BESTSELLERS

*--* SO. CAL. RATING Fiction LAST WEEK WEEKS ON LIST

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*--* 1 The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (Doubleday: $24.95) A 1 76 Louvre curator’s killing leads to clues hidden in Leonardo’s paintings and a secret society with something to hide.

2 Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen (Knopf: $24.95) A shady 4 7 Florida marine biologist thinks he’s offed his wife, but she’s only playing dead as she plots her revenge.

3 The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason 2 16 (Dial: $24) Four Princeton roommates use clues from a 15th century manuscript to find a buried Roman treasure.

4 Snow by Orhan Pamuk (Alfred A. Knopf: $26) A Turkish poet 6 2 returning from exile in Germany finds himself caught in a society torn between secular and religious forces.

5 Tijuana Straits by Kem Nunn (Scribner: $25) A washed-up -- 2 surfer gets the chance to help a fellow soul on the run from danger in the no-man’s land along the Mexican border.

6 Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke -- 1 (Bloomsbury: $27.95) A reclusive magician teams with a risk-taking younger man to delve into England’s magical past.

7 The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom 3 49 (Hyperion: $19.95) An amusement park maintenance man faces his life, death and afterlife in this three-part parable.

8 Dark Justice by Jack Higgins (Putnam: $25.95) A White -- 1 House security operative and his British counterpart try to foil a shadowy network of agents bent on sowing terror.

9 Star by Pamela Anderson (Atria: $24) Star Wood Leigh 7 4 works by day at a salon and by night at a steak and oyster house, until her fresh face and tight T-shirt land her on the cover of a national magazine.

10 The Exile by Allan Folsom (Forge Books: $25.95) A cop on 9 2 a rogue LAPD squad thinks he has nabbed a feared hit man, only to find himself enmeshed in international intrigue.

11 Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernieres (Knopf: $25.95) -- 1 At the end of the Ottoman empire, Turks, Greeks and Armenians in an Anatolian town struggle amid war and the pressures of nationalism.

12 The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Penguin: -- 7 $24.95) In postwar Barcelona, the son of a bookstore owner tries to unearth the story of a long-dead novelist.

13 Bergdorf Blondes by Plum Sykes (Miramax: $23.95) Botoxed, -- 19 peeled and tanned to kill, Park Avenue princesses search for an ATM (rich boyfriend) or a P.H. (potential husband).

14 Murder List by Julie Garwood (Ballantine: $25.95) A -- 1 Chicago detective guards a hotel heiress who fears for her life when people whose names she wrote on a pretend “cleansing” list turn up dead.

15 Dune: The Battle of Corrin by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. 8 2 Anderson (Tor Books: $27.95) Humans and “thinking machines” battle it out in this prequel to “Dune.”

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction LAST WEEK WEEKS ON LIST

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*--* 1 Bushworld: Enter at Your Own Risk by Maureen Dowd 2 4 (Putnam: $25.95) A decade of the New York Times op-ed columnist’s collected works, especially those on Bush pere and fils.

2 Unfit for Command by John E. O’Neill and Jerome R. Corsi 1 3 (Regnery: $27.95) Vietnam vets accuse presidential nominee John Kerry of misdeeds regarding his wartime service.

3 Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris 3 14 (Little, Brown: $24.95) Popular humorist recounts childhood experiences with his delightfully dysfunctional family.

4 The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle (New World Library: -- 79 $21.95) How to improve one’s relationships and find contentment, even happiness, by living in the now.

5 American Soldier by Tommy Franks with Malcolm McConnell 6 5 (ReganBooks: $27.95) The former commander in chief of the U.S. Central Command gives an inside look at the war on terror.

6 How to Make Love Like a Porn Star by Jenna Jameson with 11 2 Neil Strauss (ReganBooks: $27.95) The adult-movie queen tells how a sexual assault propelled her into a life of porn and drugs.

7 The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren (Zondervan: 9 78 $19.99) How the “God ordained” principles of worship, community, discipleship, ministry and evangelism bring fulfillment.

8 My Life by Bill Clinton (Knopf: $35) The former 5 11 president’s memoirs, from his Arkansas childhood through the highs and lows of his two terms in the White House.

9 Skywriting by Jane Pauley (Random House: $25.95) The TV -- 1 newsmagazine’s golden girl explores the ups and downs of a remarkable career, her roots in the heartland and how she redefined herself at midlife.

10 Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss (Gotham: $17.50) A 4 20 British novelist and journalist offers her zero-tolerance approach to bad punctuation, drawn from her pioneering BBC series.

11 The Holy Thief by Mark Borovitz and Alan Eisenstock -- 1 (William Morrow: $23.95) A nice Jewish boy details his life as thief, scam artist and convict, and how he redeemed himself and became a rabbi.

12 FBI Girl by Maura Conlon-McIvor (Warner Books: $23) The -- 1 daughter of a J. Edgar Hoover-era FBI agent tries to decipher the “code” by which her taciturn father lives.

13 Created in Darkness by Troubled Americans edited by Dave 8 3 Eggers et al. (Alfred A. Knopf: $16.95) A dose of humor compiled by the folks at the McSweeney’s literary empire.

14 Worse Than Watergate by John W. Dean (Little, Brown: -- 18 $22.95) Former White House counsel argues that President Bush has done more damage to the nation than President Nixon or Watergate.

15 Sore Winners by John Powers (Doubleday: $24.95) LA Weekly -- 1 columnist skewers politicians on the left and right, journalists and the talking heads he says are failing the nation in its time of greatest need.

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