Los Angeles Times Bestsellers

*--* Southern California Rating FICTION Last Week Weeks on List

*--*

*--* 1 THE LOVELY BONES by Alice Sebold (Little, Brown: $21.95) 1 7 A murdered girl tells the story of her grieving family, the killer and the detective who hunts him 2 THE EMPEROR OF OCEAN PARK by Stephen L. Carter (Alfred A. 3 9 Knopf: $26.95) A professor is drawn into the underworld of Washington, D.C., by the secrets of his late father, a federal judge 3 THE NANNY DIARIES by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus 2 23 (St. Martin’s: $24.95) The travails of an overworked and underappreciated Park Avenue caregiver 4 ATONEMENT by Ian McEwan (Nan A. Talese/ Doubleday: $26) A 4 22 haunting novel of guilt and redemption that follows several lives through the chaos of England in World War II 5 THE ELEVENTH HOUR by Catherine Coulter (Putnam: $24.95) 9 2 An FBI agent hunts the killer of his brother, a priest murdered in the confessional, with an unlikely witness’ help 6 THE BEACH HOUSE by James Patterson and Peter de Jonge 5 8 (Little, Brown: $26.95) A law student seeks his own justice after his brother’s body is found outside a Long Island manse 7 TWELVE by Nick McDonell (Grove Press: $23) A gritty look 6 3 at life on the edge for the lost souls in the privileged existence of the Manhattan prep school set 8 PASADENA by David Ebershoff (Random House: $24.95) A 11 2 young woman is caught in a love triangle, and the fate of a Southern California ranch hangs in the balance 9 A LOVE OF MY OWN by E. Lynn Harris (Doubleday: $24.95) A -- 1 pair of high-powered executives at a hip urban magazine yearn for meaning beyond the boardroom 10 BAD BOY BRAWLY BROWN by Walter Mosley (Little, Brown: 8 5 $24.95) Easy Rawlins returns, looking for a woman’s son among revolutionaries and grieving for his dead crony, Mouse 11 STONE KISS by Faye Kellerman (Warner: $25.95) Police 15 2 detective Peter Decker uncovers ugly family secrets after his half-brother winds up dead. (see review by Eugen Weber, p. 13) 12 THE DIVE FROM CLAUSEN’S PIER by Ann Packer (Alfred A. 7 8 Knopf: $24) A young woman struggles with the meaning of her life after a catastrophe changes her relationship with her fiance 13 HARD EIGHT by Janet Evanovich (St. Martin’s: $25.95) New 13 7 Jersey’s favorite bounty hunter, Stephanie Plum, faces all kinds of thugs as she hunts for a missing girl and her mother 14 EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED by Jonathan Safran Foer -- 13 (Houghton Mifflin: $24) A comic novel about a man’s search for his family’s past in Ukraine and the history of a forgotten shtetl 15 SUNSET IN ST. TROPEZ by Danielle Steel (Delacorte Press: 14 6 $19.95) A group of old friends tries not to let personal tragedy mar a sojourn on the French Riviera

*--*

*--* Southern California Rating NONFICTION Last Week Weeks on List

*--*

*--* 1 SLANDER by Ann Coulter (Crown: $25.95) A political 4 6 pundit takes on the media and explains how liberal bias is threatening to ruin the country 2 SELF MATTERS by Phillip C. McGraw (Simon & Schuster: 5 29 $25) A self-improvement guru and “Oprah” regular teaches readers how to “create your life from the inside out.” 3 THE SEXUAL LIFE OF CATHERINE M. by Catherine Millet 6 8 (Grove Press: $23) A French art critic with a gifted superego looks back on 30 years of indulging her id 4 STUPID WHITE MEN AND OTHER SORRY EXCUSES FOR THE STATE 1 24 OF THE NATION by Michael Moore (ReganBooks: $24.95) Lampooning the government and more 5 SYLVIA BROWNE’S BOOK OF DREAMS by Sylvia Browne with -- 1 Lindsay Harrison (Dutton: $25.95) Heeding the messages of dreams to reconnect with our selves and our loved ones 6 GET WITH THE PROGRAM! by Bob Greene (Simon & Schuster: 8 3 $24) Oprah’s personal trainer combines an exercise plan with a look at the emotional connection to eating 7 TUXEDO PARK by Jennet Conant (Simon & Schuster: $26) The -- 1 Wall Street tycoon whose private lab attracted great minds and led to the development of radar and the atomic bomb 8 WHO MOVED MY CHEESE? by Spencer Johnson (Putnam: $19.95) 2 123 The coauthor of “The One-Minute Manager” uses the parable of mice in a maze to discuss managing change 9 BODY-FOR-LIFE by Bill Phillips and Michael D’Orso 14 16 (HarperCollins: $26) A 12-week program of weightlifting and cardiovascular exercise along with nutrition and motivation tips 10 YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS by John McEnroe with James Kaplan 10 8 (Putnam: $25.95) The brash tennis great serves up career highlights laced with insight 11 AMONG THE HEROES by Jere Longman (HarperCollins: $24.95) -- 1 The people on United Flight 93, their plan to fight the terrorists and their crash in a Pennsylvania field on Sept. 11 12 THE LOBSTER CHRONICLES by Linda Greenlaw (Hyperion: -- 2 $22.95) The former swordboat captain returns home to an island off the coast of Maine to take up the art of lobstering 13 WHY I AM A CATHOLIC by Garry Wills (Houghton Mifflin: 12 3 $26) The historian reflects on his deep sense of faith and challenges the authority of the papacy 14 SHOOT OUT by Peter Bart and Peter Guber (Putnam: $26.95) -- 7 Two Hollywood veterans describe the clash of egos, artistic visions and economics that go into the making of movies 15 THE RIGHT WORDS AT THE RIGHT TIME by Marlo Thomas 3 14 (Pocket Books: $25) The actress and author is joined by a host of luminaries sharing words of wisdom they’ve found useful

*--*