October 15, 2000

FICTION

1 LYING AWAKE by Mark Salzman (Alfred A. Knopf: $21) A meditation on spirituality in the life of an Angeleno nun facing a dilemma: Should she have surgery that will cure her of mystical visions?

Last Week: 7; Weeks on List: 2

2 PAGAN BABIES by Elmore Leonard (Dell: $24.95) A hard-boiled priest and a fast-talking tough girl team up against a Detroit mobster to raise money for Rwandan orphans.

Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 4

3 DROWNING RUTH by Christina Schwarz (Doubleday: $23.95) In early 20th century Wisconsin, a family is torn apart by a tragic death and the secrets that follow.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

4 THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY by Michael Chabon (Random House: $26.95) In 1939 Brooklyn, two Jewish cousins, one American, one Czech, collaborate to create a comic book.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

5 MORGAN’S RUN by Colleen McCullough (Simon & Schuster: $28) Things go profoundly wrong for a master gunsmith, who becomes one of the first convicts sent to Australia.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

6 THE BLIND ASSASSIN by Margaret Atwood (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday: $26) A narrative tour de force of self-deceit and revenge that joins the lives of two sisters with an unpublished sci-fi novel.

Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 4

7 CENTER STREET by Leonard Wise (Bastion Press: $18.95) A teenager in Hudson, N.Y., fights back against organized crime taking root in his neighborhood.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

8 PERISH TWICE by Robert B. Parker (Putnam: $23.95) A private investigator goes to the aid of three very different women: her sister, her best friend and the CEO of a feminist organization.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

9 SHOPGIRL by Steve Martin (Hyperion: $17.95) A young artist who works days in the glove department at Neiman Marcus falls abruptly in love with a millionaire businessman.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

10 OPEN HOUSE by Elizabeth Berg (Random House: $23.95) After her husband leaves, a woman must deal with her loneliness and begin a new life with their 11-year-old son.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 3

11 THE NIGHT LISTENER by Armistead Maupin (HarperCollins: $26) A writer meets an abused 13-year-old boy with AIDS and finds all of his relationships profoundly changed.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

12 WHEN WE WERE ORPHANS by Kazuo Ishiguro (Alfred A. Knopf: $25) An English boy is “orphaned” when his mother and father vanish; years later, he returns as a detective to solve the disappearances.

Last Week: 12; Weeks on List: 3

13 FOUR BLONDES by Candace Bushnell (Atlantic Monthly: $24) Interconnected stories from the “Sex and the City” author about four women caught up in the glitz and glamour of New York.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 5

14 THE INDWELLING by Tim F. Lahaye and Jerry B. Jenkins (Tyndale: $22.95) The “Left Behind” series continues as, in the years before the Second Coming, the Tribulation Force fights to stay alive.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 11

15 THE RESCUE by Nicholas Sparks (Warner: $22.95) A volunteer fireman in a North Carolina town helps a waitress rebuild her life when her son disappears after a car accident.

Last Week: 5; Weeks on List: 2

NONFICTION

1 IT’S NOT ABOUT THE BIKE by Lance Armstrong with Sally Jenkins (Putnam: $24.95) Triumph in the life of a champion cyclist, from overcoming cancer to winning the Tour de France.

Last Week: 13; Weeks on List: 11

2 NATURAL BLONDE by Liz Smith (Hyperion: $25.95) The “Grande Dame of Dish” offers a private peek at her journey from small-time journalism to the heights of gossip column success.

Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 2

3 NOTHING LIKE IT IN THE WORLD by Stephen Ambrose (Simon & Schuster: $28) The historian looks at the building of the transcontinental railroad and its impact on the growth of the nation.

Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 6

4 LAST MAN STANDING by Jack Olsen (Doubleday: $27.50) The trials and tribulations of Geronimo Pratt, the lawyers who defended him and the system that set him free.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

5 WHO MOVED MY CHEESE? by Spencer Johnson (Putnam: $19.95) This co-author of “The One Minute Manager” uses the parable of mice in a maze to show people how to manage change.

Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 31

6 THE TEN THINGS YOU CAN’T SAY IN AMERICA by Larry Elder (St. Martin’s: $23.95) The radio talk show host directs his scorn at feminists, black leaders, gun control and other controversial topics.

Last Week: 14; Weeks on List: 2

7 EYEWITNESS TO POWER by David R. Gergen (Simon & Schuster: $26) A media pundit and Washington insider, Gergen reflects on his experience of several presidential administrations.

