Southern California Rankings:FICTION1. THE VAMPIRE ARMAND by...

Southern California Rankings:

FICTION

1. THE VAMPIRE ARMAND by Anne Rice (Alfred A. Knopf: $26.95) Is Lestat dead? As vampires from around the globe gather near his body, Armand tells his own story.

Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 3

2. GATES OF EDEN by Ethan Coen (Rob Weisbach Books/Morrow: $24) A collection of twisted tales from Coen the Younger, one of the brothers who brought us “Fargo.”

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

3. THE POISONWOOD BIBLE by Barbara Kingsolver (HarperCollins: $27.50) An evangelical Baptist missionary takes his wife and children to the Belgian Congo in 1959.

Last Week: 7; Weeks on List: 4

4. MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA by Arthur Golden (Alfred A. Knopf: $25) The life and loves of a poor fisherman’s daughter who becomes a teahouse entertainer in Tokyo during WWII.

Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 51

5. THE HAMMER OF EDEN by Ken Follett (Crown: $25.95) A young FBI agent must track down a terrorist group with the power to create earthquakes.

Last Week: 8; Weeks on List: 2

6. THE HUNDRED DAYS by Patrick O’Brian (W.W. Norton: $24) The latest Aubrey-Maturin adventure, set against the backdrop of the final defeat of Napoleon.

Last Week: 10; Weeks on List: 4

7. THE PATH OF DAGGERS by Robert Jordan (Tor: $27.95) The Wheel of Time series continues; as Book Eight opens, the Seanchan force is in possession of Ebou Dar.

Last Week: 5; Weeks on List: 2

8. THE WAKE OF THE WIND by J. California Cooper (Doubleday: $22.95) A family saga begins when two friends are taken from Africa and brought to America as slaves.

Last Week: 12; Weeks on List: 2

9. RED, WHITE AND BLUE by Susan Isaacs (HarperCollins: $25) An FBI agent in Wyoming and a reporter for the Jewish News in New York share a great-great-grandmother.

Last Week: 9; Weeks on List: 2

10. ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT by Mary Higgins Clark (Simon & Schuster: $17) A Christmas suspense story, complete with abandoned baby, jewel thief and a cleaning woman-turned-detective.

Last Week: 11; Weeks on List: 2

11. BLUE LIGHT by Walter Mosley (Little, Brown: $23) Flashes of blue light fall to Earth in the 1960s, and several Northern Californians gain superhuman powers.

Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 2

12. I MARRIED A COMMUNIST by Philip Roth (Houghton Mifflin: $26) The story of a radio actor whose private dramas become national scandal when his wife pens a tell-all memoir.

Last Week: 15; Weeks on List: 5

13. BIRDS OF AMERICA by Lorrie Moore (Alfred A. Knopf: $23) An orphaned woman, an ill child and other wounded characters find affection in unlikely places.

Last Week: 13; Weeks on List: 9

14. MILK IN MY COFFEE by Eric J. Dickey (Dutton: $24.95) A young African American professional crosses the color barrier to date a white woman.

Last Week: 14; Weeks on List: 3

15. PURPLE DOTS by Jim Lehrer (Random House: $23.95) A group of eccentric ex-spies embarks on a wildly unorthodox power struggle to help a comrade gain confirmation as Chief Spook.

Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 2

****

NONFICTION

1. DAVE BARRY TURNS 50 by Dave Barry (Crown: $22) The advantages and disadvantages of turning 50 by a comedian with the soul of a child.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

2. TO BEGIN AGAIN by Naomi Levy (Alfred A. Knopf: $23) A book of comfort and faith that takes on the questions that come up after personal tragedy.

Last Week: 15; Weeks on List: 3

3. TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE by Mitch Albom (Doubleday: $19.95) A sportswriter’s empowering story about his weekly visits to see an older dying friend.

Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 44

4. LINDBERGH by A. Scott Berg (Putnam: $30) Daring aviator, loving father, isolationist and, finally, fallen hero--a dramatic American story.

Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 7

5. EAT THE RICH by P.J. O’Rourke (Atlantic Monthly Press: $24) P.J. explains Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange, and the differences between good and bad capitalism.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

6. PURE DRIVEL by Steve Martin (Hyperion: $21) A collection of humorous riffs and comical sketches on various topics, most written by the entertainer for the New Yorker.

