Southern California Rating:FICTION1 THE BRETHREN by...

Southern California Rating:

FICTION

1 THE BRETHREN by John Grisham (Doubleday: $27.95) A scam by three former judges doing time in federal prison goes awry and ensnares a powerful man on the outside.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

2 UNWANTED COMPANY by Barbara Seranella (HarperCollins: $24) Doing a favor for an old friend leads ex-con-turned-limo driver Munch Mancini into a dangerous search for a serial killer.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

3 HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS by J.K. Rowling (Arthur A. Levine Books: $17.95) Harry risks his life to solve a mystery at the Hogwarts School.

Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 19

4 HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN by J.K. Rowling (Scholastic: $19.95) Sirius Black--an escaped convict--is on the loose, and he’s after Harry.

Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 19

5 HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE by J.K. Rowling (Scholastic: $16.95) Unhappy at home, a young boy discovers that he is a magician with great powers.

Last Week: 5; Weeks on List: 17

6 THE LION’S GAME by Nelson DeMille (Warner: $26.95) A gruff tough New York cop and an FBI agent join forces to find a Libyan terrorist on a killing spree in the U.S.

Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 6

7 DISGRACE by J.M. Coetzee (Viking: $23.95) Fired from academe, a South African professor pursues the simple life on his daughter’s farm but finds danger in the post-apartheid world.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 10

8 PLAINSONG by Kent Haruf (Alfred A. Knopf: $24) As lives intersect in a small Colorado cattle town, concepts of family are challenged and transformed.

Last Week: 15; Weeks on List: 8

9 SICK PUPPY by Carl Hiaasen (Alfred A. Knopf: $25) The adventures of an eco-terrorist and a Labrador retriever among the thugs and sleazy businessmen of South Florida.

Last Week: 9; Weeks on List: 6

10 GAP CREEK by Robert Morgan (Algonquin: $22.95) Oprah’s latest pick: In turn-of-the-century Appalachia, 17-year-old Julie Morgan must struggle against the elements.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

11 TIMELINE by Michael Crichton (Random House: $26.95) Investigators battle mad lords, crazed giants and peasant bandits after time-traveling to 14th century France.

Last Week: 8; Weeks on List: 12

12 THE ATTORNEY by Steve Martini (Putnam: $25.95) A courtroom thriller featuring a kindhearted lottery winner and his blackmailing daughter, who’s connected with a Mexican drug lord.

Last Week: 10; Weeks on List: 4

13 FALSE MEMORY by Dean Koontz (Bantam: $26.95) Like a puppet master, a villainous mastermind commits crimes with the help of his brainwashed victims.

Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 7

14 ATLANTIS FOUND by Clive Cussler (Putnam: $26.95) Adventurer Dirk Pitt unravels the mystery of an ancient civilization while fanatics hatch a plot to dominate the world.

Last Week: 11; Weeks on List: 9

15 THE VISION OF EMMA BLAU by Ursula Hegi (Simon & Schuster: $25) A young man runs away from his native Germany to America, where he builds an apartment building.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

NONFICTION

1 TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE by Mitch Albom (Doubleday: $19.95) A sportswriter’s empowering story about his weekly visits to see an older dying friend.

Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 109

2 A HEARTBREAKING WORK OF STAGGERING GENIUS by Dave Eggers (Simon & Schuster: $23) In this debut memoir, Eggers plays fast and loose with personal tragedy.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

3 THE ROCK SAYS by “The Rock” with Joe Layden (ReganBooks: $26) The memoir of a World Wrestling Federation bad guy, describing his struggles in and out of the ring.

Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 6

4 JACQUELINE BOUVIER KENNEDY ONASSIS by Donald Spoto (St. Martin’s: $24.95) A new, more restrained look at the many lives of one of the world’s most famous women.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

5 WHO MOVED MY CHEESE? by Spencer Johnson (Putnam: $19.95) This co-author of “The One Minute Manager” advises managers on how to get employees Y2K ready.

Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 8

6 CONVERSATIONS WITH WILDER by Cameron Crowe (Alfred A. Knopf: $35) The “Jerry Maguire” director coaxes Billy Wilder to reveal the secrets behind his movie hits and flops.

