Southern California Rankings:FICTION1. A WIDOW FOR ONE...

Southern California Rankings:

FICTION

1. A WIDOW FOR ONE YEAR by John Irving (Random House: $27.95) From childhood to middle age, a woman learns that one must wait a long time to fall in love.

Last Week: 1 ; Weeks on List: 5

2. CITIES OF THE PLAIN by Cormac McCarthy (Knopf: $25) A New Mexico rancher duels with a pimp to save the life and win the love of a 16-year-old girl.

Last Week: 3 ; Weeks on List: 4

3. MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA by Arthur Golden (Knopf: $25) The life and loves of a teahouse entertainer growing up in Kyoto during World War II.

Last Week: 4 ; Weeks on List: 30

4. N IS FOR NOOSE by Sue Grafton (Marian Wood/Henry Holt: $25) Kinsey Millhone risks her neck investigating an unexplained death in an unfriendly town.

Last Week: 6 ; Weeks on List: 6

5. DAMASCUS GATE by Robert Stone (Houghton Mifflin: $26) Extremists plot to blow up Jerusalem’s Temple Mount and usher in the apocalypse.

Last Week: 5; Weeks on List: 8

6. HEMINGWAY’S CHAIR by Michael Palin (St. Martin’s: $23.95) Life with a mild-mannered postmaster whose macho alter ego is Papa Hemingway.

Last Week: -- ; Weeks on List: 1

7. ABOUT A BOY by Nick Hornby (Riverhead: $22.95) A London bachelor’s comfy existence is upended by a needy youngster who squeezes into his life.

Last Week: 2 ; Weeks on List: 3

8. SUMMER SISTERS by Judy Blume (Delacorte: $21.95) Friendship between two unlikely girls blossoms and grows through years of hardship and maturity.

Last Week: 8 ; Weeks on List: 3

9. BLACK AND BLUE by Anna Quindlen (Random House: $23) A battered wife’s past looms menacingly on the horizon of her new life in another town.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 16

10. FREEDOMLAND by Richard Price (Broadway Books: $25) The hunt for an abducted child turns up the heat in a hellish New Jersey town. Last Week: 7; Weeks on List: 3

11. THE STREET LAWYER by John Grisham (Doubleday: $27.95) After being confronted on a city street, an arrogant lawyer becomes a hero for the homeless. Last Week: 11 ; Weeks on List: 17

12. COLD MOUNTAIN by Charles Frazier (Atlantic Monthly: $24) A confederate soldier deserts the Civil War and walks home to his farm and sweetheart.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 44

13. MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE by Nicholas Sparks (Warner: $20) A single mother searches for a lonely heart who threw a lover’s plea into the ocean.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 6

14. THE LAST FULL MEASURE by Jeff Shaara (Ballantine: $25.95) The final novel in a trilogy about the Civil War in the years after the Gettysburg turning-point.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

15. YOU BELONG TO ME by Mary Higgins Clark (Simon and Schuster: $25) A psychologist’s interest in a missing woman attracts a killer with an ear for music.

Last Week: 9 ; Weeks on List: 7

PAPERBACK FICTION

1. DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA-YA SISTERHOOD by Rebecca Wells (HarperCollins: $13) Sisterhood in the South.

2. THE HORSE WHISPERER by Nicholas Evans (Dell: $7.50) A woman discovers love on the range.

3. FAT TUESDAY by Sandra Brown (Warner Vision: $8.99) Lust, greed and murder converge in New Orleans.

4. LONDON by Edward Rutherfurd (Fawcett Crest: $7.99) The city’s history, from primeval to present.

5. A CUP OF TEA by Amy Ephron (Ballantine: $10) How one glance can ruin another woman’s life.

6. THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS by Arundhati Roy (HarperPerennial: $13) The rise and fall of an Indian family.

