Southern California Rating:

FICTION

1. BITTERSWEET by Danielle Steel (Delacorte: $26.95) A dissatisfied woman who gave up ambitions for marriage and motherhood finds comfort in the arms of a financier.

Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 3

2. THE TESTAMENT by John Grisham (Doubleday: $27.95) The 10th richest man in the United States has died, and his greedy heirs are circling like hungry vultures.

Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 11

3. A NEW SONG by Jan Karon (Viking: $24.95) A clergyman and his wife leave their beloved Mitford to shepherd a small congregation on Whitecap Island.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

4. THE GIRL WHO LOVED TOM GORDON by Stephen King (Simon and Schuster: $16.95) Lost in the woods, a young girl encounters a strange vision of horror as she searches for her family.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

5. ABIDE WITH ME by E. Lynn Harris (Doubleday: $24.95) The third volume in the Invisible Life trilogy, same characters (five thirtysomething African Americans), set in Seattle.

Last Week: 13; Weeks on List: 2

6. THE HANDYMAN by Carolyn See (Random House: $22.95) The picaresque adventures of a $10-an-hour handyman, drifter and painter in L.A who fixes hearts as well as cabinets.

Last Week: 9; Weeks on List: 5

7. TARA ROAD by Maeve Binchy (Delacorte: $24.95) People facing heartbreak and disappointment are drawn to a Victorian home on a shabby Dublin street.

Last Week: 5; Weeks on List: 7

8. SOUL OF THE FIRE by Terry Goodkind (St. Martin’s: $27.95) Lord Rahl and his wife face a being with soul-stealing power; the latest in the “Sword of Truth” series.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

9. ASHES TO ASHES by Tami Hoag (Bantam: $24.95) An FBI agent tracks a serial killer of women who makes Jack the Ripper look lke a Boy Scout.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 2

10. VITTORIO THE VAMPIRE by Anne Rice (Alfred A. Knopf: $19.95) Another vampire tale, set in Florence, in the orbit of the Medicis and the painter Fra Filippo Lippi.

Last Week: 6; Weeks on List: 5

11. I THEE WED by Amanda Quick (Bantam: $23.95) The race for an arcane book of magic potions by an English gentleman and a beautiful, scandal-attracting woman.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

12. BE COOL by Elmore Leonard (Delacorte: $24.95) Fresh from his movie success, Chili Palmer faces a pack of punks, thugs and other Tinsel Town toughies when he enters the music biz.

Last Week: 12; Weeks on List: 10

13. THE POISONWOOD BIBLE by Barbara Kingsolver (HarperCollins: $27.50) An evangelical Baptist missionary takes his wife and children to the Belgian Congo in 1959.

Last Week: 11; Weeks on List: 29

14. SINGLE & SINGLE by John le Carre (Scribner: $26) Corrupt liaisons between the new Russian states and the West and of the downfall of two families.

Last Week: 8; Weeks on List: 7

15. THE TRIALS OF NIKKI HILL by Christopher Darden and Dick Lochte (Warner: $25) A prosecutor takes on a music mogul with money to burn in the case of a murdered TV personality.

Last Week: 14; Weeks on List: 3

****

NONFICTION

1. 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: 3; Weeks on List: 68

2. THE GREATEST GENERATION by Tom Brokaw (Random House: $24.95) TV anchor tells the stories of the generation that came of age during the Depression and World War II.

Last Week: 12; Weeks on List: 19

3. BELLA TUSCANY by Frances Mayes (Broadway Books: $25) Rich, colorful stories of cuisine and Italian life in the villages by the author of “Under the Tuscan Sun.”

Last Week: 6; Weeks on List: 2

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

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 17

5. ALL TOO HUMAN by George Stephanopoulos (Little, Brown: $27.95) Behind the scenes in the Oval Office with one of President Clinton’s best and brightest.

Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 6

6. THE COURAGE TO BE RICH by Suze Orman (Riverhead: $24.95) Attention, ‘fraidy-cats: Dump that savings account earning 2% and look for better investments.

Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 6

7. BUSINESS @ THE SPEED OF THOUGHT by Bill Gates (Warner: $30) Microsoft’s CEO offers a corporate strategy for competing on today’s digital playing field.

