Washington Area Bestsellers
Sunday, March 19, 2006; Page BW11
| Paperback | ||
| Fiction | ||
| 1 | THE MERMAID CHAIR(Penguin, $14) By Sue Monk Kidd.Jessie visits her ailing mother, still grief-stricken after Jessie's father's death 33 years before. | 1 |
| 2 | RAGE(Ballantine, $7.99). By Jonathan Kellerman Psychiatrist Alex Delaware revisits the chilling case of two teens convicted of killing a toddler eight years earlier. | 2 |
| 3 | KILL THE MESSENGER(Bantam, $7.99). By Tami Hoag A bike courier finds his life in jeopardy because of a parcel meant for a just-murdered defense attorney. | 2 |
| 4 | WITH NO ONE AS WITNESS(HarperTorch, $7.99) By Elizabeth George.Scotland Yard's Lynley and Havers tackle a killing spree with racial overtones. | 2 |
| 5 | THE KITE RUNNER(Riverhead, $14) By Khaled Hosseini.An Afghan immigrant returns to his Taliban-ruled country to atone for a childhood betrayal. | 74 |
| 6 | IRELAND(Avon, $7.99). By Frank Delaney A BBC reporter's fictionalized saga that recounts the sweeping history of the Emerald Isle. | 2 |
| 7 | FATAL BURN(Kensington, $7.99). By Lisa Jackson A teenager's kidnapping brings her adoptive father and birth mother together to solve the crime--and fall in love. | 2 |
| 8 | GILEAD(Picador USA, $14). By Marilynne Robinson An elderly minister, in failing health, reflects on his enduring faith and a lifetime spent in the same Iowa town. | 7 |
| 9 | PRETTY WOMAN(Pocket, $7.99). By Fern Michaels Unhappy with her lout of a husband, Rosie tosses him out and vows to change her life--and then wins the lottery. | 2 |
| 10 | THE BROKER(Dell, $7.99). By John Grisham The CIA finagles the release of an attorney from federal prison to gain access to a satellite surveillance system. | 15 |
| Nonfiction/General | ||
| 1 | NIGHT(FSG, $9). By Elie Wiesel The Nobel laureate's terrifying account of his experience in Nazi camps during World War II. | 16 |
| 2 | IN COLD BLOOD(Vintage, $14). By Truman Capote Its melding of crime reportage and fictional techniques made this account of a grisly murder an instant classic. | 20 |
| 3 | 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. | 62 |
| 4 | THE COVENANT WITH BLACK AMERICA (Third World, $12). Ed. by Tavis Smiley.Prominent African Americans propose a proactive plan for change. | 1 |
| 5 | A MILLION LITTLE PIECES(Anchor, $14.95) By James Frey.Billed as a memoir of addiction recovery, the author now admits to embellishing his tale. | 24 |
| 6 | COLLAPSE: HOW SOCIETIES CHOOSE TO FAIL OR SUCCEED(Penguin, $17). By Jared Diamond The fatal consequences of ecological mismanagement. | 11 |
| 7 | ANIMALS IN TRANSLATION: USING THE MYSTERIESOF AUTISM TO DECODE ANIMAL BEHAVIOR(Harvest, $15) By Temple Grandin and Catherine Johnson | 6 |
| 8 | 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. | 102 |
| 9 | CONFESSIONS OF AN ECONOMIC HIT MAN (Plume, $15). By John Perkins.Charges of financial malfeasance at the expense of developing nations. | 11 |
| 10 | THE GLASS CASTLE(Scribner, $14) By Jeanette Walls.A daughter's memoir of her eccentric parents and the unorthodox upbringing she survived. | 3 |
| Hardcover | ||
| Fiction | ||
| 1 | THE 5TH HORSEMAN(Little, Brown, $27.95) By James Patterson and Maxine Paetro.Patients' puzzling deaths at a hospital suggest a ruthless murderer. | 4 |