Last Week: 5; Weeks on List: 6

7. THE NINE STEPS TO FINANCIAL FREEDOM by Suze Orman (Crown: $23) Practical tips for avoiding stress, making good savings plans and managing money.

Last Week: 10; Weeks on List: 29

8. A DREAM DEFERRED by Shelby Steele (HarperCollins: $24) A series of essays examining how race policies have affected African Americans.

Last Week: 8; Weeks on List: 2

9. FOR LAUGHING OUT LOUD by Ed McMahon with David Fisher (Little, Brown: $23) Professional sidekick looks back at 50 years in and on television.

Last Week: 9; Weeks on List: 2

10. THE PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN by Simon Winchester (HarperCollins: $22) The editor of the Oxford English Dictionary was helped by a brilliant mental patient.

Last Week: 11; Weeks on List: 7

11. VALUES OF THE GAME by Bill Bradley (Artisan: $30) Ten essays by the former senator on the essentials of basketball--to help form character on and off the court.

Last Week: 13; Weeks on List: 2

12. JUST JACKIE by Edward Klein (Ballantine: $25.95) New details on what lay beneath the glamour and glitter of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 3

13. MOSES: A LIFE by Jonathan Kirsch (Ballantine: $27.50) An Old Testament figure steps out from behind the facade of Sunday School lessons and movie magic.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

14. ODD MAN IN by Suzanne Muchnic (University of California Press: $29.95) The life and times of industrialist and art collector Norton Simon by Times staff writer Suzanne Muchnic.

Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 4

15. ECOLOGY OF FEAR by Mike Davis (Metropolitan Books: $25) Los Angeles’ precarious environmental history and some apocalyptic warnings about its future.

Last Week: 6; Weeks on List: 12

Paperbacks

FICTION

1. BELOVED by Toni Morrison (Plume: $12.95) Remarkable occurrences in the life of an ex-slave.

2. DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA-YA SISTERHOOD by Rebecca Wells (Harper Collins: $13) Sisterhood in the South.

3. COLD MOUNTAIN by Charles Frazier (Vintage: $13) A disillusioned Confederate soldier quits the Civil War.

4. THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS by Arundhati Roy (HarperPerennial: $13) Rise and fall of an Indian family.

5. ONE TRUE THING by Anna Quindlen (Dell: $6.99) A woman cares for her dying mother.

6. LITTLE ALTARS EVERYWHERE by Rebecca Wells (HarperPerennial: $13) A “Ya-Ya Sisterhood” prequel.

7. CAT & MOUSE by James Patterson (Warner: $7.99) On the trail of two psychopaths.

8. HIGH FIDELITY by Nick Hornby (Riverhead: $12.95) A 35-year-old man squelches heartbreak with pop music.

9. WHAT LOOKS LIKE CRAZY ON AN ORDINARY DAY by Pearl Cleage (Avon: $12) Love in unlikely places.

10. THE READER by Bernhard Schlink (Vintage: $11) A boyhood interlude with an older woman and its aftermath.

****

NONFICTION

1. INTO THIN AIR by Jon Krakauer (Anchor Books: $7.99) Risk and recklessness on Mt. Everest.

2. NERVE edited by Genevieve Field (Bantam: $15) An anthology from the editors of Nerve.com.

3. THE PERFECT STORM by Sebastian Junger (HarperPerennial: $13) Fisherman trapped in a storm.

4. CITY OF QUARTZ by Mike Davis (Vintage: $15) How L.A.’s history and power structures will shape the city’s future.

5. THE MILLIONAIRE NEXT DOOR by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko (Pocket: $14) Secrets of the wealthy.

6. WHAT IT IS . . . WHAT IT WAS! by Gerald Martinez, Diana Martinez and Andres Chavez (Hyperion: $19.95)

7. A CIVIL ACTION by Jonathan Harr (Vintage: $13) David vs. an industrial Goliath in Massachusetts.

8. NAKED by David Sedaris (Little, Brown: $12.95) Autobiographical essays from the NPR commentator.

9. THE STARR REPORT (Public Affairs: $10) Including analysis by the staff of the Washington Post.

10. THE MAN WHO ATE EVERYTHING by Jeffrey Steingarten (Vintage: $14) Eating his way across the globe.

Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.