Southern California RatingFICTION1 THE FOURTH HAND ...

Southern California Rating

FICTION

1 THE FOURTH HAND by John Irving (Random House: $26.95) A television reporter loses his hand to a hungry lion in a freak accident that is broadcast on TV.

Last Week 8; Weeks on List 4

2 SUZANNE’S DIARY FOR NICHOLAS by James Patterson (Little, Brown: $22.95) A woman gains insights into the boyfriend who left her from a diary written by his late wife, a country doctor.

Last Week --; Weeks on List 1

3 A TRAITOR TO MEMORY by Elizabeth George (Bantam: $26.95) A sensational child murder case from years ago holds clues to the identity of a vicious hit-and-run killer of a divorcee.

Last Week 13; Weeks on List 6

4 THE WIND DONE GONE by Alice Randall (Houghton Mifflin: $22) A tale of plantation life on Tara, told by Scarlett’s half-sister and infused with irony and Gothic satire.

Last Week 3; Weeks on List 8

5 ANY WAY THE WIND BLOWS by E. Lynn Harris (Doubleday: $19.95) A retired bisexual NFL tight end is reunited with the actress-recording star he left at the altar.

Last Week 6; Weeks on List 2

6 HOW TO BE GOOD by Nick Hornby (Riverhead: $24.95) An altruistic doctor wages a carnal and philosophical war between her desires for adultery and being a faithful wife.

Last Week 1; Weeks on List 3

7 BLUE DIARY by Alice Hoffman (Putnam: $24.95) A happy marriage and idyllic family life is rocked by a dark revelation about the husband, a seemingly all-around good guy.

Last Week --; Weeks on List 1

8 OPEN SEASON by C.J. Box (Putnam: $23.95) A game warden finds himself in a nest of trouble when three elk hunters are killed under mysterious circumstances.

Last Week 6; Weeks on List 4

9 FEARLESS JONES by Walter Mosley (Little, Brown: $24.95) A used-book shop owner crosses paths with a beautiful, mysterious woman, and his life is quickly turned upside-down.

Last Week 2; Weeks on List 7

10 ENEMY WITHIN by Robert K. Tanenbaum (Pocket Books: $24.95) A husband-and-wife team fight corruption and police conspiracy in the bull market days of New York City.

Last Week --; Weeks on List 1

11 BACK WHEN WE WERE GROWNUPS by Anne Tyler (Alfred A. Knopf: $25) A 50ish widow and loving mom, coping with midlife, meets an old flame and ponders the road not taken.

Last Week 15; Weeks on List 13

12 CANE RIVER by Lalita Tademy (Warner: $24.95) A family chronicle about the experiences of four generations of women born into slavery on the Cane River in Louisiana.

Last Week 10; Weeks on List 5

13 THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY by Michael Chabon (Random House: $26.95) In World War II Brooklyn, two Jewish cousins break into the comic book business.

Last Week 9; Weeks on List 23

14 THE JASMINE TRADE by Denise Hamilton (Scribner: $24) A young Chinese girl’s death leads a reporter into the world of Asian gangs and wealthy teens with money to burn.

Last Week 4; Weeks on List 3

15 LITTLE AMERICA by Henry Bromell (Alfred A. Knopf: $24 ) A fiftysomething history professor plunges into the shadowy past of his father, a CIA operative in a tiny Middle Eastern kingdom.

Last Week 12; Weeks on List 4

NONFICTION

1 JOHN ADAMS by David McCullough (Simon & Schuster: $35) The story of our second president, a man Thomas Jefferson called “the colossus of independence.”

Last Week 1; Weeks on List 11

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

Last Week 12; Weeks on List 72

3 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 5; Weeks on List 22

4 FOUNDING BROTHERS by Joseph J. Ellis (Alfred A. Knopf: $26 ) The intertwined lives of America’s founders, their squabbles and collaborations, long before they were deified in history books.

