BESTSELLERS

*--* SO. CAL. RATING Fiction LAST WEEK WEEKS ON LIST 1 Wild Fire by Nelson -- 1 DeMille (Warner Books: $26.99) A husband-wife duo try to foil a right-wing plot to bomb two American cities in an effort to provoke a U.S. nuclear strike on the Middle East.

2 For One More Day by Mitch 2 7 Albom (Hyperion: $21.95) An alcoholic tries suicide and encounters his mother’s ghost, who tells him about her life and sacrifices as a single parent.

3 Echo Park by Michael 1 6 Connelly (Little, Brown: $26.99) LAPD Det. Harry Bosch wrestles with the idea that his oversight in an old murder case allowed a serial killer to continue his spree.

4 Ines of My Soul by Isabel -- 1 Allende (HarperCollins: $25.95) A young widow travels to colonial Peru, where she falls in love with a Spanish soldier and together they battle to build a nation.

5 The End by Lemony Snicket 11 5 (HarperCollins: $12.99) The Baudelaire orphans and evil Count Olaf are swept onto a strange island in Book 13, the last in “A Series of Unfortunate Events.”

6 Dear John by Nicholas 10 2 Sparks (Warner: $24.99) A soldier on leave falls in love with a coed, but their relationship is put on hold when he returns to duty after Sept. 11.

7 Suite Francaise by Irene 7 30 Nemirovsky (Knopf: $25) Two novellas by a writer killed at Auschwitz about the exodus from Paris ahead of the Germans’ arrival and on life in a farming village under occupation.

8 The Collectors by David 6 4 Baldacci (Warner: $26.99) Four eccentric crime-solvers train their sights on a renegade CIA assassin implicated in the murder of a rare-books expert and in selling U.S. secrets.

9 What Is the What by Dave -- 1 Eggers (McSweeney’s: $26) A Sudanese refugee fights to survive and create a new life in America but finds safety and a sense of belonging elusive.

10 Hundred-Dollar Baby by 3 3 Robert B. Parker (Putnam: $24.95) Spenser steps in to help an old friend with a seedy past but discovers she’s not as innocent as she seems.

11 Born in Death by J.D. Robb -- 1 (Putnam: $24.95) Lt. Eve Dallas seeks the killers of an accountant and her boyfriend and stumbles into a web of white-collar fraud that is linked to a series of abductions.

12 The Aeneid by Virgil -- 1 (Viking: $40) Princeton scholar Robert Fagles’ new translation of the epic tale of the founding of the Roman republic by the Trojan warrior Aeneas, and the price of war and empire.

13 The Ladies of Grace Adieu -- 1 and Other Stories by Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury: $23.95) Eight short stories of faeries, wizards, kings and queens set in a magical England of old.

14 What Came Before He Shot 14 4 Her by Elizabeth George (HarperCollins: $26.95) How three brothers from a tough part of London crossed paths with Inspector Lynley’s late wife.

15 Measuring the World by -- 1 Daniel Kehlmann (Pantheon: $23) A geographer and a mathematician in post-Napoleonic Germany share tales of exploring Venezuela and of defining the shape of the cosmos.

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*--* SO. CAL. RATING Nonfiction LAST WEEK WEEKS ON LIST 1 The Audacity of Hope by 1 4 Barack Obama (Crown: $25) The U.S. senator from Illinois argues that his Democratic Party and the GOP must forgo partisanship to reclaim the American dream.

2 I Feel Bad About My Neck 2 15 by Nora Ephron (Knopf: $19.95) The screenwriter ruminates on the effects of gravity and menopause, and reconciling herself to life among the post-bikini set.

3 The Innocent Man by John 4 6 Grisham (Doubleday: $28.95) A true-crime tale about a former big league baseball player sent to death row for a murder he didn’t commit.

4 Thunderstruck by Erik 7 4 Larson (Crown: $25.95) As Guglielmo Marconi and a rival spar over credit for wireless communication, the device leads to a killer’s capture.

5 Point to Point Navigation 8 2 by Gore Vidal (Doubleday: $26) In a second volume of memoirs, the writer recalls childhood, his literary career, politics past and present and coping with his partner’s death.

6 Ageless by Suzanne Somers -- 4 (Crown: $25) An actress touts anti-aging and plant hormone therapies to detoxify the body, boost the immune system, treat menopause and stay healthy.

7 State of Denial: Bush at 3 7 War, Part III by Bob Woodward (Simon & Schuster: $30) The inside story of a White House that dismisses bad news about the war in Iraq and how it is fueling terrorism.

8 Culture Warrior by Bill 5 7 O’Reilly (Broadway: $26) The Fox News TV host rails against “secular progressives,” billionaire Democrat George Soros, the ACLU and critics he dubs “smear merchants.”

9 The God Delusion by 13 5 Richard Dawkins (Houghton Mifflin: $27) The biologist criticizes religion for intolerance, rejecting scientific truth and threatening nonbelievers with eternal damnation.

10 The Life and Times of the -- 3 Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson (Broadway: $25) Recollections of an Iowa childhood, a sportswriting dad, a movie-loving mom and country fairs.

11 My Secret by Frank Warren -- 1 (Regan Books: $19.95) The Postsecret.com founder offers revealing postcards from teens and college students that shed light on their hopes, fears and secrets.

12 Gay L.A. by Lillian -- 1 Faderman and Stuart Timmons (Basic Books: $27.50) A look at gays and lesbians in Los Angeles from the influx of Spaniards in the 1800s to the present.

13 I Like You by Amy Sedaris -- 4 (Warner Books: $27.99) A guide to throwing the perfect party, with helpful hospitality hints and arch observations from the comic writer.

14 Why We Want You to Be Rich 15 5 by Donald J. Trump, Robert T. Kiyosaki et al. (Rich Press: $24.95) The real estate magnate and the financial guru explain why some people get rich and others don’t.

15 The Art of Friendship by -- 1 Roger Horchow and Sally Horchow (St. Martin’s: $14.95) How to gather friends and keep them for life in the madness of the modern world.

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