FICTION

1. (1) The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Alexander McCall Smith (Anchor Books; $11.95) Precious Ramotswe becomes the only lady detective in Botswana.

2. (-) Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe (Anchor Books; $9.95) Nigerian tribal life before and after colonialism.

3. (-) Late Bloomer, Fern Michaels (Atria Books; $24) Childhood tragedy keeps a young woman from living adult life fully.

4. (7) The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd (Penguin; $14) Teenager flees an abusive father and confused past into the turbulence of the 1964 civil rights movement with her African-American nanny.

5. (6) Bel Canto, Ann Patchett (Harper; $13.95) Hostage situation gone awry makes strange bedfellows of captors and captives.

6. (2) The Hours, Michael Cunningham (Picador; $13) Virginia Woolf's life is mirrored by the lives of two of her readers.

7. (9) The Lake of Dead Languages, Carol Goodman (Ballantine Books; $13.95) Teacher returns to her alma mater to find sinister history repeating itself.

8. (8) Sea Glass, Anita Shreve (Back Bay Books; $14.95) New Hampshire shore brings lives woven together after the stock crash of 1929.

9. (-) Graveyard Shift, Jack Higgins (Berkley Publishing Group; $7.99) Police thriller has ex-con become target of his former partner.

10. (3) The King of Torts, John Grisham (Doubleday; $27.95) Burned-out lawyer is seduced by the fast money of morally questionable cases.

NONFICTION

1. (7) Kitty Hawk and Beyond, Ronald R. Geibert, John R. Dailey, Patrick B. Nolan (Roberts Rinehart Publishing; $19.95) subtitled "The Wright Brothers and the Early Years of Aviation, a Photographic History."

2. (8) Beyond the River, Ann Hagedorn (Simon & Schuster; $25) Historical examination of Ripley, Ohio, Underground Railroad heroes.

3. (2) Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution, Robert C. Atkins (Avon; $7.99) Low-carbohydrates, high-protein diet tome.

4. (-) Stupid White Men, Michael Moore (Regan Books; $24.95) subtitled "and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation!"

5. (-) Savage Nation, Michael Savage (WND Books; $24.99) "Saving America from the Liberal Assault on Our Borders, Language and Culture."

6. (-) Dayton Comes of Age, Claudia Watson (Montgomery County Historical Society; $25) Retrospective of the city.

7. (10) Gentleman Amateurs, Mark Bernstein (Dayton Daily News; $29.95) History of the Wright brothers.

8. (-) Life's Greatest Lessons, Hal Urban (Fireside; $12) subtitled "20 Things That Matter."

9. (-) Bias, Bernard Goldberg (Harperperennial Library; $13.95) subtitled "CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distorts the News."

10. (-) Contacting Your Spirit Guide, Sylvia Browne (Hay House; $17.95) Recognize your spirit guide, their names, how to hear and use their guidance.

Participants: Books & Co. and Joseph-Beth Booksellers. Based on sales ending week of Feb.23 ; (-) indicates a book was not on the list the previous week