FictionEXECUTIVE ORDERS by Tom Clancy (Putnam: $27.95)...

Fiction

EXECUTIVE ORDERS by Tom Clancy (Putnam: $27.95) Jack Ryan is president and facing problems in the Middle East (1)*. Southern California ranking: 1; Last Weeks: 1; Week on List: 4

THE LAST DON by Mario Puzo. (Random House: $25.95) (3)*. Southern California ranking: 2; Last Weeks: 4; Week on List: 7

ENCOUNTER WITH TIBER by Buzz Aldrin and John Barnes. (Warner: $21.95) An astronaut’s family continues his plans to excavate treasure on Mars after his death. Southern California ranking: 3; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

THE LAST THING HE WANTED by Joan Didion. (Knopf: $23) A journalist turns sacrificial lamb for her father’s arms smuggling operation in Central America.* Southern California ranking: 4; Last Weeks: 8; Week on List: 2

SERVANT OF THE BONES by Anne Rice. (Knopf: $25.95) (2)*. Southern California ranking: 5; Last Weeks: 2; Week on List: 6

THE RUNAWAY JURY by John Grisham. (Doubleday: $26.95) (4)*. Southern California ranking: 6; Last Weeks: 3; Week on List: 17

I’M LOSING YOU by Bruce Wagner. (Villard: $23) A collection of characters trapped (sometimes willingly) in the sleaze of Hollywood.* Southern California ranking: 7; Last Weeks: 5; Week on List: 8

OUT OF SIGHT by Elmore Leonard. (Delacorte Press: $22.95) Bad guy and good gal find love on the lam (9)*. Southern California ranking: 8; Last Weeks: 6; Week on List: 3

ANTS ON THE MELON: A Collection of Poems by Virginia Hamilton Adair. (Random House: $21) An octogenarian’s debut volume of short lyric meditations, spanning several decades. Southern California ranking: 9; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

THE CELESTINE PROPHECY by James Redfield. (Warner: $17.95) (6)*. Southern California ranking: 10; Last Weeks: 9; Week on List: 78

Nonfiction

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

THE ZONE by Barry Sears with Bill Lawren. (HarperCollins/ReganBooks: $22) (3)*. Southern California ranking: 2; Last Weeks: 1; Week on List: 27

THE DILBERT PRINCIPLE: A Cubicle’s Eye View of Bosses, Meetings, Management Fads & Other Workplace Afflictions by Scott Adams. (HarperBusiness: $20) (1)*. Southern California ranking: 3; Last Weeks: 3; Week on List: 16

MEN ARE FROM MARS: Women Are From Venus by John Gray, Ph.D. (HarperCollins: $23) (2)*. Southern California ranking: 4; Last Weeks: 2; Week on List: 128

GREAT BOOKS: My Adventures with Homer, Rousseau, Woolf, and Other Indestructible Writers of the Western World by David Denby. (Simon & Schuster: $30). Southern California ranking: 5; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

HIT AND RUN: How Jon Peters and Peter Guber Took Sony for a Ride in Hollywood by Nancy Griffin and Kim Masters. (Simon & Schuster: $25)*. Southern California ranking: 6; Last Weeks: 6; Week on List: 14

POWER TO BURN: Michael Ovitz and the New Business of Show Business by Stephen Singular. (Carol/Birch Lane: $22.50)*. Southern California ranking: 7; Last Weeks: 4; Week on List: 6

ALL TOO HUMAN: The Love Story of Jack and Jackie Kennedy by Edward Klein. (Pocket: $23.) (11)*. Southern California ranking: 8; Last Weeks: 10; Week on List: 2

UNLIMITED ACCESS: An FBI Agent Inside the Clinton White House by Gary Aldrich. (Regnery: $24.95.) (4)*. Southern California ranking: 9; Last Weeks: 7; Week on List: 8

SIMPLE ABUNDANCE: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy by Sarah Ban Breathnach. (Warner: $17.95) (5)*. Southern California ranking: 10; Last Weeks: 8; Week on List: 17

Paperbacks: FICTION

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

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

3. “L” IS FOR LAWLESS by Sue Grafton. (Fawcett: $6.99)*

4. THE LOST WORLD by Michael Crichton. (Ballantine: $6.99)*

5. HIGH FIDELITY by Nick Hornby. (Riverhead Books: $12)*

Paperbacks: NONFICTION

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

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

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

4. CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD by Neale D. Walsch. (Hampton Roads: $11.95)

5. IF by Amy Carmichael. (Christian Literature Crusade: $3.95)

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). For early information on Times bestsellers, call (213) 237-4336 after 11 a.m. Wednesdays.