Washington Is Also Reading . . . Selling Well in Local Independent Bookstores

Under the Sabers

By Tanya Biank (St. Martin's, $23.95)

"The Unwritten Code of Army Wives" is the subtitle of this timely look at the impact of combat and military life on the families the soldiers leave behind, as seen through the lives of four women at Fort Bragg, N.C. Biank is both the daughter and the wife of Army officers. (NF)

The Big Oyster

By Mark Kurlansky (Ballantine, $23.95)

Kurlansky's affinity for focusing on a single item of food through which to narrate a rich, often surprising chapter of history reveals the key role oysters once played in the social and economic evolution of New York City (vast stores of oyster beds once populated the lower Hudson). (NF)

PostSecrets

By Frank Warren (Regan, $24.95)

The terms were simple: On a postcard, jot down a secret you've never before revealed and mail it (anonymously) to him. Thus began Warren's community art project, which thrived beyond his expectations. The most creative of the submissions are assembled here. (NF)