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Fiction

*--* Fiction weeks on list 1. Captain’s Fury by Jim Butcher (Ace: $24.95) Tavi of 1 Calderon realizes he must join his Aleran with the enemy Canim to fight a mutual threat. 2. Book of the Dead by Patricia Cornwell (Putnam: $26.95) 8 Forensics expert Kay Scarpetta goes to Rome to investigate a tennis champ’s murder. 3. Dark Possession by Christine Feehan (Berkley: $24.95) A 2 woman confronts shape-shifters and vampires in a Brazilian rain forest. 4. The Alphabet From A to Y With Bonus Letter Z! by Steve 1 Martin and Roz Chast (Flying Dolphin: $17.95) Cartooned couplets. 5. Requiem for an Assassin by Barry Eisler (Putnam: $24.95) 4 A Japanese American hit man is pulled from retirement to rescue a kidnapped friend. 6. Away by Amy Bloom (Random House: $23.95) A survivor of a 7 Russian pogrom arrives in New York in 1924 and soon begins a search for her lost daughter. 7. On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday: 14 $22) A couple face a cruel reality on their wedding night. 8. Blonde Faith by Walter Mosley (Little, Brown: $25.99) 6 Easy Rawlins, torn up at losing his longtime love, must track down two missing friends. 9. Malice by Robert K. Tanenbaum (Atria: $26.95) A 1 Manhattan prosecutor believes someone in the federal government is behind a plot against the pope. 10. Exit Ghost by Philip Roth (Houghton Mifflin: $26) Nathan 5 Zuckerman finds everything changed in post-9/11 New York City, his solitude challenged. *--*

*--* Nonfiction 1. The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn and Hal Iggulden 31 (HarperCollins: $24.95) Learn how to tie knots, find true north and other essential skills. 2. The Daring Book for Girls by Andrea J. Buchanan and 7 Miriam Peskowitz (HarperCollins: $24.95) A girls’ handbook of skills and must-have knowledge. 3. Born Standing Up by Steve Martin (Scribner: $25) The 4 groundbreaking comedian reflects on his childhood and the evolution of his art. 4. I Am America (and So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert 11 (Grand Central: $26.99) “The Colbert Report” star expounds on the forces destroying America. 5. Boom! Voices of the Sixties by Tom Brokaw (Random 6 House: $28.95) Reflections on a decade of social change that swept America and its people. 6. A Family Christmas by Caroline Kennedy (Hyperion: 2 $26.95) Reflections and writings on the history and spirit of Christmas in the United States. 7. The Nine by Jeffrey Toobin (Doubleday: $27.95) The 7 New Yorker reporter and legal eagle details the inner workings and politics of the U.S. Supreme Court. 8. Good Dog, Stay by Anna Quindlen (Random House: 4 $14.95) The bittersweet recollections of life with Beau, Quindlen’s black Labrador retriever. 9. Clapton by Eric Clapton (Broadway: $26) The guitarist 10 tells all -- about the blues, becoming a rock legend, his bouts with addiction and his loves. 10. You: Staying Young by Michael F. Roizen and Mehmet C. 7 Oz (Free Press: $26) Doctors explain how the body ages and how to counter those effects. *--*

1. Atonement by Ian McEwan ($14.95)

2. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini ($15)

3. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen ($13.95)

4. The Gathering by Anne Enright ($14)

5. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett ($24.95)

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Nonfiction

1. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert ($15)

2. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin ($15)

3. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer ($13.95)

4. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson ($14.95)

5. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby ($12.95)

Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.