Los Angeles Times Bestsellers

September 20, 2001

Southern California Rating

FICTION

1 THE BLIND ASSASSIN by Margaret Atwood (Anchor: $14) A tale of two sisters and an unpublished sci-fi novel.

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

3 DROWNING RUTH by Christina Schwarz (Ballantine: $14.95) A mystery set in Wisconsin at the end of World War I.

4 BEE SEASON by Myla Goldberg (Vintage: $13) A young girl wins her family’s attention after excelling at spelling bees.

5 THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY by Michael Chabon (Picador: $15) Cousins in the comics biz.

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

7 L.A. DEAD by Stuart Woods (Signet: $7.99) Stone Barrington is a moth to an old flame who may have killed her husband.

8 THE THIRD OPTION by Vince Flynn (Pocket: $7.99) Deadly infighting threatens the selection of a new CIA chief.

9 CATCHING HEAVEN by Sands Hall (Ballantine: $14) A woman flees L.A. to join her struggling sister in New Mexico.

10 THE BEAR AND THE DRAGON by Tom Clancy (Berkley: $7.99) Trouble in Russia and China threatens New World order.

Southern California Rating

NONFICTION

1 PERSONAL HISTORY by Katharine Graham (Vintage: $15) A memoir by the late publisher of the Washington Post.

2 PARIS TO THE MOON by Adam Gopnik (Vintage: $14.95) Dispatches from the City of Light by a New Yorker writer.

3 BAND OF BROTHERS by Stephen E. Ambrose (Touchstone Books: $16) The elite fighting force Easy Company.

4 ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY by David Sedaris (Little, Brown: $14.95) Wisecracking essays on life in Paris and elsewhere.

5 IT’S NOT ABOUT THE BIKE by Lance Armstrong with Sally Jenkins (Berkley: $13) A cyclist’s race against cancer.

6 FDR AND HIS ENEMIES by Albert Fried (St. Martin’s: $15.95) Roosevelt’s cunning in overcoming New Deal opponents.

7 CHERRY by Mary Karr (Plume: $14) “The Liars’ Club” author describes her teen years in a lonesome Texas town.

8 RICH DAD, POOR DAD by Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter (Techpress: $15.95) Adventures in fiscal parenting.

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

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.