Los Angeles Times Bestsellers

January 6, 2002

FICTION

Southern California Rating

1 THE CORRECTIONS by Jonathan Franzen (Farrar, Straus & Giroux: $26) The saga of a dysfunctional Midwestern family living at the end of the 20th century. Last Week: 1 Weeks on List: 17

2 SKIPPING CHRISTMAS by John Grisham (Doubleday: $19.95) Grisham takes a holiday from legal thrillers to poke fun at the suburban yuletide ritual. Last Week: 2 Weeks on List: Weeks on List: 7

3 VIOLETS ARE BLUE by James Patterson (Little, Brown: $27.95) Police detective Alex Cross investigates a series of brutal deaths with links to a vampire underground Last Week: 7 Weeks on List: 5

4 JACKDAWS by Ken Follett (Plume: $26.95) A group of female spies infiltrates a telephone exchange linking France to Germany as the Allies prepare to invade. Last Week: 3 Weeks on List: 3

5 HATESHIP, FRIENDSHIP, COURTSHIP, LOVESHIP, MARRIAGE by Alice Munro (Alfred A. Knopf: $24) Stories tracing the nuanced lives of women and their relationships. Last Week: 4 Weeks on List: 6

6 LAST MAN STANDING by David Baldacci (Warner: $26.95) A G-man needs the help of a psychiatrist to uncover who mysteriously ambushed six of his men. Last Week: 6 Weeks on List: 7

7 BLACK HOUSE by Stephen King and Peter Straub (Random House: $28.95) King and Straub return with the horrific story of parallel worlds first told in their 1984 collaboration, “The Talisman.” Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 8

8 FLESH AND BLOOD by Jonathan Kellerman (Random House: $26.95) Psychologist Alex Delaware investigates the deaths of a call girl he once treated and a beautiful coed. Last Week: 13 Weeks on List: 5

9 THE SIGMA PROTOCOL by Robert Ludlum (St. Martin’s: $27.95) A businessman and a beautiful secret agent pursue a shadowy, powerful cartel around the globe. Last Week: 11 Weeks on List: 6

10 HE SEES YOU WHEN YOU’RE SLEEPING by Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark (Simon & Schuster: $20) A would-be angel tries to reunite a girl with her family. Last Week: 10 Weeks on List: 5

11 THE LORD OF THE RINGS by J.R.R. Tolkien (Houghton Mifflin: $65) A boxed-set edition of the epic set in Middle-Earth features art and photos from the motion picture. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 1

12 PORTRAIT IN SEPIA by Isabel Allende (HarperCollins: $26) A young Chilean woman finds that photography helps reveal the mysteries and shadings in her family’s past. Last Week: 8 Weeks on List: 7

13 BLOOD AND GOLD by Anne Rice (Alfred A. Knopf: $26.95) The autobiography of Marius, the mentor of Lestat, and his moral struggles during his 2,000 years as a vampire. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 7

14 THE KISS by Danielle Steel (Delacorte: $26.95) A stolen moment between two friends stuck in unhappy marriages unleashes a series of life-changing events. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 4

15 A BEND IN THE ROAD by Nicholas Sparks (Warner: $23.95) A widower’s romance with a small-town schoolteacher is threatened by the unsettling mystery surrounding his wife’s death. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 9

NONFICTION

Southern California Rating

1 JOHN ADAMS by David McCullough (Simon & Schuster: $35) The story of our second president, a man Thomas Jefferson called “the colossus of independence.” Last Week: 1 Weeks on List: 32

2 BEST-LOVED POEMS OF JACQUELINE KENNEDY ONASSIS Edited by Caroline Kennedy (Hyperion: $21.95) A selection of Jackie’s favorite verse and some of her own, introduced by her daughter. Last Week: 2 Weeks on List: 9

3 THE UNIVERSE IN A NUTSHELL by Stephen Hawking (Bantam: $35) The celebrated physicist offers up a look at space, time and the origin and future of the cosmos. Last Week: 4 Weeks on List: 7

4 JACK by Jack Welch with John A. Byrne (Warner: $29.95) The life and times of a respected chief executive, from a Massachusetts childhood to his successful reinvention of General Electric. Last Week: 5 Weeks on List: 15

5 THEODORE REX by Edmund Morris (Random House: $35) The second in a planned biographical trilogy about Teddy Roosevelt, charting his rise from patrician to progressive. Last Week: 3 Weeks on List: 5

6 HOW I PLAY GOLF by Tiger Woods (Warner: $34.95) The links master explains his game in words and pictures, offering tips on the best ways to get from the tee to the cup. Last Week: 7 Weeks on List: 11

7 THE NATIONAL ENQUIRER edited by Charles Melcher et al. (Talk Miramax: $45) Images of celebs caught by the paparazzi during the tabloid’s 30 years. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 1

8 THE FINAL DAYS by Barbara Olson (Regnery: $27.95) The Clintons’ last actions in the White House, from pardons to executive orders, with commentary from the late Olson. Last Week: 8 Weeks on List: 9

9 THE NO-SPIN ZONE by Bill O’Reilly (Broadway: $24.95) The Fox News commentator presents interviews with famous figures in his tough, no-holds-barred style. Last Week: 6 Weeks on List: 10

10 WHO MOVED MY CHEESE? by Spencer Johnson (Putnam: $19.95) The co-author of “The One-Minute Manager” uses the parable of mice in a maze to discuss managing change. Last Week: 15 Weeks on List: 92

11 BIAS by Bernard Goldberg (Regnery: $27.95) A veteran CBS reporter argues that the mainstream media has been seriously damaged by a liberal, close-minded worldview. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 1

12 POETRY SPEAKS edited by Elise Paschen and Rebekah Mosby (Sourcebooks: $49.95) Accompanying CDs allow listeners to hear Tennyson, Yeats and others recite their work. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 1

13 THE CONTRARIAN’S GUIDE TO LEADERSHIP by Steven B. Sample (Jossey-Bass: $24) Lessons in managing people, gleaned from Sample’s record as the president of USC. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 3

14 GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS 2002 (Guinness World Records: $27.95) New feats from the world of human possibilities, from “extreme” body types and stunts to sports and music. Last Week: 10 Weeks on List: 3

15 ONE NATION by the editors of Life magazine (Little, Brown: $29.95) Remembering the Sept. 11 attacks, including photos with essays by Stephen Ambrose, Maya Angelou and others. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 1