Last Week: 8; Weeks on List: 10

7 ON MEXICAN TIME by Tony Cohan (Broadway Books: $25) A writer and an artist buy a 250-year-old hacienda on the verge of collapse in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

8 HOME COMFORTS by Cheryl Mendelson (Scribner: $35) The art and science of keeping house; a guide to the ins and outs of domesticity, for beginners and experts.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

9 HAVE A NICE DAY! by Mick Foley (ReganBooks: $25) The blood-and-guts autobiography of a professional wrestling giant, also known as Mankind, Dude Love and Cactus Jack.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 8

10 CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD, BOOK ONE by Neale Donald Walsch (Putnam: $19.95) Divinely channeled messages about good, evil and the meaning of life.

Last Week: 14; Weeks on List: 97

11 WHERE DID I GO RIGHT? by Bernie Brillstein with David Rensin (Little, Brown: $24.95) A star manager dishes dirt and describes his rise from the William Morris mail room.

Last Week: 7; Weeks on List: 11

12 ELEANOR OF AQUITAINE by Alison Weir (Ballantine: $28) A new biography of the woman who was wife to Louis VII of France and Henry II of England and mother of Richard the Lion-Hearted.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

13 ‘TIS by Frank McCourt (Scribner: $26) A young McCourt arrives from Ireland in New York, with all its peril and promise, in this sequel to “Angela’s Ashes.”

Last Week: 5; Weeks on List: 21

14 A VAST CONSPIRACY by Jeffrey Toobin ( Random House: $25) A comprehensive look at the 1998 presidential sex scandal. Reviewed by Stanley Kutler, Page 4.

Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 6

15 WHEN PRIDE STILL MATTERED by David Maraniss (Simon & Schuster: $26) A Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter’s look at legendary Green Bay Packers football coach Vince Lombardi.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 3

PAPERBACKS

FICTION

1 THE TESTAMENT by John Grisham (Dell Island: $7.99) A billionaire’s changes to his will shock his greedy heirs.

2 THE POISONWOOD BIBLE by Barbara Kingsolver (HarperPerennial: $14) A missionary family’s ordeals.

3 THE HOURS by Michael Cunningham (Picador USA: $13) Three stories built around Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway.”

4 A MAP OF THE WORLD by Jane Hamilton (Anchor: $12.95) A woman’s harrowing journey from farm wife to felon.

5 HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE by J.K. Rowling (Arthur A. Levine: $5.99) A young wizard-in-training.

6 MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA by Arthur Golden (Vintage: $14) The life and loves of a teahouse entertainer in Kyoto.

7 CHOCOLAT by Joanne Harris (Penguin: $12.95) A woman and her daughter open a chocolate store in a French village.

8 THE GREEN MILE by Stephen King (Pocket: $7.99) A supernatural tale about death row inmates in the South.

9 SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS by David Guterson (Vintage: $14) Turmoil on Puget Sound during a fisherman’s trial.

10 THE CIDER HOUSE RULES by John Irving (Ballantine: $7.99) Lives of a doctor and the children at an orphanage in rural Maine.

PAPERBACKS

NONFICTION

1 THE SEAT OF THE SOUL by Gary Zukav (Fireside: $13) The inward transformation of the human soul.

2 GIRL, INTERRUPTED by Susanna Kaysen (Vintage: $12) A memoir of life in a psychiatric institute in 1967.

3 ANGELA’S ASHES by Frank McCourt (Touchstone: $7.99) Overcoming an Irish childhood during the Depression.

4 WORLD ALMANAC & BOOK OF FACTS 2000 (World Almanac: $10.95) Includes “Countdown to the Millennium.”

5 THE PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN by Simon Winchester (HarperPerennial: $13) A madman with a flair for words.

6 THE PERFECT STORM by Sebastian Junger (HarperPaperback: $13) Fishermen lost in a furious ocean storm.

7 RICH DAD, POOR DAD by Robert T. Kiyosaki and Sharon L. Lechter (Techpress: $15.95) Fiscal parenting.

8 ANGELA’S ASHES by Frank McCourt (Touchstone: $14) Same book, different cover.

9 THE ORCHID THIEF by Susan Orlean (Ballantine: $14) Centuries of theft, hatred and greed over a delicate flower.

10 THE WORST-CASE SCENARIO SURVIVAL HANDBOOK by Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht

(Chronicle: $14.95) S-O-S!

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Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.