Los Angeles Times Bestsellers / Paperbacks

FICTION

EMPIRE FALLS by Richard Russo (Vintage: $14.95) A warmhearted novel about working-class lives in Maine.

DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA-YA SISTERHOOD by Rebecca Wells (HarperPerennial: $14) Sisterhood in the South.

BEL CANTO by Ann Patchett (HarperPaperbacks: $13.95) A terrorist standoff in a South American town mirrors opera.

THE BOURNE IDENTITY by Robert Ludlum (Bantam: $7.99) Jason Bourne’s a mystery man with assassins on his trail.

LITTLE ALTARS EVERYWHERE by Rebecca Wells (HarperCollins: $13) More tales from the “Ya-Ya Sisterhood.”

THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND CLAY by Michael Chabon (Picador: $15) Cousins in the comics biz.

HOSTAGE by Robert Crais (Fawcett: $7.99) Things are not as they seem for a negotiator trying to gain a family’s release.

THE FOURTH HAND by John Irving (Ballantine: $14.95) A television reporter loses his hand in a freak accident.

POTSHOT by Robert B. Parker (Berkley: $7.99) Spenser peers into an old mining town reborn as a millionaires’ retreat.

THE JURY by Steve Martini (Jove: $7.99) A doctor involved in genetics goes on trial for killing an ambitious colleague.

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NONFICTION

SEABISCUIT by Laura Hillenbrand (Ballantine: $15) How a thoroughbred horse went from also-ran to sports icon.

NICKEL & DIMED by Barbara Ehrenreich (Henry Holt: $13) A writer works in low-wage America to see how the poor live.

RICH DAD, POOR DAD by Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter (Techpress: $15.95) Adventures in fiscal parenting.

FAST FOOD NATION by Eric Schlosser (HarperCollins: $13.95) The unappetizing practices of the junk-food industry.

9-11 by Noam Chomsky (Seven Stories Press: $8.95) An alternative view of the U.S.-led war on terrorism.

ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY by David Sedaris (Little, Brown: $14.95) Wisecracking essays on life in Paris and elsewhere.

FOUNDING BROTHERS by Joseph Ellis (Vintage: $14) The genius, cunning and flaws of the nation’s architects.

LIFE STRATEGIES by Phillip C. McGraw (Hyperion, $12.95) How to take responsibility for your life to change it.

PARIS TO THE MOON by Adam Gopnik (Random House: $14.95) Joyous dispatches from the City of Light.

DAY HIKES AROUND LOS ANGELES by Robert B. Stone (Day Hike Books: $11.95) A guide to trails for the nonserious hiker.