Last Week 13; Weeks on List 15

5 NICKEL AND DIMED by Barbara Ehrenreich (Henry Holt: $23) Concealing her identity, the author worked a series of low-paying jobs to see if the American dream is available to everyone.

Last Week 4; Weeks on List 8

6 THE BOTANY OF DESIRE by Michael Pollan (Random House: $24.95) How four plants and their products--apple, potato, tulip and cannabis--have influenced human destiny.

Last Week --; Weeks on List 2

7 VULGARIANS AT THE GATE by Steve Allen (Prometheus: $26) The late entertainer and comedian’s final book criticizes the show biz industry for declining cultural standards.

Last Week --; Weeks on List 1

8 AMERICAN PATRIOTS by Gail Buckley (Random House: $29.95) The story of blacks in the U.S. military, from the American Revolution through Desert Storm.

Last Week 3; Weeks on List 2

9 GHOST SOLDIERS by Hampton Sides (Doubleday: $24.95) How a small group of elite American soldiers made a daring rescue of British and American war prisoners in 1945.

Last Week 10; Weeks on List 11

10 JUSTICE by Dominick Dunne (Crown: $24) The bespectacled writer describes the high-profile crimes he’s covered as well as a painfully private one: his daughter’s murder. Last Week --; Weeks on List 4

11 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 9; Weeks on List 172

12 STOLEN LIVES by Malika Oufkir with Michele Fitoussi (Talk Miramax: $24) A young woman spends 20 years in jail after her father tries to assassinate the king of Morocco.

Last Week 8; Weeks on List 7

13 NATASHA by Suzanne Finstad (Crown: $25) The lifelong struggle between Natalie Zakharenko, born to Russian immigrants, and her alter ego, Hollywood’s glamorous Natalie Wood.

Last Week 15; Weeks on List 5

14 DOES AMERICA NEED A FOREIGN POLICY? by Henry Kissinger (Simon & Schuster: $30) The former secretary of state advocates a revamping of U.S. foreign policy.

Last Week 2; Weeks on List 2

15 THE ASSASSINATION OF LUMUMBA by Ludo De Witte (Verso: $27) The rise and fall of the Congolese prime minister who was killed by his countrymen in 1961.

Last Week 14Weeks on List 2

Paperbacks

FICTION

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

2 THE LAST PRECINCT by Patricia Cornwell (Berkley: $7.99 ) Mangled corpses crowd Kay Scarpetta’s morgue.

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

4 THE FEAST OF LOVE by Charles Baxter (Vintage: $13) Love, sacrifice and redemption in Michigan lives.

5 WHITE TEETH by Zadie Smith (Vintage: $14) Race, sex and class refracted in the lives of two eccentric London families.

6 THE SKY IS FALLING by Sidney Sheldon (Warner: $7.99) A reporter thinks a family dynasty is targeted for extinction.

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

8 INTERPRETER OF MALADIES by Jhumpa Lahiri (Mariner: $12) Stories of love and loss collide with Indian customs.

9 THE HUMAN STAIN by Philip Roth (Vintage: $14) Sex and scandal surround an aging faculty dean in a quiet town.

10 FOUR BLONDES by Candace Bushnell (Atlantic Monthly: $12) A quartet of stories about love, sex among New Yorkers.

NONFICTION

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

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

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

4 A COMMUNITY OF ANGELS: Los ANGELes (Angel City Press: $16.95) Pictures and stories from the recent exhibition.

5 WORST-CASE SCENARIO SURVIVAL HANDBOOK: TRAVEL by J. Piven & D. Borgenicht (Chronicle: $14.95) Help on the run.

6 KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL by Anthony Bourdain (Ecco Press: $14) Tales from the culinary trenches.

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

8 IN THE HEART OF THE SEA by Nathaniel Philbrick (Penguin: $14) The whaling tragedy that inspired “Moby Dick.”

9 THE GREATEST GENERATION by Tom Brokaw (Dell: $12.95) The men and women who came of age in the Depression.

10 BEYOND POPCORN by Robert Glatzer (University of Washington: $14.95) Insights into filmmaking.

Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.