Washington Area Bestsellers

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Sunday, July 17, 2005

Paperback
Fiction
1

TRACE(Berkley, $7.99). By Patricia Cornwell

Kay Scarpetta returns to the medical examiner's office to help the new director sort out a young girl's death.

2
2

RULE OF FOUR(Dell, $7.99). By Ian Caldwell

and Dustin Thomason.Four roommates at Princeton attempt to unlock the secrets of a 14th-century manuscript.

2
3

THE KITE RUNNER(Riverhead, $14). By Khaled Hosseini

An Afghan immigrant returns to his Taliban-ruled country in the hope of atoning for a childhood betrayal.

40
4

NIGHTS OF RAIN AND STARS(Signet, $9.99)

By Maeve Binchy.A tragedy at a Greek seaside resort brings four disparate tourists together.

2
5THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME(Vintage, $12.95). By Mark Haddon.An autistic boy digs into a poodle's death, unearthing some family secrets.58
6

BLACK ROSE(Jove, $7.99). By Nora Roberts

Roz Harper finds herself falling for the fetching genealogist she hired to track the identity of an ancestral ghost.

6
7

ANGELS & DEMONS(Pocket Star, $7.99)

By Dan Brown.The Illuminati, a secret cabal, threatens the Vatican at the outset of a papal conclave.

78
8

THE SUMMER I DARED(Pocket, $9.95)

By Barbara Delinsky.A boating accident off the Maine coast leaves three survivors facing second chances.

2
9

THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES(Penguin, $14)

By Sue Monk Kidd.Three women beekeepers offer an abused girl comfort and a safe haven.

31
10

LITTLE EARTHQUAKES(Washington Square, $14)

By Jennifer Weiner.A prenatal yoga class is the setting for four women meeting andbecoming fast friends.

1
Nonfiction/General
1

THE TIPPING POINT: HOW LITTLE THINGS CAN

MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE(Back Bay, $14.95)

By Malcolm Gladwell.A look at fads and their origins.

28
2

DRESS YOUR FAMILY IN CORDUROY AND DENIM

(Back Bay, $14.95). By David Sedaris.A collection of witty, comic essays starring the humorist's family.

6
3

READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN(Random House, $13.95)

By Azar Nafisi.A professor recalls her clandestine Western literature discussion groups for women students.

75
4

THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY(Vintage, $14.95)

By Erik Larson.Serial killer H.H. Holmes preys on Chicago residents amid the bustle of the 1893 World's Fair.

71
5

DREAMS FROM MY FATHER(Three Rivers, $13.95)

By Barack Obama.A memoir of a challenging, often lonely youth by the freshman senator from Illinois.

46
6

GUNS, GERMS, AND STEEL(Norton, $16.95)

By Jared Diamond.The impact of geography and the environment on the rise of civilization.

31
7

A SHORT HISTORY OF NEARLY EVERYTHING

(Broadway, $15.95). By Bill Bryson.A quirky, popular guide to science's grandest achievements.

33
8

PLEDGED: THE SECRET LIFE OF SORORITIES

(Hyperion, $13.95). By Alexandra Robbins

The inner workings of one Greek chapter laid bare.

1
9

ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY(Back Bay, $14.95)

By David Sedaris.Autobiographical essays told with an appreciation for life's ironies.

23
10

IT'S NOT ABOUT THE BIKE: MY JOURNEY BACK TO LIFE

(Berkley, $14). By Lance Armstrong with Sally Jenkins

Memoir by the five-time Tour de France champion.

4
Hardcover
Fiction
1

THE HISTORIAN(Little, Brown, $25.95)

By Elizabeth Kostova.A multi-generational saga of one family's precarious scrutiny of the Dracula legend.

4
2

ELEVEN ON TOP(St. Martin's, $26.95)

By Janet Evanovich.Despite giving up her bounty-hunter role, Stephanie Plum is dodging danger once again.

3
3

MIRACLE(Delacorte, $20). By Danielle Steel

A furious storm brings together an unlikely trio: a wealthy widower, a lonely divorcée and a humble carpenter.

2
4

THE DA VINCI CODE(Doubleday, $24.95)

By Dan Brown.Ciphers and riddles impede a symbologist's quest for the Holy Grail and a killer's identity.

78
5

THE TRAVELER(Doubleday, $24.95)

By John Twelve Hawks.The Travelers, a mystical order, challenge the Earth's subjugation by an Orwellian society.

2
6

THE MERMAID CHAIR(Viking, $24.95)

By Sue Monk Kidd.Jessie's visit with her ailing mother brings some surprising confidences to light.

14
7

4TH OF JULY(Little, Brown, $27.95)

By James Patterson and Maxine Paetro.A member of the Women's Murder Club is on trial for police brutality.

10
8

A LONG WAY DOWN(Riverhead, $24.95)

By Nick Hornby.Four strangers, each planning to commit suicide, meet by chance on a London rooftop.

5
9

CROSS BONES(Scribner, $25.95). By Kathy Reichs

A murder and its link to a skeleton dating to biblical times sends forensic anthropologist Tempe Brennan to Israel.

2
10

THE WASHINGTONIENNE(Hyperion, $23.95)

By Jessica Cutler.A roman à clef in which a young Senate staffer chronicles her sexual escapades on her blog.

4
Nonfiction/General
1

1776(Simon & Schuster, $32). By David McCullough

Military campaigns and personal narratives tell the story of the first full year of the American Revolution.

6
2

THE SECRET MAN: THE STORY OF WATERGATE'S

DEEP THROAT(Simon & Schuster, $23)

By Bob Woodward.W. Mark Felt's crucial role.

1
3

FREAKONOMICS: A ROGUE ECONOMIST EXPLORES

THE HIDDEN SIDE OF EVERYTHING(Morrow, $25.95)

By Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

13
4

THE WORLD IS FLAT: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE

TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY(FSG, $27.50)

By Thomas L. Friedman.Globalism's colossal impact.

14
5

CONFESSIONS OF A VIDEO VIXEN(Amistad, $24.95)

By Karrine Steffans.The hip-hop video actress exposes her painful past and the gritty side of a glittering industry.

2
6

BLINK: THE POWER OF THINKING WITHOUT THINKING

(Little, Brown, $25.95). By Malcolm Gladwell

The complex psychology behind our snap decisions.

26
7

THE TRUTH ABOUT HILLARY: WHAT SHE KNEW, WHEN

SHE KNEW IT, AND HOW FAR SHE'LL GO TO BECOME

PRESIDENT(Sentinel, $24.95). By Edward Klein

3
8

ON BULLSHIT(Princeton Univ., $9.95)

By Harry G. Frankfurt.A philosophical primer for detecting the phenomenon in our culture.

15
9

WINNING(HarperBusiness, $27.95). By Jack Welch

with Suzy Welch.A top-to-bottom guidebook for business management by the former CEO of General Electric.

14
10

AMERICA (THE BOOK): A CITIZEN'S GUIDE TO

DEMOCRACY INACTION(Warner, $24.95)

By Jon Stewart and the Daily Show.Humor meets history.

34



Find More Reviews and Features in Books

Who do men say that I am?

Though too cursory to work as an intro to the Gospels, Mary Gordon's "Reading Jesus" should appeal to anyone who wants to wrestle with the problems and paradoxes of the New Testament.

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