| 2 | THE TENTH CIRCLE(Atria, $26). By Jodi Picoult Graphic art illustrates this tale (with a "Purgatorio" metaphor) of a family coping with a daughter's rape. | 1 |
| 3 | THE HOUSE(Delacorte, $27). By Danielle Steel A wealthy client's bequest offers attorney Sarah Anderson the chance to renovate a grand San Francisco manor. | 2 |
| 4 | THE REBELS OF IRELAND: THE DUBLIN SAGA (Doubleday, $28.95). By Edward Rutherfurd.The conclusion of Rutherfurd's sweeping epic of Irish history. | 2 |
| 5 | THE DA VINCI CODE(Doubleday, $24.95) By Dan Brown.Ciphers and riddles impede a symbologist's quest for the Holy Grail and a wily killer. | 102 |
| 6 | THE LAST TEMPLAR(Dutton, $24.95) By Raymond Khoury.Modern-day zealots fromthe Knights Templar hunt for a treasure not seen since 1291. | 7 |
| 7 | CELL(Scribner, $26.95). By Stephen King A mind-altering pulse sent simultaneously via all mobile phones in America turns its recipients into zombies. | 7 |
| 8 | FALSE IMPRESSION(St. Martin's, $27.95) By Jeffrey Archer.The ownership of a pricelessVan Gogh self-portrait is put in question by the attacks of Sept. 11. | 1 |
| 9 | THE TEMPLAR LEGACY(Ballantine, $24.95) By Steve Berry.An ex-Justice Department agent spars with a lethal Templar order seeking a lost archive. | 3 |
| 10 | IN THE COMPANY OF THE COURTESAN (Random House, $23.95). By Sarah Dunant A woman's troubles and triumphs inRenaissance Venice. | 4 |
| Nonfiction/General | ||
| 1 | MARLEY & ME: LIFE AND LOVE WITH THE WORLD'S WORST DOG(Morrow, $21.95) By John Grogan.For the love of an unruly Labrador. | 13 |
| 2 | MISQUOTING JESUS: THE STORY BEHIND WHO CHANGED THE BIBLE AND WHY (HarperSanFrancisco, $24.95). By Bart D. Ehrman | 1 |
| 3 | THE WORLD IS FLAT: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY(FSG, $27.50) By Thomas L. Friedman.Globalism's colossal impact. | 48 |
| 4 | FREAKONOMICS: A ROGUE ECONOMIST EXPLORES THE HIDDEN SIDE OF EVERYTHING(Morrow, $25.95) By Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner | 47 |
| 5 | BLINK: THE POWER OF THINKING WITHOUT THINKING (Little, Brown, $25.95). By Malcolm Gladwell The complex psychology behind our snap decisions. | 47 |
| 6 | MANHUNT: THE 12-DAY CHASE FOR LINCOLN'S KILLER (Morrow, $26.95). By James L. Swanson.John Wilkes Booth's sensational, elusive flight from Washington, D.C. | 5 |
| 7 | YOU'RE WEARING THAT? UNDERSTANDING MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS IN CONVERSATION (Random House, $25.95). By Deborah Tannen | 7 |
| 8 | FRAGILE INNOCENCE: A FATHER'S MEMOIR OF HIS DAUGHTER'S COURAGEOUS JOURNEY (Harmony, $23). By James Reston Jr. | 1 |
| 9 | THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING(Knopf, $23.95) By Joan Didion.A memoir of mourning; winner of the 2005 National Book Award for nonfiction. | 22 |
| 10 | TEAM OF RIVALS: THE POLITICAL GENIUS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN(Simon & Schuster, $35) By Doris Kearns Goodwin.Presidential finesse. | 15 |
Rankings reflect sales for the week ended March 12, 2006. The charts may not be reproduced without permission from Nielsen BookScan. Copyright © 2006 by Nielsen BookScan. (Right-hand column of italicized numbers reflects weeks on this list, which premiered in Book World on Jan. 11, 2004. Advice, reference and self-help books appear on a separate, monthly list.)
