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

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*--* 1 Saturday by Ian McEwan (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday: $26) A 1 4 day in the life of a neurosurgeon brings both quotidian and earth-shattering struggles in post-Sept. 11 London.

2 The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd (Viking: $24.95) A 13 2 woman called home to cope with her troubled mother finds herself drawn to a Benedictine monk on an island in South Carolina.

3 With No One as Witness by Elizabeth George 4 4 (HarperCollins: $26.95) New Scotland Yard is all over the trail of a serial killer once the latest victim turns out to be white.

4 Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran 3 5 Foer (Houghton Mifflin: $24.95) A 9-year-old wunderkind seeks the lock that fits a key belonging to his dead father.

5 Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (Alfred A. Knopf: $24) -- 1 Inside the walls of a seemingly charming school in the English countryside is a place where destiny is anything but idyllic.

6 The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (Doubleday: $24.95) A 5 108 Louvre curator’s killing leads to clues hidden in Leonardo’s paintings and a secret society with something to hide.

7 Gilead by Marilynne Robinson (Farrar, Straus & Giroux: 12 12 $23) An aging minister facing death explains his life and religious beliefs in a letter to his young son.

8 Ya-Yas in Bloom by Rebecca Wells (HarperCollins: $24.95) 2 2 How the unconditional bonds of the sisterhood of Ya-Ya were forged through marriages, child-rearing, bigotry and crises of faith.

9 No Place Like Home by Mary Higgins Clark (Simon & -- 1 Schuster: $25.95) A young woman is confronted with a past she had spent years trying to escape.

10 Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith by Matthew Woodring 6 2 Stover (Del Rey: $25.95) Yoda and fellow masters try to protect the Jedi Council amid civil war and the arrival of a dark new Sith lord.

11 Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld (Random House: $21.95) An 11 10 Indiana teen on a scholarship tries to overcome her outsider status at a prestigious Boston prep school.

12 Runny Babbit by Shel Silverstein (HarperCollins: $17.99) -- 2 The English language gets turned upside down in this posthumous book from the children’s poet.

13 Europe Central by William T. Vollmann (Viking: $39.95) -- 1 Stories highlighting the moral decisions of the famous and the not-so during the turbulent times of 20th century Germany and the USSR.

14 Honeymoon by James Patterson and Howard Roughan (Little, 10 8 Brown: $27.95) FBI agent John O’Hara hunts for the killer of a young investment broker who was about to go on his honeymoon.

15 The Broker by John Grisham (Doubleday: $27.95) A 9 14 high-rolling attorney wins a pardon by agreeing to lead the CIA to a satellite surveillance system and the agents who want to buy it.

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

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*--* 1 My Life So Far by Jane Fonda (Random House: $26.95) The -- 1 actress, antiwar activist, fitness guru and feminist icon tells the story of her life, with a heavy emphasis on the men along the way.

2 Blink by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown: $25.95) 1 13 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 and Giroux: $27.50) Technology has made the world a very connected place, with globalization driven by the masses, not corporations, writes Friedman. (see review, p. 11)

4 Winning by Jack Welch with Suzy Welch (HarperBusiness: -- 1 $27.95) How to succeed in business (and life) by really trying.

5 The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren (Zondervan: 2 106 $19.99) How the “God-ordained” principles of worship, community, discipleship, ministry and evangelism bring fulfillment.

6 On Bull... by Harry G. Frankfurt (Princeton University 6 4 Press: $9.95) A leading philosopher takes on society’s view of the sometimes fine line between truth and lying.

7 French Women Don’t Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano (Knopf: 3 14 $22) The chief executive of the French wine conglomerate Clicquot Inc. reveals the French secret of eating for pleasure without the bulge.

8 Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl (Penguin: $24.95) -- 1 Reichl, a former L.A. Times food editor, writes about her years as the New York Times restaurant critic, complete with outrageous disguises so that she could dine unrecognized.

9 Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott 4 5 (Riverhead: $24.95) The novelist and essayist offers a new compilation of columns that examines her country and her Christian faith.

10 And One More Thing Before You Go ... by Maria Shriver -- 1 (Free Press: $13.95) Ten rules for success designed for teenagers and adults alike.

11 Facing Death in Cambodia by Peter Maguire (Columbia -- 1 University Press: $29.50) A haunting recounting of how Cambodia fell victim to one of the last century’s worst genocides.

12 The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke by Suze 5 5 Orman (Riverhead: $24.95) How to get out from under student loans and credit card debt and manage money.

13 Ultramarathon Man by Dean Karnazes (Jeremy P. -- 1 Tarcher/Putnam: $19.95) An extreme athlete who races more than 100 miles at a time in severe conditions explains how and why he does it.

14 Who’s Afraid of a Large Black Man? by Charles Barkley -- 1 (Penguin: $24.95) The former NBA superstar interviews prominent Americans on the subject of race.

15 Your Best Life Now by Joel Osteen (Warner Faith: $19.99) 7 23 Seven steps to improving your life by using faith to develop self-esteem, let go of the past and fulfill your potential.

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Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.