BESTSELLERS / PAPERBACKS

Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.

*--* SO. CAL. RATING Fiction 1 The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards (Penguin: $14) A father hides the birth of a twin from his wife.

2 The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (HarperSanFrancisco: $13) An Andalusian shepherd boy searches for treasure in Egypt.

3 The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai (Grove: $14) A retired judge is caught up in Nepal’s independence movement.

4 March by Geraldine Brooks (Penguin: $14) Imagining the Civil War experiences of Mr. March, father of the “Little Women.”

5 Snow by Orhan Pamuk (Vintage: $14.95) A Turkish poet returns from exile to find ideological strife.

6 Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See (Random House: $13.95) Two women in 19th century China.

7 The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom (Hyperion: $12) A repairman considers his life.

8 The Lighthouse by P.D. James (Vintage: $13.95) Adam Dalgliesh searches for the killer of an acclaimed novelist.

9 Skeleton Coast by Clive Cussler and Jack Du Brul (Berkley: $16) A covert ship gets tangled in a diamond hunt.

10 Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan (Ballantine: $14.95) Tourists in Burma make darkly humorous missteps.

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction 1 Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs (Picador: $14) A boy goes to live with his mother’s psychiatrist.

2 Marie Antoinette: The Journey by Antonia Fraser (Anchor: $16.95) A portrait of France’s child-queen.

3 The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (Scribner: $14) A memoir of breaking away from dysfunctional parents.

4 The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands by Laura Schlessinger (Harper: $13.95) How to manage men.

5 Hegemony or Survival by Noam Chomsky (Owl Books: $13) A critique of America’s quest for global supremacy.

6 The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt (Penguin: $15) Fire destroys a Venice opera house, baring the city’s heart.

7 Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter (TechPress/Warner: $16.95) Fiscal parenting.

8 Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley with Ron Powers (Bantam: $7.99) The men in the iconic Iwo Jima photo.

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

10 Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama (Three Rivers: $14.95) The senator traces his mixed-raced heritage.

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