7. THE ALCHEMIST by Paulo Coelho (HarperFlamingo: $13) Transforming life experiences into gold.

8. CORELLI’S MANDOLIN by Louis De Bernieres (Vintage: $14) Life in a Greek village before World War I.

9. ALL THE PRETTY HORSES by Cormac McCarthy (Vintage: $12) The glories of horsemanship and life on the old frontier.

10. HUMAN CROQUET by Kate Atkinson (Picador USA: $14) A Shakespearean time warp affects a mild British suburb.

NONFICTION

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

Last Week: 3 ; Weeks on List: 23

2. EASY RIDERS, RAGING BULLS by Peter Biskind (Simon & Schuster: $25) How the sex-drugs-and rock ‘n’ roll generation of filmmakers saved Hollywood.

Last Week: 1 ; Weeks on List: 8

3. THE GIFTS OF THE JEWS by Thomas Cahill (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday: $23.50) How a nomadic people heard the Almighty’s voice and transformed the world.

Last Week: 8 ; Weeks on List: 10

4. TITAN by Ron Chernow (Random House: $30) A biography of John D. Rockefeller Sr. that draws upon unpublished interviews with the industrial tycoon.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

5. WE ARE OUR MOTHERS’ DAUGHTERS by Cokie Roberts (Morrow: $19.95) Female activists, politicians, soldiers and others who are challenging the role of women in society.

Last Week: 6; Weeks on List: 5

6. THE NINE STEPS TO FINANCIAL FREEDOM by Suze Orman (Crown: $23) Practical tips for avoiding stress, making good savings plans and managing money.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 9

7. THE MAN WHO LISTENS TO HORSES by Monty Roberts (Random House: $23) Homespun philosophy from a trainer who turns wild horses into pussy cats.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 20

8. CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD, BOOK ONE by Neale Donald Walsch (Putnam: $19.95) Channeling messages from Mr. Big about good, evil and the meaning of life.

Last Week: 12; Weeks on List: 54

9. ANGELA’S ASHES by Frank McCourt (Scribner: $24) A bittersweet memoir of a childhood in a rain-soaked Irish city.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 82

10. STILL ME by Christopher Reeve (Random House: $25) The actor looks back on his career and on the rebuilding of his life after his paralysis.

Last Week: 9 ; Weeks on List: 5

11. TOUGH JEWS by Rich Cohen (Simon and Schuster: $23) The story of a Brooklyn gang, as told by the author’s father and his group of cronies.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 6

12. MURDER IN GREENWICH by Mark Fuhrman (HarperCollins/Cliff Street: $25) A former police detective looks at a sensational murder that is still unsolved after 20 years.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

13. SHIP OF GOLD IN THE DEEP BLUE SEA by Gary Kinder (Atlantic Monthly: $27.50) A modern-day adventure to retrieve $450 million from a sunken steamer.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

14. THE MILLIONAIRE NEXT DOOR by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Lanko (Longstreet Press: $22) Lives of the rich and famous, including golden parachutes.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 20

15. THE NIGHT WITHOUT ARMOR by Jewel (HarperCollins: $15) A poetry collection about hard knocks and deep thoughts by the pop singer.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

PAPERBACK NONFICTION

1. FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS by Hunter Thompson (Vintage: $11) A gonzo-journalist on a magic carpet ride.

2. INTO THIN AIR by Jon Krakauer (Anchor Books: $7.99) Risk and recklessness on Mt. Everest.

3. TEAM RODENT by Carl Hiaasen (Ballantine: $8.95) The greed behind the gleam of the Walt Disney Company.

4. THE COLOR OF WATER by James McBride (Riverhead: $12) A black musician’s homage to his white mother.

5. PERSONAL HISTORY by Katharine Graham (Vintage: $15) The heiress at the helm of the Washington Post.

6. UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN by Frances Mayes (Broadway: $13) Feasts in a glorious Italian landscape.

7. TOTAL TITANIC by Marc Shapiro (Pocket: $5.99) More information on the ocean liner’s doomed voyage.

8. DEPTH TAKES A HOLIDAY by Sandra Tsing Loh (Riverhead: $13) The highs and lows of life in Los Angeles.

9. A CIVIL ACTION by Jonathan Harr (Vintage: $13) David versus an industrial Goliath in Massachusetts.

10. L.A. BIZARRO by Anthony Lovett and Matt Maranian (Buzz/St. Martin’s: $16.95) Trivia and tidbits from L.A.’s twilight zone.

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Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.