BESTSELLERS / PAPERBACKS

*--* SO. CAL. RATING Fiction

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*--* 1 The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead: $14) A writer returns to Kabul to rescue the son of a childhood friend.

2 Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (Vintage: $12) An autistic teen seeks a killer.

3 Angels & Demons by Dan Brown (Pocket Books: $7.99) A scholar uncovers a vendetta against the Roman Catholic Church.

4 The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (Penguin: $14) A teenage girl is haunted by her mother’s death.

5 The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant (Random House: $13.95) A love story amid the artistic ferment of 14th century Italy.

6 Deception Point by Dan Brown (Pocket Books: $7.99) A president’s reelection rests on an object buried in the Arctic.

7 The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (Harvest: $14) A time traveler meets the child he has married.

8 Digital Fortress by Dan Brown (St. Martin’s: $7.99) A new technology threatens the balance of international power.

9 Trojan Odyssey by Clive Cussler (Berkley: $7.99) Dirk Pitt races to the scene as a mega-hurricane hits the Caribbean.

10 The Murder Room by P.D. James (Vintage: $13.95) Adam Dalgliesh investigates an unpopular museum trustee’s murder.

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction

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*--* 1 1,000 Places to See Before You Die by Patricia Schultz (Workman: $18.95) Trotting the globe.

2 Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi (Random House: $13.95) A professor keeps literature alive for her students.

3 The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (Vintage: $14.95) How a serial killer haunted the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.

4 A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson (Broadway: $15.95) From the primordial to the present.

5 Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama (Three Rivers: $13.95) The senator traces his mixed-raced heritage.

6 World Almanac and Book of Facts 2005 (World Almanac Books: $11.95) Just the facts, ma’am.

7 Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki and Sharon L. Lechter (TechPress/Warner: $15.95) Fiscal parenting.

8 The Bush Survival Bible by Gene Stone (Villard: $9.99) A humorous take on surviving the next four years.

9 Franklin and Winston by Jon Meacham (Random House: $16.95) A portrait of FDR’s relationship with Churchill.

10 The Official ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ Reader by Michael Moore (Simon & Schuster: $14) His screenplay and sources.

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