FictionCOLD MOUNTAIN by Charles Frazier. (Atlantic Monthly:...

Fiction

COLD MOUNTAIN by Charles Frazier. (Atlantic Monthly: $24). A confederate soldier abandons the Civil War and takes a long walk home (2). Southern California ranking: 1; Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 7

UNNATURAL EXPOSURE by Patricia Cornwell. (Putnam: $25.95). A serial killer returns, leaving a trail of clues for Kay Scarpetta in cyberspace (1). Southern California ranking: 2; Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 4

CHASING CEZANNE by Peter Mayle. (Knopf: $23). An art theft on the Co^te d’Azur plunges a photographer into the world of the super chic (8). Southern California ranking: 3; Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 11

SERPENT’S TOOTH by Faye Kellerman. (Morrow: $24). Lt. Peter Decker tracks a killer after a mass murder at a posh L.A. eatery. Southern California ranking: 4; Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS by Arundhati Roy. (Random House: $23). Richard Eder, The Times’ book critic, called the novel a “tragedy . . . played out as ornamented princely melodrama” (13). Southern California ranking: 5; Last Week: 9; Weeks on List: 7

PLUM ISLAND by Nelson DeMille. (Warner: $25). Convalescing in a fishing town, a New York cop links local lore with two deaths (3). Southern California ranking: 6; Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 11

LONDON by Edward Rutherfurd. (Crown: $25.95) From ancient times to the present, London’s history is told through the lives of six families (11). Southern California ranking: 7; Last Week: 7; Weeks on List: 10

WOMEN WITH MEN by Richard Ford. (Knopf: $23). Our reviewer, Jonathan Levi, said the novella “Occidental” in this collection is “as rich a moral fable as the finest novellas of this century.” Southern California ranking: 8; Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 3

IF THIS WORLD WERE MINE by E. Lynn Harris. (Doubleday: $23.95). Four college friends reunite after 10 years for a weekend of shocks and revelations (15). Southern California ranking: 9; Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

SPECIAL DELIVERY by Danielle Steel. (Delacorte: $16.95). Two Beverly Hills in-laws become Romeo and Juliet Sr. (5). Southern California ranking: 10; Last Week: 5; Weeks on List: 6

NONFICTION

ANGELA’S ASHES by Frank McCourt. (Scribner: $24). Bittersweet memories of an Irish childhood (1). Southern California ranking: 1; Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 42

INTO THIN AIR: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer. (Villard: $24) (3). Southern California ranking: 2; Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 16

THE PERFECT STORM by Sebastian Junger. (Norton: $23.95). Our reviewer, Richard Ellis, said the book “brilliantly captures the awesome power of the raging sea” (4). Southern California ranking: 3; Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 8

CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD, BOOK ONE by Neale Donald Walsch. (Putnam: $19.95) (5). Southern California ranking: 4; Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 16

THE MILLIONAIRE NEXT DOOR by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko. (Longstreet: $22). Lives of the rich and fearless (8). Southern California ranking: 5; Last Week: 5; Weeks on List: 2

STOCK MARKET MIRACLES by Wade Cook. (Lighthouse Publishing: $24.95). Yes, you too can win big money in the market. Southern California ranking: 6; Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

BILLIONS AND BILLIONS: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium by Carl Sagan. (Random House: $24). Southern California ranking: 7; Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

THE GIFT OF FEAR: Listening to the Intuition that Protects Us from Danger by Gavin De Becker. (Little, Brown: $22.95). Coping with societal violence (10). Southern California ranking: 8; Last Week: 6; Weeks on List: 7

THE BIBLE CODE by Michael Drosnin. (Simon & Schuster: $25) Our reviewer, Michael Shermer, called the book “not only an insult to science and to those who are deeply religious, it is also an insult to God” (6). Southern California ranking: 9; Last Week: 9; Weeks on List: 9

SIMPLE ABUNDANCE: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy by Sarah Ban Breathnach. (Warner: $17.95) (2). Southern California ranking: 10; Last Week: 8; Weeks on List: 35

Paperbacks: FICTION

1. CONTACT by Carl Sagan. (Pocket: $6.99)

2. THE LAWS OF OUR FATHERS by Scott Turow. (Warner: $7.99)

3. AT HOME IN MITFORD by Jan Karon. (Penguin: $11.95)

4. EXECUTIVE ORDERS by Tom Clancy. (Berkley: $7.99)

5. LYING ON THE COUCH by Irvin D. Yalom. (HarperPerennial: $13)

Paperbacks: NONFICTION

1. DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF by Richard Carlson. (Hyperion: $8.95)

2. ZAGAT SURVEY 1997 LOS ANGELES/SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA RESTAURANT GUIDE by Merrill Shindler and Karen Berk. (Zagat: $10.95)

3. THE COLOR OF WATER by James McBride. (Riverhead: $12)

4. A CIVIL ACTION by Jonathan Harr. (Vintage: $13)

5. L.A. BIZARRO by Anthony Lovett and Matt Maranian. (A Buzz Book/St. Martin’s: $16.95)

Based on Times’ poll of local bookstores. National rankings (in parentheses) are from Publishers Weekly.