BESTSELLERS

*--* SO. CAL. RATING Fiction

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*--* 1 White Oleander by Janet Fitch (Back Bay Books: $13.95) Her mother in jail, a teenager survives in L.A. foster homes

2 The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen (Picador: $15) A Midwestern family unravels at the 20th century’s end

3 Empire Falls by Richard Russo (Vintage: $14.95) A warmhearted novel about working-class folk in Maine

4 Violets Are Blue by James Patterson (Warner: $7.99) A series of brutal deaths has links to a vampire underground

5 Bel Canto by Ann Patchett (HarperPaperbacks: $13.95) Opera mingles with mayhem in South America

6 Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon (Picador: $15) Cousins in the comics biz

7 Forever by Jude Deveraux (Pocket Books: $7.99) A young couple is caught up in a paranormal romance

8 Flesh and Blood by Jonathan Kellerman (Ballantine: $7.99) Alex Delaware investigates two young women’s deaths

9 Red Dragon by Thomas Harris (Dell: $7.99) Hannibal Lecter helps a sleuth hunt a murderer with a penchant for Blake

10 Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner (Washington Square Press: $13) A tell-all column helps a woman change her life

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction

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*--* 1 John Adams by David McCullough (Touchstone: $18.95) The greatness of America’s second president

2 Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand (Ballantine: $15) How a thoroughbred horse went from also-ran to sports icon

3 Nickel & Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich (Henry Holt: $13) A writer works in low-wage America to see how the poor live

4 Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter (Techpress: $15.95) Fiscal parenting

5 Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution by Robert C. Atkins (Avon: $7.99) How a low-carb diet helps shed pounds

6 A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers (Vintage: $14) A 22-year-old raises his kid brother

7 A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel (Broadway: $12.95) Vignettes about growing up in a little Indiana town

8 Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser (HarperCollins: $13.95) The unappetizing practices of the junk-food industry

9 Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace by Gore Vidal (Thunder’s Mouth, $10) The U.S. against the world

10 Lucky by Alice Sebold (Back Bay Books: $11.95) The writer recounts her rape when she was a college freshman

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