`The Nanny Diaries,' `The Stone Monkey' and `2nd Chance'.

Byline: Oline H. Cogdill

``The Nanny Diaries'' by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, read by Julia Roberts; Random House Audio ($25, abridged, three cassettes, five hours)

One of the reasons we love to hear about the exceedingly bad behavior of the super rich is it makes us feel a bit more comfortable knowing that vast fortunes still can't buy happiness, love or even good taste. Who can't help but feel a bit more smug about being middle class after reading about the exploits of some of the Kennedys, Claus and Sunny von Bulow and any of the Enron executives. Admit it, there's a perverse pleasure in knowing that key testimony against Leona Helmsley in her tax-fraud trial came from a cleaning lady to whom the doyenne had said, "Only the little people pay income taxes." It's a collective revenge, not for being wealthy, but for being such brats.

Given that, ``The Nanny Diaries'' can't help but make most of us feel downright righteous about our lives. This hysterically witty and yet painfully sad look at the child-rearing _ or rather the lack of _ practices among New York City's elite deserves its current status on best-sellers lists. ``The Nanny Diaries'' could even be considered a social commentary on …