Southern California Rating:FICTION1 THE HOUSE OF GENTLE...

Southern California Rating:

FICTION

1 THE HOUSE OF GENTLE MEN by Kathy Hepinstall (Bard: $22) In a special place in the Louisiana back country, men and women confront and try to eradicate the demons of their past.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

2 THE BRETHREN by John Grisham (Doubleday: $27.95) A scam by three former judges doing time in federal prison goes awry and ensnares a powerful man on the outside.

Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 4

3 BEOWULF by Seamus Heaney (Farrar, Straus & Giroux: $25) An Irish poet breathes new life into an Anglo-Saxon masterpiece, with his new translation of the epic poem.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

4 HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS by J.K. Rowling (Arthur A. Levine Books: $17.95) Harry risks his life to solve a mystery at the Hogwarts School.

Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 22

5 UNWANTED COMPANY by Barbara Seranella (HarperCollins: $24) Doing a favor for an old friend leads ex-con-turned-limo driver Munch Mancini into a dangerous search for a serial killer.

Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 4

6 HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN by J.K. Rowling (Scholastic: $19.95) Sirius Black--an escaped convict--is on the loose, and he’s after Harry.

Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 22

7 WAITING by Ha Jin (Pantheon: $24) An absurd loophole in Chinese law allows a pair of star-crossed lovers to be united after a long separation.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 5

8 CITY OF GOD by E.L. Doctorow (Random House: $25) Good, evil and God’s existence torment a minister who struggles against religious doubt and befriends a rabbi and his family.

Last Week: 7; Weeks on List: 3

9 HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE by J.K. Rowling (Scholastic: $16.95) Unhappy at home, a young boy discovers that he is a magician with great powers.

Last Week: 14; Weeks on List: 20

10 DISGRACE by J.M. Coetzee (Viking: $23.95) Fired from academe, a South African professor pursues the simple life on his daughter’s farm but finds danger in the post-apartheid world.

Last Week: 12; Weeks on List: 13

11 GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING by Tracy Chevalier (Dutton: $21.95) Who was the girl in Vermeer’s famous painting? A fictionalized life of one of art’s most enigmatic heroines.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

12 HOLES by Louis Sachar (Farrar, Straus & Giroux: $16) In the Texas desert, a boy in a juvenile detention camp is forced to dig holes in search of a Wild West outlaw’s hidden treasure.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

13 SICK PUPPY by Carl Hiaasen (Alfred A. Knopf: $25) The adventures of an eco-terrorist and aLabrador retriever among the thugs and sleazy businessmen of South Florida.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 7

14 TIMELINE by Michael Crichton (Random House: $26.95) Investigators battle mad lords, crazed giants and peasant bandits after time-traveling to 14th century France.

Last Week: 11; Weeks on List: 14

15 THE LION’S GAME by Nelson DeMille (Warner: $26.95) A gruff tough New York cop and an FBI agent join forces to find a Libyan terrorist on a killing rampage in the U.S.

Last Week: 9; Weeks on List: 9

NONFICTION

1 A HEARTBREAKING WORK OF STAGGERING GENIUS by Dave Eggers (Simon & Schuster: $23) Memoir of a twentysomething slacker, who must bring up his baby brother when their parents die of cancer.

Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 4

2 FOREVER LIESL by Charmian Carr with Jean A.S. Strauss (Viking: $23.95) The woman who played the eldest von Trapp daughter in “The Sound of Music” shares her stories.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

3 SHRUB by Molly Ivins and Lou Dubose (Random House: $19.95) Two veteran journalists examine the short but successful career of George Bush the Younger, whom they have nicknamed “Shrub.”

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

4 GEORGIANA by Amanda Foreman (Random House: $29.95) Love affairs, drugs, gambling and scandals in the life of an 18th century ancestor of the late Princess Diana.

Last Week: 7; Weeks on List: 4

5 HOW TO OVERTHROW THE GOVERNMENT by Arianna Huffington (Regan Books: $24) A call to arms challenging Americans to seize the government back from special interests.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

6 TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE by Mitch Albom (Doubleday: $19.95) A sportswriter’s empowering story about his weekly visits to see an older dying friend.

Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 112

7 THE ROCK SAYS by “The Rock” with Joe Layden (ReganBooks: $26) The memoir of a World Wrestling Federation bad guy, describing his struggles in and out of the ring.

Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 9

8 WHO MOVED MY CHEESE? by Spencer Johnson (Putnam: $19.95) This co-author of “The One Minute Manager” advises managers on how to get employees Y2K ready.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 9

9 CONVERSATIONS WITH WILDER by Cameron Crowe (Alfred A. Knopf: $35) The “Jerry Maguire” director coaxes Billy Wilder to reveal the secrets behind his movie hits and flops.

Last Week: 6; Weeks on List: 12

10 HOME COMFORTS by Cheryl Mendelson (Scribner: $35) The art and science of keeping house; a guide to the ins and outs of domesticity, for beginners and experts.

Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 4

11 THE GREATEST GENERATION by Tom Brokaw (Random House: $24.95) TV anchor tells the stories of the generation that came of age during the Depression and World War II.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 54

12 THE GREATEST GENERATION SPEAKS by Tom Brokaw (Random House: $19.95) More stories of American heroism during the ‘30s and ‘40s in this sequel to “The Greatest Generation.”

Last Week: 11; Weeks on List: 11

13 CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD, BOOK ONE by Neale Donald Walsch (Putnam: $19.95) Divinely channeled messages about good, evil and the meaning of life.

Last Week: 12; Weeks on List: 100

14 GALILEO’S DAUGHTER by Dava Sobel (Walker & Co.: $25) The story of the famous astronomer and scientist and his daughter, Suor Maria Celeste, a cloistered nun.

Last Week: 13; Weeks on List: 16

15 M: THE MAN WHO BECAME CARAVAGGIO by Peter Robb (Henry Holt: $30) A new look at the painter known as Marisi, Moriggia, Merigi and sometimes, simply “M,” who changed portraiture forever.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

PAPERBACKS

FICTION

1 RAGTIME by E.L. Doctorow (Plume: $10.95) Interrelated lives in the beginning of the 20th century.

2 HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE by J.K. Rowling (Arthur A. Levine: $5.99) A young wizard-in-training.

3 THE POISONWOOD BIBLE by Barbara Kingsolver (HarperPerennial: $14) A missionary family’s ordeals.

4 THE HOURS by Michael Cunningham (Picador USA: $13) Three stories built around Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway.”

5 THE TESTAMENT by John Grisham (Dell Island: $7.99) A billionaire’s changes to his will shock his greedy heirs.

6 MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA by Arthur Golden (Vintage: $14) The life and loves of a teahouse entertainer in Kyoto.

7 CHOCOLAT by Joanne Harris (Penguin: $12.95) A woman and her daughter open a chocolate store in a French village.

8 LOST IN TRANSLATION by Nicole Mones (Delacorte: $12.95) Archeologists search for Peking Man’s remains in China.

9 A MAP OF THE WORLD by Jane Hamilton (Anchor: $12.95) A woman’s harrowing journey from farm wife to felon.

10 A CAFE ON THE NILE by Bartle Bull (Carroll & Graf: $13.95) Gambling with destiny in East Africa, 1935.

PAPERBACKS

NONFICTION

1 THE SEAT OF THE SOUL by Gary Zukav (Fireside: $13) The inward transformation of the human soul.

2 THE WORST-CASE SCENARIO SURVIVAL HANDBOOK by Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht (Chronicle: $14.95) S-O-S!

3 TRAVELING MERCIES by Anne Lamott (Anchor: $13) The growth of Lamott’s beliefs and how they helped her overcome grief.

4 WOMAN by Natalie Angier (Doubleday: $15) A celebration of womanhood and the feminine mystique.

5 ANGELA’S ASHES by Frank McCourt (Touchstone: $7.99) Overcoming an Irish childhood during the Depression.

6 GIRL, INTERRUPTED by Susanna Kaysen (Vintage: $12) A memoir of life in a psychiatric institute in 1967.

7 THE PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN by Simon Winchester (HarperPerennial: $13) A madman with a flair for words.

8 SCIENCE UNDER SIEGE by Todd Wilkinson (Johnson: $18) The plight of whistleblowers who act in defense of nature.

9 THE ORCHID THIEF by Susan Orlean (Ballantine: $14) Centuries of theft, hatred and greed over a delicate flower.

10 GUNS, GERMS AND STEEL by Jared Diamond (W.W. Norton: $14.95) The part played by this triad in history.

*

Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.