Southern California Rating:FICTION1. BLUE LIGHT by...

Southern California Rating:

FICTION

1. BLUE LIGHT by Walter Mosley (Little, Brown: $23) Flashes of blue light fall to Earth in the 1960s, and several Northern Californians gain superhuman powers.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

2. THE VAMPIRE ARMAND by Anne Rice (Alfred A. Knopf: $26.95) Is Lestat dead? As vampires from around the globe gather near his body, Armand tells his own story.

Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 2

3. PURPLE DOTS by Jim Lehrer (Random House: $23.95) A group of eccentric ex-spies embarks on a wildly unorthodox power struggle to help a comrade gain confirmation as Chief Spook.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

4. MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA by Arthur Golden (Alfred A. Knopf: $25) The life and loves of a poor fisherman’s daughter who becomes a teahouse entertainer in Tokyo during WWII.

Last Week: 9; Weeks on List: 50

5. THE PATH OF DAGGERS by Robert Jordan (Tor: $27.95) The Wheel of Time series continues; as Book Eight opens, the Seanchan force is in possession of Ebou Dar.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

6. THE ROAD HOME by Jim Harrison (Atlantic Monthly: $25) First-person narratives tell the story of three generations of a Nebraska family in this sequel to “Dalva.”

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

7. THE POISONWOOD BIBLE by Barbara Kingsolver (HarperCollins: $27.50) A Baptist missionary takes his wife and children to the Congo. Reviewed by Richard Eder, Page 2.

Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 3

8. THE HAMMER OF EDEN by Ken Follett (Crown: $25.95) A young FBI agent must track down a terrorist group with the power to create earthquakes.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

9. RED, WHITE AND BLUE by Susan Isaacs (HarperCollins: $25) An FBI agent in Wyoming and a reporter for the Jewish News in New York share a great-great-grandmother.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

10. THE HUNDRED DAYS by Patrick O’Brian (W.W. Norton: $24) The latest Aubrey-Maturin adventure, set against the backdrop of the final defeat of Napoleon.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 3

11. ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT by Mary Higgins Clark (Simon & Schuster: $17) A Christmas suspense story, complete with abandoned baby, jewel thief and a cleaning woman-turned-detective.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

12. THE WAKE OF THE WIND by J. California Cooper (Doubleday: $22.95) A family saga begins when two friends are taken from Africa and brought to America as slaves.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

13. BIRDS OF AMERICA by Lorrie Moore (Alfred A. Knopf: $23) An orphaned woman, an ill child and other wounded characters find affection in unlikely places.

Last Week: 11; Weeks on List: 8

14. MILK IN MY COFFEE by Eric J. Dickey (Dutton: $24.95) A young African American professional crosses the color barrier to date a white woman.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 2

15. I MARRIED A COMMUNIST by Philip Roth (Houghton Mifflin: $26) The story of a radio actor whose private dramas become national scandal when his wife pens a tell-all memoir.

Last Week: 7; Weeks on List: 4

****

NONFICTION

1. THE BEST THAT I CAN BE by Rafer Johnson with Philip Goldberg (Doubleday: $23.95) Faster, higher, stronger: the story of the 1960 Olympic decathlon gold medalist.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

2. ODD MAN IN by Suzanne Muchnic (University of California Press: $29.95) The life and times of industrialist and art collector Norton Simon by Times staff writer Suzanne Muchnic.

Last Week: 13; Weeks on List: 3

3. 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: 6; Weeks on List: 43

4. LINDBERGH by A. Scott Berg (Putnam: $30) Daring aviator, loving father, isolationist and, finally, fallen hero--a dramatic American story.

Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 6

5. PURE DRIVEL by Steve Martin (Hyperion: $21) A collection of humorous riffs and comical sketches on various topics, most written by the entertainer for the New Yorker.

Last Week: 10; Weeks on List: 5

6. ECOLOGY OF FEAR by Mike Davis (Metropolitan Books: $25) Los Angeles’ precarious environmental history and some apocalyptic warnings about its future.

Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 11

7. KADDISH by Leon Wieseltier (Alfred A. Knopf: $27.50) A son’s philosophical reflections on the mourner’s kaddish he recites in the year following his father’s death.

Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 4

8. A DREAM DEFERRED by Shelby Steele (HarperCollins: $24) A series of essays examining how race policies have affected African Americans.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

9. FOR LAUGHING OUT LOUD by Ed McMahon with David Fisher (Little, Brown: $23) Professional sidekick looks back at 50 years in and on television.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

10. 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: 28

11. THE PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN by Simon Winchester (HarperCollins: $22) The editor of the Oxford English Dictionary was helped by a brilliant mental patient.

Last Week: 11; Weeks on List: 6

12. THE JOY OF WORK by Scott Adams (HarperCollins: $22) Dilbert’s creator offers some tongue-in-cheek suggestions for surviving the rat race.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

13. VALUES OF THE GAME by Bill Bradley (Artisan: $30) Ten essays by the former senator on the essentials of basketball--to help form character on and off the court.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

14. 48 LAWS OF POWER by Robert Greene and Joost Elffers (Viking: $24.95) Laws on how to get and wield power, inspired by everyone from Sun-Tzu to Casanova.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 2

15. TO BEGIN AGAIN by Naomi Levy (Alfred A. Knopf: $23) A book of comfort and faith that takes on the questions that come up after personal tragedy.

Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 2

Paperbacks

FICTION

1. BELOVED by Toni Morrison (Plume: $12.95) Remarkable occurrences in the life of an ex-slave.

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

3. THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES 1998 edited by Garrison Keillor (Houghton Mifflin: $13) New and familiar voices.

4. CAT & MOUSE by James Patterson (Warner: $7.99) On the trail of two psychopaths.

5. SMALL CRAFT WARNINGS by Kate Braverman (University of Nevada: $16) A collection of short stories.

6. LITTLE ALTARS EVERYWHERE by Rebecca Wells (HarperPerennial: $13) A “Ya-Ya Sisterhood” prequel.

7. COLD MOUNTAIN by Charles Frazier (Vintage: $13) A disillusioned Confederate soldier quits the Civil War.

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

9. ONE TRUE THING by Anna Quindlen (Dell: $6.99) A woman cares for her dying mother.

10. HIGH FIDELITY by Nick Hornby (Riverhead: $12.95) A 35-year-old man squelches heartbreak with pop music.

****

NONFICTION

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

2. THE CONTENT OF OUR CHARACTER by Shelby Steele (HarperPerennial: $12.50) A new vision of race.

3. NAKED by David Sedaris (Little, Brown: $12.95) Autobiographical essays from the NPR commentator.

4. THE MAN WHO ATE EVERYTHING by Jeffrey Steingarten (Vintage: $14) Eating his way across the globe.

5. THE MILLIONAIRE NEXT DOOR by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko (Pocket: $14) Secrets of the wealthy.

6. THE PERFECT STORM by Sebastian Junger (HarperPerennial: $13) Fisherman trapped in a storm.

7. WHAT IT IS . . . WHAT IT WAS! by Gerald Martinez, Diana Martinez and Andres Chavez (Hyperion: $19.95)

8. CITY OF QUARTZ by Mike Davis (Vintage: $15) How L.A.’s history and power structures will shape the city’s future.

9. NERVE edited by Genevieve Field (Bantam: $15) An anthology from the editors of Nerve.com.

10. THE STARR REPORT (Public Affairs: $10) Including analysis by the staff of the Washington Post.

Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.