Last Week: 11; Weeks on List: 2

8 I LOVE YOU, RONNIE The Letters of Ronald Reagan to Nancy Reagan (Random House: $24.95) Glimpses of the private life of the Gipper and his first lady, from his movie-making days to the presidency.

Last Week: 7; Weeks on List: 4

9 THE O’REILLY FACTOR by Bill O’Reilly (Broadway Books: $23) The TV pundit pontificates on what he sees as the good, the bad and the completely ridiculous in American life.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

10 COMMAND PERFORMANCE by Jane Alexander (PublicAffairs: $25) A memoir of the actress’ four years spent in the political arena as head of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

11 CHERRY by Mary Karr (Viking: $24.95) A memoir of a young girl’s sexual and pharmaceutical coming-of-age in rural Texas, a follow-up to “The Liars’ Club.”

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

12 WILLIAM MULHOLLAND AND THE RISE OF LOS ANGELES by Catherine Mulholland (University of California Press: $35) A granddaughter tells the story of the man who brought water to our Los Angeles desert.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 2

13 FALL DOWN, LAUGHING by David Lander (Tarcher/Putnam Tarcher: $22.95) “Laverne and Shirley’s” Squiggy discusses his struggle to cope with multiple sclerosis.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

14 IN THE HEART OF THE SEA by Nathaniel Philbrick (Viking: $24.95) Life and death aboard the Nantucket whaler Essex, which was sunk by a sperm whale in 1821.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 15

15 TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE by Mitch Albom (Doubleday: $19.95) A sportswriter’s story of the life lessons he received during weekly visits to an older dying friend.

Last Week: 8; Weeks on List: 139

PAPERBACKS / FICTION

1 THE RED TENT by Anita Diamant (Picador USA: $14) The blossoming of Dinah, Jacob’s only daughter, in Genesis.

2 PLAINSONG by Kent Haruf (Vintage: $13) Lives intersect in a small Colorado cattle town.

3 WAITING by Ha Jin (Vintage: $13) A legal loophole allows long-separated lovers to be united.

4 INTERPRETER OF MALADIES by Jhumpa Lahiri (Mariner: $12) Indian customs color the lives of people coping with loss.

5 DAUGHTER OF FORTUNE by Isabel Allende (HarperPerennial: $14) A young woman escapes to Gold Rush California.

6 HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG by Andre Dubus III (Vintage: $14) Two families clash over an auctioned house in this tragic tale.

7 CHOCOLAT by Joanne Harris (Penguin: $12.95) A woman and her daughter open a chocolate store in a French village.

8 THE POISONWOOD BIBLE by Barbara Kingsolver (HarperPerennial: $14) A missionary family’s ordeals.

9 HEADLONG by Michael Frayn (Picador: $14) Slapstick efforts to swindle a painting from an oafish landowner.

10 THE COLDEST WINTER EVER by Sister Souljah (Pocket: $6.99) Life in a wealthy drug-dealing family.

PAPERBACKS / NONFICTION

1 OH NO! NOT ANOTHER PROBLEM by Jeanette A. Griver and Michele W. Vodrey (Compsych Systems Inc.: $12.95) Problem solving.

2 HOLLYWOOD MIGRAINE by Ray Greene (Merlin Publishing: $15.95) An inside look at filmmaking in the 1990s.

3 JOURNEY TO JUSTICE by Diane Craig Chechik (Catalyst: $12.95) A woman fights breast cancer and her doctors.

4 THE WORST-CASE SCENARIO SURVIVAL HANDBOOK by Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht (Chronicle: $14.95) S-O-S!

5 THE GHOSTS OF ECHO PARK by Ron Emler (Echo Park Publishing: $15) A pictorial history of the L.A. neighborhood.

6 FAITH OF MY FATHERS by John McCain (HarperPerennial: $14) A self-described hell-raiser finds maturity in Vietnam.

7 INSIDE THE STEALTH BOMBER by Bill Sweetman (Motorbooks: $17.95) Drawings and descriptions of the top-secret plane.

8 TALKING DIRTY WITH THE QUEEN OF CLEAN by Linda Cobb (Pocket: $8.99) Housekeeping tips galore.

9 THE SEAT OF THE SOUL by Gary Zukav (Fireside: $13) Teaching readers to rethink the mind-body connection.

10 HOMETOWN ADVANTAGE by Stacy Mitchell (Inst. for Local Self Reliance: $14) Defending Main St. against the chain stores.

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