Rankings are based on a Times poll...

Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.

*--* Fiction weeks on list 1. The Private Patient by P.D. James (Knopf: 3 $25.95) A murder investigation focuses on the staff from a plastic-surgery clinic. 2. Scarpetta by Patricia Cornwell (Putnam: 1 $27.95) Forensic pathologist Kay Scarpetta examines a psychiatric patient. 3. The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling 1 (Children’s High Level Group: $12.99) A collection of five fairy tales inspired by Harry Potter. 4. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (Little, 19 Brown: $22.99) The final book in the “Twilight” saga finds Bella choosing immortality. 5. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David 21 Wroblewski (Ecco: $25.95) A mute dog breeder is banished by his uncle a la “Hamlet.” 6. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown: 22 $19.99) Bella must choose between her lover and a friend, between life and death. 7. A Mercy by Toni Morrison (Knopf: $23.95) A 4 slave girl is sold by her mother in late 1600s America to give her a better life. 8. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie 19 Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (Dial Press: $22) A writer corresponds with islanders after German occupation. 9. The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb 4 (Harper: $29.95) A couple seek to reconstruct their lives after a tragic school shooting in Colorado. 10. Arctic Drift by Clive Cussler and Dirk 2 Cussler (Putnam: $27.95) The U.S. and Canada are on the brink of war in this third joint Dirk Pitt novel. *--*

*--* Nonfiction weeks on list 1. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, 4 Brown: $27.99) An exploration of high-achievers. 2. Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris (Little, 3 Brown: $16.99) Comical tales of holiday traditions. 3. Dewey by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter 11 (Grand Central: $19.99) A cat checks out an Iowa library. 4. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch with 33 Jeffrey Zaslow (Hyperion: $21.95) A professor’s terminal cancer inspires a call to seize life’s moments. 5. Hot, Flat, and Crowded by Thomas L. 14 Friedman (Farrar, Straus & Giroux: $27.95) Solving overpopulation and the global-warming crisis. 6. Why We Suck by Denis Leary (Viking : 3 $26.95) The comedian’s biting commentary on the state of the world. 7. The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss 15 (Crown: $19.95) A blueprint for living life on your own terms. 8. American Lion by Jon Meacham (Random 4 House: $30) Andrew Jackson’s path to the White House. 9. The Purpose of Christmas by Rick Warren 1 (Howard Books: $17.99) A call to honor the significance and promise of the holiday. 10. Panic by Michael Lewis (W.W. Norton: 1 $27.85) A guide through five of the most costly upheavals in financial history. *--*