BESTSELLERS / PAPERBACKS

Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.

*--* SO. CAL. RATING Fiction 1 Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden (Vintage: $14.95) The life and loves of a teahouse entertainer.

2 The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead: $14) A writer returns to Kabul to rescue the son of a childhood friend.

3 Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld (Random House: $13.95) An Indiana teen on scholarship tries to fit in at a Massachusetts prep school.

4 The Broker by John Grisham (Dell: $7.99) A jailed lawyer helps the CIA protect satellite technology.

5 Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx (Scribner: $9.95) A pair of cowboys in love face a harsh world.

6 The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis (HarperCollins: $19.99) Lewis’ seven Narnia fantasies.

7 The Plot Against America by Philip Roth (Vintage: $14.95) President Charles Lindbergh launches 1940s pogroms.

8 The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Penguin: $15) A quest for the truth about a Spanish novelist.

9 Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (Vintage: $12.95) An autistic teen seeks a killer.

10 Wicked by Gregory Maguire (ReganBooks: $15) The Wicked Witch of the West tells her side of the story.

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction 1 A Million Little Pieces by James Frey (Anchor: $14.95) A memoir of addiction, rehabilitation and 12-step treatment.

2 1,000 Places to See Before You Die by Patricia Schultz (Workman: $18.95) Trotting the globe.

3 In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (Vintage: $14) The masterful writer’s account of a Kansas family’s brutal murder.

4 Why Do Men Have Nipples? by Mark Leyner and Billy Goldberg (Three Rivers Press: $12.95) What’s up, doc?

5 The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz (Amber-Allen: $12.95) A code of conduct based on Toltec wisdom.

6 Bad Cat by Jim Edgar (Workman: $9.95) Meet 244 cats and kittens with attitude, all in living color.

7 Chronicles by Bob Dylan (Simon & Schuster: $14) The songwriter reflects on his life and creativity.

8 Bad Dog by R.D. Rosen et al. (Workman: $9.95) Photographs of 278 canines, along with what they are really thinking.

9 The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle (New World Library: $14) How to attain enlightenment by living in the now.

10 Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (Vintage: $14.95) A serial killer haunts the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.

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