Last Week: 8; Weeks on List: 3

8. 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: 9; Weeks on List: 45

9. ANOTHER COUNTRY by Mary Pipher (Riverhead: $24.95) Old age and its myriad concerns, financial, physical and emotional, and a criticism of our youth-obsessed culture.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

10. WOMAN by Natalie Angier (Houghton Mifflin: $25) A poetic, exuberant celebration of womanhood and its unique qualities and influence on the world.

Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 3

11. UNCOVERING CLINTON by Michael Isikoff (Crown: $25) A reporter’s account of his embattled efforts to bring to light the stories of Monica Lewinsky, Paula Jones and Co.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

12. THE MAJORS by John Feinstein (Little, Brown: $25) The quest for golfing greatness in four prestigious events: the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and the PGA.

Last Week: 14; Weeks on List: 3

13. MONICA’S STORY by Andrew Morton (St. Martin’s Press: $24.95) Monica Lewinsky’s account of the nature of her relationship with President Clinton.

Last Week: 11; Weeks on List: 7

14. THE CENTURY by Peter Jennings and Todd Brewster (Doubleday: $60) The story of our last 100 years; a companion to an upcoming ABC special.

Last Week: 10; Weeks on List: 19

15. BLACK HAWK DOWN by Mark Bowden (Atlantic Monthly Press: $24) An account of a 1993 raid on Mogadishu by U.S. forces that went terribly wrong.

Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

Paperbacks

FICTION

1. MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA by Arthur Golden (Vintage: $14) The life and loves of a teahouse entertainer in Kyoto.

2. N IS FOR NOOSE by Sue Grafton (Fawcett: $7.99) Kinsey Millhone investigates another detective’s sudden death.

3. THE PILOT’S WIFE by Anita Shreve (Little, Brown: $13.95) A woman’s disturbing discoveries after a fatal plane crash.

4. THE READER by Bernhard Schlink (Vintage: $11) A boyhood fling with an older woman and its aftermath.

5. A WIDOW FOR ONE YEAR by John Irving (Ballantine: $14.95) A Dickensian story of a woman with great expectations.

6. DAMASCUS GATE by Robert Stone (Scribner: $14) Foiling a terrorist plan to blow up Jerusalem’s Temple Mount.

7. SUDDEN MISCHIEF by Robert B. Parker (Jove: $6.99) A new case puts Spenser and Susan’s relationship on the line.

8. CHARMING BILLY by Alice McDermott (Delta: $12.95) A family reflects on the life of a deceased relative.

9. THE ELEVENTH COMMANDMENT by Jeffrey Archer (HarperCollins: $7.99) A spy faces a new Cold War.

10. INNER HARBOR by Nora Roberts (Penguin: $7.50) The lives and loves of three brothers on Chesapeake Bay.

****

NONFICTION

1. REAL BOYS by William Pollack (Owl Books: $13.95) Raising a healthy male child in spite of society’s mixed messages.

2. FALLING LEAVES by Adeline Yen Mah (Broadway: $13) Life under an oppressive stepmother in mainland China.

3. OUR DUMB CENTURY by The Onion staff (Three Rivers: $15) Satiric headlines from a popular humor publication.

4. GUNS, GERMS AND STEEL by Jared Diamond (W.W. Norton: $14.95) The part played by this triad in history.

5. OCTOBER SKY by Homer Hickam (Dell: $6.99) A boy from Coalwood, W. Va., becomes a NASA scientist.

6. CRIME WAVE by James Ellroy (Vintage: $12) Essays, plus two stories, about L.A.’s seamy, undead past.

7. UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN by Frances Mayes (Broadway: $13) Restoring a cozy home in a glorious Italian landscape.

8. ARE YOU SOMEBODY? by Nuala O’Faolain (Owl Books: $11.95) A Dublin memoir of a journalist’s struggles.

9. A CHILD CALLED “IT” by Dave Pelzer (Health Communications: $13.95) A survivor’s story of abuse.

10. UNDERGROUND GUIDE TO LOS ANGELES edited by Pleasant Gehman. (Manic D Press: $13.95) L.A.’s dark underbelly.

Rankings are based on a Times poll of Southland bookstores.