FictionTHE ANGEL OF DARKNESS by Caleb Carr...

Fiction

THE ANGEL OF DARKNESS by Caleb Carr (Random House: $25.95) The alienist Kreizler faces a serial killer in old New York. Southern California ranking: 1; Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 5

A CHILD’S NIGHT DREAM by Oliver Stone (St. Martin’s: $21.95) A youth’s quest for meaning in 1960s New York and Vietnam. Southern California ranking: 2; Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

COLD MOUNTAIN by Charles Frazier (Atlantic Monthly: $24) A Confederate soldier quits the Civil War and heads home. Southern California ranking: 3; Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 16

UNDERWORLD by Don DeLillo (Scribner: $27.50) Coming of age in the Cold War and beyond. Southern California ranking: 4; Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 6

FLOOD TIDE by Clive Cussler (Simon & Schuster: $26) Hero Dirk Pitt faces a madman controlling a worldwide slave trade. Southern California ranking: 5; Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 4

FLOWER NET by Lisa See (HarperCollins: $24) Worlds collide when investigators probe the deaths of the sons of an American ambassador and a Chinese entrepreneur. Southern California ranking: 6; Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

TIME QUAKE by Kurt Vonnegut (Putnam: $23.95) In 2001, the universe suffers a bout of deja vu, forcing the world to relive the 1990s. Southern California ranking: 7; Last Week: 6; Weeks on List: 3

THE BEST LAID PLANS by Sidney Sheldon (Morrow: $25) A political dreamer meets a sexy schemer. Southern California ranking: 8; Last Week: 7; Weeks on List: 6

10 LB. PENALTY by Dick Francis (Putnam: $24.95) A politician jockeys for position while his son leaps obstacles set by their enemies. . Southern California ranking: 9; Last Week: 5; Weeks on List: 3

BLOOD LAKE: And Other Stories by Jim Krusoe (Boaz: $18.50) Tales of madcap characters trapped behind the eight ball. Southern California ranking: 10; Last Week: 9; Weeks on List: 3

Nonfiction

BOOK by Whoopi Goldberg (Morrow/Rob Weisbach: $22) Insights and attitude. Southern California ranking: 1; Last Week: 7; Weeks on List: 2

THE ROYALS by Kitty Kelley (Warner: $27) Applying a wrecking ball to the House of Windsor. Southern California ranking: 2; Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 4

DIANA: Her True Story, In Her Own Words by Andrew Morton (Simon & Schuster: $22.95) A revised version of the 1992 biography with new material. Southern California ranking: 3; Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

ANGELA’S ASHES by Frank McCourt (Scribner: $24) A bittersweet Irish childhood. Southern California ranking: 4; Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 51

INTO THIN AIR: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer (Villard: $24) Risk and recklessness on a mountaintop. Southern California ranking: 5; Last Week: 6; Weeks on List: 25

THE MAN WHO LISTENS TO HORSES by Monty Roberts with Lucy Grealy (Random House: $23) Turning wild horses into pussycats. Southern California ranking: 6; Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 9

THE KINGDOM OF SHIVAS IRONS by Michael Murphy (Broadway Books: $27.50) The hunt continues for a mystical golfer/philosopher with a message about life and the links. Southern California ranking: 7; Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

KILLER INSTINCT: How Two Young Producers Took On Hollywood and Made the Most Controversial Film of the Decade by Jane Hamsher (Broadway Books: $25) The story behind Oliver Stone’s “Natural Born Killers.” Southern California ranking: 8; Last Week: 10; Weeks on List: 6

CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD, BOOK ONE by Neale Donald Walsch (Putnam: $19.95) Channeling Mr. Big. Southern California ranking: 9; Last Week: 5; Weeks on List: 25

FAVRE: For The Record by Brett Favre with Chris Havel (Doubleday: $22.95) The man with the golden arm describes the Greenbay Packers’ Super Bowl-winning 1996 season. Southern California ranking: 10; Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

Paperbacks: FICTION

1. L.A. CONFIDENTIAL by James Ellroy (Warner: $12.99)

2. A LESSON BEFORE DYING by Ernest Gaines (Vintage: $12)

3. THE CLINIC by Jonathan Kellerman (Bantam: $6.99)

4. KISS THE GIRLS by James Patterson (Warner: $6.99)

5. SHE’S COME UNDONE by Wally Lamb (Pocket: $14)

Paperbacks: NONFICTION

1. DIANA: Her True Story by Andrew Morton (Pocket: $7.50)

2. MY DARK PLACES by James Ellroy (Vintage: $14)

3. HELLO, HE LIED: And Other Truths from the Hollywood Trenches by Lynda Obst (Broadway Books: $13)

4. LEONARD MALTIN’S 1997 MOVIE AND VIDEO GUIDE edited by Leonard Maltin. (Signet: $7.99.)

5. L.A. BIZARRO by Anthony Lovett and Matt Maranian. (A Buzz Book/St. Martin’s: $16.95.)

Rankings are based on a Times’ poll of Southland bookstores.