BESTSELLERS

*--* SO. CAL. RATING Fiction LAST WEEK WEEKS ON LIST

*--*

*--* 1 The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (Doubleday: $24.95) A 1 11 Louvre curator’s killing leads to clues hidden in Leonardo’s paintings and a secret society with something to hide

2 The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger (Doubleday: 2 7 $21.95) A recent college grad puts up with a nightmare of a boss at a high-fashion magazine

3 Dead Ringer by Lisa Scottoline (HarperCollins: $25.95) A -- 1 rich businessman could save Bennie Rosato’s all-female Philly law firm unless Bennie’s estranged twin causes trouble

4 The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (Little, Brown: $21.95) 13 50 A murdered girl tells the story of her grieving family still learning to cope, the killer and the detective who hunts him

5 Naked Prey by John Sandford (Putnam: $26.95) Lucas 3 3 Davenport delves into the deaths of a black man and a white woman found hanging from a tree in northern Minnesota

6 No Second Chance by Harlan Coben (Dutton: $24.95) A 8 5 plastic surgeon searches for his kidnapped infant daughter after a shooting leaves him wounded and his wife dead

7 Executive Power by Vince Flynn (Atria Books: $25) CIA 6 4 operative Mitch Rapp looks for an elusive mastermind with a plan for a Palestinian state that spells disaster for Israel and terrorists

8 The Sinister Pig by Tony Hillerman (HarperCollins: 4 4 $25.95) Somebody’s skimming tribal funds, an undercover agent’s body turns up and Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn are on the case

9 The Face by Dean Koontz (Bantam: $26.95) The geeky -- 1 10-year-old son of a movie superstar faces a sinister kidnapper and has only his bodyguards, both dead and alive, to protect him

10 Dragon Bones by Lisa See (Random House: $24.95) Chinese -- 1 inspector Liu Hulan’s marriage is on the rocks as she probes suspicious deaths near the site of the building of the dam at Three Rivers Gorge

11 Oryx & Crake by Margaret Atwood (Doubleday: $26) In a 5 4 forbidding future world, a scientist has wiped out the evil human race and created a loving species to go forth and multiply

12 Sugar Skull by Denise Hamilton (Scribner: $25) Feisty -- 4 reporter Eve Diamond looks for the connection among several deaths during Day of the Dead festivities in L.A. (Reviewed on Page 13)

13 The Protector by David Morrell (Warner: $25.95) A former -- 1 Delta Force ranger is hired to rescue a kidnapped biochemist who’s accidentally created one of the most potent chemical weapons

14 The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks (Warner: $24.95) A young -- 4 woman is caught between mourning her late husband and the unwanted affections of a stalker

15 The Other Woman by Eric Jerome Dickey (Dutton: $23.95) A -- 2 Los Angeles television producer tries to piece her life back together after a mystery man tells her of her husband’s affair

*--*

*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction LAST WEEK WEEKS ON LIST

*--*

*--* 1 Moneyball by Michael Lewis (W.W. Norton: $24.95) How 8 3 Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane’s use of statistics helped transform major league castoffs into a winning franchise

2 An Unfinished Life by Robert Dallek (Little, Brown: $30) 1 3 JFK’s health, politics and love life are revealed through family papers and the insights of those close to him

3 Leap of Faith by Queen Noor (Miramax Books: $25.95) The 9 11 life and times of a Princeton student who is courted by a Middle Eastern monarch and becomes Jordanian royalty

4 A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson 4 2 (Broadway: $27.50) An entertaining guide to the great moments in the history of science, from the Big Bang to the present day

5 What Should I Do With My Life? by Po Bronson (Random 14 18 House: $24.95) A look at 50 professionals, some successful, some not, and their thoughts on pursuing dreams through their careers

6 A Patriot’s Handbook edited by Caroline Kennedy -- 3 (Hyperion: $27.95) A personal selection of poetry and prose that celebrates the people, land and history of America

7 The Clinton Wars by Sidney Blumenthal (Farrar, Straus & 7 2 Giroux: $30) A former Clinton advisor makes his case that the president’s legacy contains more than Monica and impeachment

8 The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren (Zondervan: 13 14 $19.99) How the principles of worship, community, discipleship, ministry and evangelism lead to a fulfilled life

9 The Teammates by David Halberstam (Hyperion: $22.95) The 6 2 lives and friendships of four ballplayers from the legendary 1940s Boston Red Sox

10 Songbook by Nick Hornby (McSweeney’s: $26) Essays by the -- 1 author of the novels “About a Boy” and “High Fidelity” that riff on 31 of his all-time favorite songs

11 Atkins for Life by Robert C. Atkins (St. Martin’s: 11 19 $24.95) The late physician’s mission against low-fat diets argues that carbohydrates are the true culprits in weight gain

12 Krakatoa by Simon Winchester (HarperCollins: $25.95) The 5 6 cataclysmic eruption in 1883 of a volcanic island in Indonesia and its aftereffects, felt the world over

13 Stupid White Men and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of -- 64 the Nation by Michael Moore (ReganBooks: $24.95) Lampooning the Bush administration and more

14 Black Dahlia Avenger by Steve Hodel (Arcade: $27.95) A 2 7 son’s claims about his father in the infamous 1947 killing of a young woman in Los Angeles

15 Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi (Random House: -- 1 $23.95) An Iranian professor risks punishment to keep the flame of world literature burning for seven secret female students

*--*