BESTSELLERS

PAPERBACKS

1. Atonement by Ian McEwan ($14.95)

*--* Fiction weeks on list 1. Duma Key by Stephen King (Scribner: $28) A man takes up 1 painting as therapy, only to discover his canvases have an uncontrollable power over him. 2. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks (Viking: $25.95) 4 A rare-books expert traces the history of a priceless Jewish tome to 15th century Spain. 3. Blasphemy by Douglas Preston (Forge: $25.95) Scientists 3 at the world’s largest supercollider uncover secrets to the world’s future and past. 4. T Is for Trespass by Sue Grafton (Putnam: $26.95) Kinsey 7 Millhone suspects elder abuse and becomes ensnared in a case of identity theft. 5. Plum Lucky by Janet Evanovich (St. Martin’s: $17.95) 3 Stephanie Plum’s latest caper involves a big bag of money, plus-size modeling and a case of hives. 6. The Senator’s Wife by Sue Miller (Knopf: $24.95) A bride 3 learns from a politician’s long-suffering spouse. 7. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead: 37 $25.95) Two Afghan women struggle to survive jihad, civil war and Taliban tyranny. 8. Beverly Hills Dead by Stuart Woods (Putnam: $25.95) A 2 Hollywood screenwriter is summoned before the House Un-American Activities Committee. 9. Three Shirt Deal by Stephen J. Cannell (St. Martin’s: 2 $24.95) Shane Scully tries to save a convict whose murder confession was coerced. 10. Sword Song by Bernard Cornwell (Harper: $25.95) A lord 1 in 9th century England weighs allegiances to the king and to the Vikings occupying London. *--*

*--* Nonfiction 1. In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan (Penguin Press: 4 $21.95) A look at dietary sacred cows. 2. The Secret by Rhonda Byrne (Beyond Words: $23.95) 57 Life’s secrets distilled from oral tradition, literature, religion and philosophy. 3. Tom Cruise by Andrew Morton (St. Martin’s: $25.95) An 2 unauthorized biography of the megastar. 4. The Associates by Richard Rayner (Norton/Atlas: 1 $23.95) How a quartet of Sacramento merchants remade California. 5. Born Standing Up by Steve Martin (Scribner: $25) The 10 comedian reflects on the evolution of his art. 6. The Daring Book for Girls by Andrea J. Buchanan and 13 Miriam Peskowitz (HarperCollins: $24.95) A girls’ handbook of skills and must-have knowledge. 7. Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh (Penguin 1 Press: $25.95) A sociologist’s look from the inside at a Chicago crack-dealing syndicate. 8. The Nine by Jeffrey Toobin (Doubleday: $27.95) The 11 inner workings of the U.S. Supreme Court. 9. I Am America (and so Can You!) by Stephen Colbert 16 (Grand Central: $26.99) “The Colbert Report” star expounds on the forces destroying the country. 10. Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks (Knopf: $26) The medical 11 storyteller explores the link between music and its myriad effects on the human brain. *--*

Fiction

2. The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs ($14)

3. The Gathering by Anne Enright ($14)

4. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett ($24.95)

5. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen ($13.95)

Nonfiction

1. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert ($15)

2. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

($15)

3. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer ($13.95)

4. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby

($12.95)

5. Candy Girl by Diablo Cody ($14)

Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.