FictionJACK AND JILL by James Patterson. (Little,...

Fiction

JACK AND JILL by James Patterson. (Little, Brown: $24.95.) A nursery rhyme holds the key to a string of murders (5)*. Southern California ranking: 1; Last Weeks: 2; Week on List: 4

DESPERATION by Stephen King. (Viking: $27.95.) A demonic cop crosses paths with a writer and a telepathic child (1)*. Southern California ranking: 2; Last Weeks: 1; Week on List: 2

THE DEEP END OF THE OCEAN by Jacquelyn Mitchard. (Viking: $23.95.) A child’s vanishing and the cruel aftershock felt by his family (3). Southern California ranking: 3; Last Weeks: 5; Week on List: 3

TO THE HILT by Dick Francis. (Putnam: $24.95.) An eccentric, Scottish painter faces death threats at the bedside of his dying stepfather (6). Southern California ranking: 4; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

IDORU by William Gibson. (Putnam: $24.95.) Two heroes chase a pop celebrity in a media-crazed futureworld (13)*. Southern California ranking: 5; Last Weeks: 7; Week on List: 4

EXECUTIVE ORDERS by Tom Clancy (Putnam: $27.95.) (4)*. Southern California ranking: 6; Last Weeks: 3; Week on List: 8

SERVANT OF THE BONES by Anne Rice. (Knopf: $25.95.) (12)*. Southern California ranking: 7; Last Weeks: 8; Week on List: 9

THE LAW OF LOVE by Laura Esquivel. (Crown: $25.) A karma expert searches her past lives for her soul mate (10). Southern California ranking: 8; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

THE CELESTINE PROPHECY by James Redfield. (Warner: $17.95.) (7)*. Southern California ranking: 9; Last Weeks: 6; Week on List: 81

I’M LOSING YOU by Bruce Wagner. (Villard: $23.) A collection of characters trapped in the sleaze of Hollywood.* Southern California ranking: 10; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 11

Nonfiction

LEADING WITH MY CHIN by Jay Leno. (HarperCollins: $22.) The journey from mechanic and stand-up comedian to host of “The Tonight Show.” Southern California ranking: 1; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

HELLO, HE LIED: And Other Truths from the Hollywood Trenches by Lynda Obst. (Little, Brown: $23.95.). Southern California ranking: 2; Last Weeks: 1; Week on List: 5

MAKE THE CONNECTION: Ten Steps to a Better Body and a Better Life by Bob Greene and Oprah Winfrey. (Hyperion: $18.95.) (1)*. Southern California ranking: 3; Last Weeks: 2; Week on List: 4

THE ZONE by Barry Sears with Bill Lawren. (HarperCollins/ReganBooks: $22.) (4)*. Southern California ranking: 4; Last Weeks: 3; Week on List: 31

JACKIE ROBINSON: An Intimate Portrait by Rachel Robinson with Lee Daniels. (Harry Abrams: $29.95.) The private slings and arrows of a life in the spotlight by Robinson’s widow. Southern California ranking: 5; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

REWRITES by Neil Simon. (Simon & Schuster: $25.) The comic playwright’s ups and downs through TV’s Golden Age and beyond. Southern California ranking: 6; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

THE RUN OF HIS LIFE: The People vs. O.J. Simpson by Jeffrey Toobin. (Random House: $24.) (5). Southern California ranking: 7; Last Weeks: 5; Week on List: 4

THE DILBERT PRINCIPLE: A Cubicle’s Eye View of Bosses, Meetings, Management Fads & Other Workplace Afflictions by Scott Adams. (HarperBusiness: $20.) (3)*. Southern California ranking: 8; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 19

LOVE, LUCY by Lucille Ball with Betty Hannah Hoffman. (Putnam: $24.95.) A recently discovered autobiography ending in 1964 (15). Southern California ranking: 9; Last Weeks: 7; Week on List: 2

ANGELA’S ASHES by Frank McCourt. (Scribner: $24.) A memoir of childhood and hope sustained in a gray, gloomy Irish city (9). Southern California ranking: 10; Last Weeks: 8; Week on List: 3

Paperbacks: FICTION

1. THE HORSE WHISPERER by Nicholas Evans. (Dell: $6.99.)*

2. THE ALCHEMIST: A Fable about Following Your Dream by Paulo Coelho. (Harper San Francisco: $10.)

3. SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS by David Guterson. (Vintage: $12.)*

4. THE FIRST WIVES CLUB by Olivia Goldsmith. (Pocket: $6.99.)

5. THE GREEN MILE PART SIX: Coffey on the Mile by Stephen King. (Signet: $3.99.)*

Paperbacks: NONFICTION

1. ZAGAT SURVEY 1996 LOS ANGELES/SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA RESTAURANT GUIDE edited by Merrill Shindler. (Zagat Survey: $10.95.)

2. IT’S A MAGICAL WORLD: A Calvin and Hobbes Collection by Bill Watterson. (Andrews & McMeel: $14.95.)

3. THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE by Stephen R. Covey. (Fireside/Simon and Schuster: $12.)

4. A CIVIL ACTION by Jonathan Harr. (Vintage: $13.)

5. THE RULES: Time-Tested Secrets for Capturing the Heart of Mr. Right by Ellen Fein and Sherrie Schneider. (Warner: $14.95.)

Rankings based on Times’ poll of local bookstores. National hardcover rankings (in parentheses) are those of Publishers Weekly. Asterisk (*) indicates book also available on audio (source: Sound Audio Books Distributing, Agoura Hills).