Southern California Rating:FICTION1 PERISH TWICE by...

Southern California Rating:

FICTION

1 PERISH TWICE by Robert B. Parker (Putnam: $23.95) A private investigator goes to the aid of three very different women: her sister, her best friend and the CEO of a feminist organization.

Last Week: 8; Weeks on List: 2

2 DROWNING RUTH by Christina Schwarz (Doubleday: $23.95) In early 20th century Wisconsin, a family is torn apart by a tragic death and the secrets that follow.

Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 2

3 THE BEAR AND THE DRAGON by Tom Clancy (Putnam: $28.95) CIA warrior and U.S. president Jack Ryan faces brewing trouble in Russia and China and a global struggle for Siberian oil.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 6

4 SHOPGIRL by Steve Martin (Hyperion: $17.95) A wallflower working in the Neiman Marcus glove department falls for a restless millionaire. Reviewed by Jonathan Levi, Page 4.

Last Week: 9; Weeks on List: 2

5 THE GOLDEN AGE by Gore Vidal (Doubleday: $27.50) The seventh of Vidal’s “Novels of Empire” evokes the Beltway and Tinsel Town from World War II to the beginnings of the Cold War.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 2

6 WHEN WE WERE ORPHANS by Kazuo Ishiguro (Alfred A. Knopf: $25) An English boy is “orphaned” when his mother and father vanish; years later, he returns as a detective to solve the disappearances.

Last Week: 12; Weeks on List: 4

7 THE BLIND ASSASSIN by Margaret Atwood (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday: $26) A narrative tour de force joins two sisters with an unpublished sci-fi novel. Reviewed by Merle Rubin, Page 7.

Last Week: 6; Weeks on List: 5

8 THE RESCUE by Nicholas Sparks (Warner: $22.95) A volunteer fireman in a North Carolina town helps a waitress rebuild her life when her son disappears after a car accident.

Last Week: 15; Weeks on List: 3

9 SHATTERED by Dick Francis (Putnam: $25.95) Violent thugs, a stolen videotape and the death of a jockey friend threaten a glass-blower’s world. Reviewed by Eugen Weber, Page 9.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 4

10 THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY by Michael Chabon (Random House: $26.95) In 1939 Brooklyn, two Jewish cousins, one American, one Czech, collaborate to create a comic book.

Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 2

11 MORGAN’S RUN by Colleen McCullough (Simon & Schuster: $28) Things go profoundly wrong for a master gunsmith, who becomes one of the first convicts sent to Australia.

Last Week: 5; Weeks on List: 2

12 THE SKY IS FALLING by Sidney Sheldon (William Morrow: $26) When five members of a family are killed in a series of accidents, a young journalist decides to investigate.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 3

13 OPEN HOUSE by Elizabeth Berg (Random House: $23.95) After her husband leaves, a woman must deal with her loneliness and begin a new life with their 11-year-old son.

Last Week: 10; Weeks on List: 4

14 PAGAN BABIES by Elmore Leonard (Dell: $24.95) A hard-boiled priest and a fast-talking tough girl team up against a Detroit mobster to raise money for Rwandan orphans.

Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 5

15 WINTER SOLSTICE by Rosamunde Pilcher (St. Martin’s Press: $27.95) On the shortest day of the year, five people find themselves in a house in Northern Scotland learning to live with loss.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 8

NONFICTION

1 ON WRITING by Stephen King (Scribner: $25) Autobiography of the writer’s formative years, from his misbehaving youth to a janitorial stint that led to the idea for “Carrie.”

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

2 WHO MOVED MY CHEESE? by Spencer Johnson (Putnam: $19.95) This co-author of “The One Minute Manager” uses the parable of mice in a maze to show people how to manage change.

Last Week: 5; Weeks on List: 32

3 THE HEAD GAME by Roger Kahn (Harcourt: $25) Sportswriter Kahn analyzes the game of wits that pitchers play, from Cy Young and Candy Cummings to the present.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

4 THE BEATLES ANTHOLOGY by The Beatles (Chronicle Books: $60) Previously unreleased photos, memorabilia and reminiscences that should make any Fab Four fan want to twist and shout.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

5 NOTHING LIKE IT IN THE WORLD by Stephen Ambrose (Simon & Schuster: $28) The historian looks at the building of the transcontinental railroad and its impact on the growth of the nation.

Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 7

6 NATURAL BLONDE by Liz Smith (Hyperion: $25.95) The “Grande Dame of Dish” describes her climb from small-time journalism to gossip column stardom. Reviewed by Laurie Stone, Page 8.

Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 3

7 TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE by Mitch Albom (Doubleday: $19.95) A sportswriter’s story of the life lessons he received during weekly visits to an older dying friend.

Last Week: 15; Weeks on List: 140

8 IT’S NOT ABOUT THE BIKE by Lance Armstrong with Sally Jenkins (Putnam: $24.95) Triumph in the life of a champion cyclist, from overcoming cancer to winning the Tour de France.

Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 12

9 FREUD by Louis Breger (John Wiley & Sons: $30) A psychoanalyst puts Freud on the couch, creating a portrait of a man whose theories grew out of his own encounters with pain and tragedy.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

10 THE O’REILLY FACTOR by Bill O’Reilly (Broadway Books: $23) The TV pundit pontificates on what he sees as the good, the bad and the completely ridiculous in American life.

Last Week: 9; Weeks on List: 2

11 KING DAVID by Jonathan Kirsch (Ballantine: $28) Beyond the blockbusters and the epics, a search for the real history of the the man who ruled Israel.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 2

12 CHERRY by Mary Karr (Viking: $24.95) A memoir of a young girl’s sexual and pharmaceutical coming-of-age in rural Texas, a follow-up to “The Liars’ Club.”

Last Week: 11; Weeks on List: 2

13 I LOVE YOU, RONNIE The Letters of Ronald Reagan to Nancy Reagan (Random House: $24.95) Glimpses of the private life of the Gipper and his first lady, from his movie-making days to the presidency.

Last Week: 8; Weeks on List: 5

14 LAST MAN STANDING by Jack Olsen (Doubleday: $27.50) The trials and tribulations of Geronimo Pratt, the lawyers who defended him and the system that set him free.

Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 2

15 FACE FORWARD by Kevyn Aucoin (Little, Brown: $32.95) Makeup artist Aucoin shows the creative possibilities of makeup, with portraits of Sharon Stone, Martha Stewart, Mary J. Blige and others.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

PAPERBACKS

FICTION

1 THE RED TENT by Anita Diamant (Picador USA: $14) The blossoming of Dinah, Jacob’s only daughter, in Genesis.

2 PLAINSONG by Kent Haruf (Vintage: $13) Lives intersect in a small Colorado cattle town.

3 INTERPRETER OF MALADIES by Jhumpa Lahiri (Mariner: $12) Indian customs color the lives of people coping with loss.

4 HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG by Andre Dubus III (Vintage: $14) Two families clash over an auctioned house in this tragic tale.

5 FLEUR DE LEIGH’S LIFE OF CRIME by Diane Leslie (Scribner: $12) A poor little rich girl and her L.A. childhood.

6 DAUGHTER OF FORTUNE by Isabel Allende (HarperPerennial: $14) A young woman escapes to Gold Rush California.

7 GIRL IN HYACINTH BLUE by Susan Vreeland (Penguin: $12) Eight stories linked by a Dutch master’s painting.

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

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

10 SAVING FAITH by David Baldacci (Warner Vision: $7.99) A super-patriot uses treachery to return to the CIA’s glory days.

PAPERBACKS

NONFICTION

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

2 TALKING DIRTY WITH THE QUEEN OF CLEAN by Linda Cobb (Pocket: $8.99) Quick, inexpensive housekeeping tips galore.

3 SPOILING CHILDHOOD by Diane Ehrensaft (Guilford: $14.95) Balancing rewards and expectations with one’s children.

4 IS OUR CHILDREN LEARNING? by Paul Begala (Simon & Schuster: $12) A Texas pundit skewers George W. Bush’s public career.

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

6 LIES MY TEACHER TOLD ME by James W. Loewen (Touchstone: $14) History textbooks that “make students stupid.”

7 OH NO! NOT ANOTHER PROBLEM by Jeanette A. Griver and Michele W. Vodrey (Compsych Systems Inc.: $12.95) Problem solving.

8 DAY HIKES AROUND LOS ANGELES by Robert Stone (Day Hike Books: $11.95) A guide to 45 trails for the non-serious hiker.

9 FAITH OF MY FATHERS by John McCain (HarperPerennial: $14) A self-described hell-raiser finds maturity in Vietnam.

10 THE SEAT OF THE SOUL by Gary Zukav (Fireside: $13) Teaching readers to rethink the mind-body connection.

Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.