FICTION

1 THE BONESETTER’S DAUGHTER by Amy Tan (Putnam: $25.95) A ghostwriter uncovers her family’s anguished past in China as her mother struggles with Alzheimer’s disease.

Last Week: 1

Weeks On List: 8

2 SILENT JOE by T. Jefferson Parker (Hyperion: $23.95) A young sheriff’s deputy, his face horribly scarred, uncovers his mysterious past when he hunts the killers of his adopted father.

Last Week: -

Weeks On List: 1

3 1st TO DIE by James Patterson (Little, Brown: $26.95) Four female professionals dubbed “The Women’s Murder Club” track a killer with a penchant for newlyweds.

Last Week: 11

Weeks On List: 5

4 MY DREAM OF YOU by Nuala O’Faolain (Riverhead: $25.95) In researching a 150-year-old divorce case, an Irish writer uncovers a story of love and devotion.

Last Week: 3

Weeks On List: 2

5 SHOPGIRL by Steve Martin (Hyperion: $17.95) A young artist working days in the glove department of Neiman Marcus falls in love with a millionaire businessman.

Last Week: 10

Weeks On List: 24

6 THE VILLA by Nora Roberts (Putnam: $25.95) The merger of two powerful family wineries in Napa, Calif., results in romance, intrigue, sabotage and murder.

Last Week: 4

Weeks On List: 3

7 THE LAST TIME THEY MET by Anita Shreve (Little, Brown: $24.95) Two poets sustain a lifelong passion though they’ve been together only three times.

Last Week: 5

Weeks On List: 2

8 A COMMON LIFE by Jan Karon (Viking: $24.95) The villagers in Mitford celebrate, from pre-nup counseling to the walk down the aisle, when Father Tim marries his next-door neighbor.

Last Week: -

Weeks On List: 1

9 A DAY LATE AND A DOLLAR SHORT by Terry McMillan (Viking: $25.95) A matriarch, her husband and her children see life-and one another-on their own terms.

Last Week: 8

Weeks On List: 11

10 THE LAST REPORT ON THE MIRACLES AT LITTLE NO HORSE by Louise Erdrich (HarperCollins: $26) A priest suffers a crisis of conscience in an Ojibwe community in North Dakota.

Last Week: -

Weeks On List: 1

11 DREAMCATCHER by Stephen King (Scribner: $28) Four boyhood friends return to a cabin in the Maine woods to recall old times and face horrifying bodysnatchers.

Last Week: 2

Weeks On List: 3

12 RESURRECTING MINGUS by Jenoyne Adams (The Free Press: $23) In the aftermath of her parents’ divorce, a young attorney strives to find her own identity.

Last Week: -

Weeks On List: 3

13 CHEMICAL PINK by Katie Arnoldi (Forge: $23.95) A single mother loses herself in the pursuit of becoming a bodybuilder and falls under the control of a manipulative trainer.

Last Week: -

Weeks On List: 6

14 THE ORANGE CURTAIN by John Shannon (Carroll & Graf: $24) Jack Liffey finds himself on the trail of a killer when he investigates the disappearance of a Vietnamese American girl.

Last Week: 15

Weeks On List: 2

15 SINGING BOY by Dennis McFarland (Henry Holt: $25) After a man is gunned down by a stranger while his wife and son watch, his widow and best friend suffer the consequences.

Last Week: 1

Weeks On List: 2

NONFICTION

1 SEABISCUIT by Laura Hillenbrand (Random House: $24.95) How three men transformed a thoroughbred horse from a neurotic also-ran into an American sports icon.

Last Week: 1

Weeks On List: 6

2 FAST FOOD NATION by Eric Schlosser (Houghton Mifflin: $25) A journalist exposes the fast-food industry’s strategies, from meatpacking to the boardroom, to control American consumers.

Last Week: 3

Weeks On List: 9

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

Last Week: 2

Weeks On List: 56

4 LOST HOLLYWOOD by David Wallace (St. Martin’s: $23.95) A tour of the movie capital’s locations and the stories, glamour and romance associated with them.

Last Week: 5

Weeks On List: 2

5 A SHORT GUIDE TO A HAPPY LIFE by Anna Quindlen (Random House: $12.95) The columnist reflects on what it takes to “get a life” by living deeply rather than merely existing.

