BESTSELLERS

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

*--*

*--* 1 The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (Little, Brown: 3 14 $25.95) A teenager discovers a medieval book and a stash of letters and sets out on a hunt for the real story of Dracula, a quest close to home.

2 The Zahir by Paulo Coelho (HarperCollins: $24.95) A 12 3 celebrated novelist living in Paris questions everything when his war correspondent wife disappears.

3 Lipstick Jungle by Candace Bushnell (Hyperion: $24.95) -- 1 Three high-powered New York women stop at nothing to make it big in business, even if it means leaving their men in the dust.

4 Eldest (Inheritance, Book 2) by Christopher Paolini 1 3 (Alfred A. Knopf: $21) Eragon hones his battle skills as his cousin finds himself the target of evil forces.

5 Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis (Alfred A. Knopf: 2 5 $24.95) The author-turned-protagonist tries to dry out and remake his life in a suburbia possessed by strange spirits.

6 Creepers by David Morrell (CDS Books: $24.95) Urban 9 2 explorers gain entry to an abandoned hotel in Asbury Park, N.J., and find they aren’t the only ones creeping about the place.

7 The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (Doubleday: $24.95) A 8 130 Louvre curator’s killing leads to clues hidden in Leonardo’s paintings and a secret society with something to hide.

8 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling 5 9 (Arthur A. Levine / Scholastic: $29.99) A teenage Harry faces a new darkness in his latest adventures.

9 Polar Shift by Clive Cussler with Paul Kamprecos 7 2 (Putnam: $26.95) A special ops team tries to reverse a shift of Earth’s magnetic poles, a plot to disrupt the world’s industrialized nations.

10 No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy (Knopf: 4 8 $24.95) An aging Texas sheriff investigates murder, drug trafficking and the disappearance of a local hunter.

11 Shalimar the Clown by Salman Rushdie (Random House: -- 1 $25.95) A diplomat’s murder in Los Angeles uncovers a saga with roots in Kashmir, Nazi Europe and modern terrorism.

12 Indecision by Benjamin Kunkel (Random House: $21.95) -- 1 Fired from his unfulfilling job, a 28-year-old man sets out for South America and a cure for his inability to make up his mind.

13 The Starter Wife by Gigi Levangie Grazer (Simon & -- 13 Schuster: $24) The pampered wife of a studio executive finds her world turned upside down after her husband dumps her for a pop princess.

14 Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear (Henry Holt: $23) -- 1 A detective in 1930s London must confront memories of World War I as she investigates a pilot’s death.

15 Straken by Terry Brooks (Del Rey: $26.95) Without the -- 1 “darkwand” of a mystical tree that he has lost to druids, a boy cannot rescue his aunt being held captive by a demon.

*--*

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

*--*

*--* 1 You: The Owner’s Manual by Michael F. Roizen and Mehmet 4 18 C. Oz (HarperCollins: $24.95) An anti-aging guru and a heart surgeon offer a wry and witty guide to staying healthy.

2 Blink by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown: $25.95) 5 35 Gladwell explores why decisions are so often made in an instant and whether we can really trust those first instincts.

3 The World Is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman (Farrar, Straus & 1 22 Giroux: $27.50) How technology and the forces of globalization are connecting -- and changing -- the world.

4 Natural Cures “They” Don’t Want You to Know About by 2 12 Kevin Trudeau (Alliance Publishing: $29.95) The infomercial mogul touts alternative therapies and supplements.

5 Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner 6 21 (William Morrow: $25.95) An economist deconstructs statistics and uses numbers to help explain human behavior.

6 New Rules: Polite Musings From a Timid Observer by Bill 7 8 Maher (Rodale Books: $24.95) The political satirist and TV host brings his acerbic humor to the written page.

7 A Man Without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut (Seven Stories 9 3 Press: $23.95) A collection of recent articles focuses on personal foibles and skewers those in power.

8 1776 by David McCullough (Simon & Schuster: $32) The 3 15 historian looks at how the American forces took on the world’s greatest military power in the Revolution’s first battles.

9 The Game by Neil Strauss (ReganBooks: $29.95) A “regular -- 1 guy” transforms himself into a highly trained pick-up artist and enters a subculture where seduction and betrayal live in close discomfort.

10 The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer (Hyperion: $23.95) A 14 2 Los Angeles Times writer’s memoir of being poor and fatherless, seeking male role models among regulars at a Long Island bar.

11 Encyclopedia Prehistorica: Dinosaurs by Robert Sabuda and -- 4 Matthew Reinhart (Candlewick: $26) An intricate pop-up book on those all-time favorite prehistoric critters.

12 Bait and Switch by Barbara Ehrenreich (Metropolitan -- 1 Books: $24) The world of the white-collar job seeker, peopled by perky consultants, hustlers and well-meaning “transition counselors.”

13 The Accidental Masterpiece: On the Art of Life and Vice 10 2 Versa by Michael Kimmelman (Penguin: $24.95) The New York Times critic explains the aesthetics of art.

14 He’s Just Not That Into You by Greg Behrendt and Liz -- 37 Tuccillo (Simon Spotlight Entertainment: $21.95) A no-excuses guide to help women understand guys and get on with their lives.

15 Collapse by Jared Diamond (Viking: $29.95) A -- 19 prize-winning author examines why societies such as the Anasazi and the Maya collapsed and what can be done to prevent future die-offs.

*--*