Father Boyle's story sticks on the L.A. Times bestseller list

When Father Gregory Boyle began his work in East Los Angeles, the area had the most gang activity in all of Los Angeles. He wanted to provide young people with an alternative. Realizing that staying out of gangs involved both small things, like tattoo removal, and big things -- like finding a job -- Boyle founded Homeboy Industries. Now in its own building, Homeboy Industries has a cafe, job training, mental health services and devoted supporters. But in May, facing a budget shortfall in the millions after diminished state, local and private funding during the economic downturn, Boyle laid off 300 workers at Homeboy Industries, including all senior administrators. About 100 remained on the payroll; others said they would come to work on a volunteer basis until the crisis had passed.

News of the trouble spread, in stories like this one on NPR; support efforts include a big-ticket fundraiser and a benefit yoga class. Booksellers, too, put out the call to readers to give Boyle's book, "Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion" a try. Maybe that helped it hit its 10th week on our bestseller list, which appears in this Sunday's paper. In our feature on the book, Celeste Fremon wrote, "Boyle says that 'Tattoos on the Heart' is a guidebook to compassion, an invitation to "obliterate the notion that there is a them who should exist out of the circle of our kinship." I'd call it a literary spell that aims to will that larger kinship into being." The spell continues.

-- Carolyn Kellogg
twitter.com/paperhaus

Photo: Father Boyle with supporters May 13, 2010, the day 300 people were laid off by Homeboy Industries. Credit: Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times

After the jump: a preview of our full bestseller list.

Hardcover Fiction Bestsellers

Fiction		Weeks on list
1.	The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest by Stieg Larsson (Knopf: $27.95) The final book of the “Millennium Trilogy.”	2
2.	The Help by Kathryn Stockett (Putnam: $24.95) The lives of a maid, cook and college graduate intertwine.	54
3.	The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan (Hyperion: $17.99) Siblings battle Egyptian gods to uncover family secrets and find their Egyptologist father.	4
4.	61 Hours by Lee Child (Delacorte: $28). Roving ex-military cop Jack Reacher helps a small South Dakota town deal with sinister forces.	3
5.	The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman (Dial Press: $25) The goings-on at a ragtag English-language newspaper in Rome.	2
6.	Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris (Ace: $25.95) Sookie Stackhouse copes with loss and paranormal politics.	4
7.	Innocent by Scott Turow (Grand Central: $27.99) Rusty Sabich and Tommy Molto return to the courtroom after the mysterious death of Rusty's wife.	4
8.	Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer by John Grisham (Dutton: $16.99) A 13 year old aspiring lawyer finds himself in the middle of a murder trial.	1
9.	Storm Prey by John Sandford (Putnam: $27.95). Agent Lucas Davenport's surgeon wife is a key witness in a botched robbery case.	3
10.	The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer (Publisher: $26.95) Lovers at a Paris University are forced to return to Hungary by the Nazis.	1
11.	Tell-All by Chuck Palahniuk (Doubleday: $24.95). A washed-up actress looking for a comeback embarks on a love affair with a gold-digging suitor.	3
12.	Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende (HarperCollins: $26.99) The intertwined lives of a young slave girl and plantation owner on a Caribbean island in the 1700s	4
13.	The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan (Disney Hyperion: $17.99) Percy Jackson and his army of demigods battle the Lord of Time.	25
14.	Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin (St. Martin's Press: $26.99). A pediatric plastic surgeon is tempted by a patient’s mother.	2
15.	Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead (Penguin: $17.99) Rose prepares for graduation from the Vampire Academy while still yearning for Dimitri	2
16.	This Body of Death by Elizabeth George (Harper: $28.99). Still mourning the loss of his wife and unborn child, an inspector returns to Scotland Yard	16
17.	Bullet by Laurell K. Hamilton (Berkley: $26.95) The Mother of All Darkness returns to control vampire executioner, Anita Blake.	1
18.	The Neocramancer  by Michael Scott (Delacorte: $10.99) The fourth book in the "The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel" series.	1
19.	Blockade Billy by Stephen King (Simon & Schuster: $14.99) The dark side of baseball circa 1957	1
20.	Solar by Ian McEwan (Nan A. Talese: $26.95) A physicist tries to reinvigorate his career (at a colleague's expense).	7