Last Week: 8

Weeks On List: 22

6 MORE THAN A GAME by Phil Jackson and Charley Rosen (Seven Stories Press: $24.95) The Laker coach shares strategy and locker room gossip. Reviewed by Bill Plaschke, Page 4.

Last Week: 4

Weeks On List: 2

7 BIRTH OF THE COOL by Lewis Macadams (The Free Press: $27.50) From bebop to Beat and Parker to Pollock, the genesis of the hip generation by one of its players.

Last Week: -

Weeks On List: 2

8 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: 7

Weeks On List: 162

9 AN HOUR BEFORE DAYLIGHT by Jimmy Carter (Simon & Schuster: $26) Memories of the former president’s boyhood on a Georgia farm during the Great Depression.

Last Week: 10

Weeks On List: 13

10 RAISING FENCES by Michael Datcher (Putnam: $23.95) A poet’s memoir of his chaotic childhood in the inner city of L.A. and an impassioned indictment of absentee fathers.

Last Week: -

Weeks On List: 1

11 ULTIMATE JOURNEY by Richard Bernstein (Alfred A. Knopf: $26) A former New York Times correspondent retraces the trail of an ancient Buddhist monk into the heart of Central Asia.

Last Week: 9

Weeks On List: 2

12 WALKING THE BIBLE by Bruce Feiler (William Morrow: $26) A writer joins an archeologist on a trek in the Middle East to connect more deeply with his religious roots.

Last Week: 11

Weeks On List: 2

13 THE FLNEUR by Edmund White (Bloomsbury: $16.95) Leisurely strolls through the City of Light prompt literary meditations by the novelist.

Last Week: -

Weeks On List: 3

14 SECRETS OF THE BABY WHISPERER by Tracy Hogg with Melinda Blau (Ballantine: $22) A neonatal nurse blends intuition with simple techniques to help parents and infants to bond.

Last Week: 13

Weeks On List: 6

15 BUDDHA by Karen Armstrong (Viking/Lipper: $19.95) A short biography of Sidhatta Gotama’s quest for truth and the relevance of his teachings today.

Last Week: -

Weeks On List: 4

Paperbacks / FICTION

1 DIM SUM DEAD by Jerrilyn Farmer (HarperCollins: $5.99) Murder and Mah-Jongg mix at a Chinese New Year’s party.

2 GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING by Tracy Chevalier (Plume: $12) The woman who inspired a Vermeer painting.

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

4 BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY by Helen Fielding (Penguin: $12.95) A thirtysomething Londoner’s quest for a mate.

5 GIRL IN HYACINTH BLUE by Susan Vreeland (Penguin: $12) Eight stories linked by a

Dutch master’s painting.

6 HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG by Andre Dubus III (Vintage: $14) Two families clash over an auctioned house.

7 THE FIG EATER by Jody Shields (Little, Brown: $13.95) A murder in old Vienna pits science against intuition.

8 ALONG CAME A SPIDER by James Patterson (Warner: $7.99) A serial killer kidnaps two children from an elite school.

9 BLUE ANGEL by Francine Prose (HarperTrade: $14) Life with a struggling college professor and his sexy pupil.

10 SICK PUPPY by Carl Hiaasen (Warner: $7.99) An eco-terrorist and a Labrador retriever among the thugs.

Paperbacks / NONFICTION

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

2 A HEARTBREAKING WORK OF STAGGERING GENIUS by Dave Eggers (Vintage: $14) A 22-year-old raises his brother.

3 STILL LIFE WITH RICE by Hellie Lee (Touchstone: $13) An American woman learns from her Korean grandmother.

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

5 THE GHOSTS OF ECHO PARK by Ron Emler (Echo Park Publishing: $15) A pictorial history of the neighborhood.

6 TAKE THE CANNOLI by Sarah Vowell (Simon & Schuster: $12) On kitsch, Sinatra and family by an NPR regular.

7 RIVER-HORSE by William Least Heat Moon (Penguin: $13) Traveling America by boat, from East to West Coast.

8 GEORGE W. BUSHISMS edited by Jacob Weisberg (Simon & Schuster: $9.95) The accidental wit of the 43rd president.

9 THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES by Eve Ensler (Villard: $12.95) The award-winning play in book form.

10 GALILEO’S DAUGHTER by Dava Sobel (Penguin: $14) The famous astronomer and his daughter, a cloistered nun.

*

Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.