.

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

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

5 The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (HarperSanFrancisco: $13) An Andalusian shepherd boy searches for treasure in Egypt.

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

7 Honeymoon by James Patterson (Warner Books: $13.95) A broker about to go on his honeymoon is killed.

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

9 The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Penguin: $15) A quest for the truth about a Spanish novelist.

10 The Broker by John Grisham (Dell: $7.99) A jailed lawyer helps the CIA protect satellite technology.

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction 1 A Million Little Pieces by James Frey (Anchor: $14.95) A memoir of addiction, rehabilitation 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 The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell (Back Bay: $14.95) How fads, trends and ideas behave like viruses in a society.

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

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

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

9 Animals in Translation by Temple Grandin (Harvest Books: $15) How autism explains animal behavior.

10 Why I Write by George Orwell (Penguin: $8.95) The British author’s 1946 essay on writing.

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