Hardcover Nonfiction Bestsellers
1.	Women, Food and God by Geneen Roth (Scribner: $24). The connection between eating and core beliefs that brings fulfillment.	7
2.	The Big Short by Michael Lewis (W.W. Norton: $27.95) How the U.S. economy was driven to collapse by the bond and real estate markets	11
3.	Tattoos on the Heart by Gregory Boyle (Free Press: $25) A Jesuit priest recounts working with L.A. youth through his gang intervention program.	10
4.	War by Sebastian Junger (Twelve: $26.99) The author's account of 14 months with a U.S. Army platoon in Afghanistan.	3
5.	The Promise by Jonathan Alter (Simon & Schuster: $28) An inside look at President Obama's first year in office. .	2
6.	Spoken From the Heart by Laura Bush (Scribner: $30) The former first lady's memoir of growing up in West Texas and life in the White House.	4
7.	Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern (HarperCollins: $15.99) A son's compilation of his elderly father's ramblings and observations.	4
8.	Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang by Chelsea Handler (Grand Central: $25.99) Essays and amusing tales from the comic's personal life.	7
9.	The Bedwetter by Sarah Silverman (Harper: $25.99) The stand-up comic known for her salty humor shares her life story.	6
10.	Nomad by Ayaan Hirsi Ali (Free Press: $27) In her follow up to “Infidel,” the Somalian-born Muslim tells of her emigration to the U.S.	1
11.	Just Kids by Patti Smith (Ecco: $27) The singer’s early days and relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe	17
12.	Change Your Brain, Change Your Body by Daniel G. Amen (Harmony: $25.99) Dietary advice to improve brain function and overall health.	4
13.	The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary by Jeff Kinney (Amulet: $14.95). Behind the scenes during the making of the movie.	11
14.	Game Change by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin   (Harper: $27.99) The drama of the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign.	14
15.	I Am Ozzy by Ozzy Osbourne and Chris Ayres (Grand Central : $26.99) The heavy-metal singer reminisces on his death-defying life.	10
16.	The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow  (Hyperion: 21.95) A professor's terminal cancer  inspires a call to seize life's moments.	75
17.	Tao I  by Zhi Gang Sha (Atria: $29.95) new divine teachings reveal how Tao exists and benefits in every aspect of life	1
18.	Bicycle Diaries by David Byrne (Viking: $25.95) A journal of the former Talking Heads lead singer and  avid bicyclist's trek across major cities around the  globe.	3
19.	No Wonder My Parents Drank by Jay Mohr (Simon & Schuster:$25) The actor and comic shares his adventures in parenting.	1
20.	To Save America by Newt Gingrich  (Regnery Press $29.95) The former Speaker of the House offers strategies to restore fundamental values back to America.   Paperbacks: Fiction 1. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson ($14.95) 2. The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson ($15.95) 3. Tinkers by Paul Harding ($14.95) 4. Little Bee by Chris Cleave ($14) 5. Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann ($15) 6. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese ($15.95) 7. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho ($13.95) 8. A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick ($14.95) 9. The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan ($7.99) 10. The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan ($7.99) 11. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan ($7.99) 12. The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan ($7.99) 13. Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner ($15) 14. The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón ($15.95) 15. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein ($14.99) Paperbacks: Non-Fiction 1. Food Rules by Michael Pollan ($7.99) 2. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert ($15) 3. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin ($15) 4. Manhood for Amateurs by Michael Chabon ($14.99) 5. Secret Stairs by Charles Fleming ($16.95) 6. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell ($15.99) 7. For You Mom, Finally by Ruth Reichl ($13) 8. The Official SAT Study Guide, 2nd edition by The College Board ($21.99) 9. Shop Class as Soul Craft by Matthew B. Crawford ($15) 10. What to Expect When You're Expecting by Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel ($24.95) 11. Animals Make Us Human by Temple Grandin ($15.95) 12. Awkward Family Photos by Mike Bender and Doug Chernack ($15) 13. The Lost City of Z by David Grann ($15.95) 14. Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen ($14) 15. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell ($14.99) Rankings are based on a weekly poll of Southern California bookstores.	1

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