Washington Area Bestsellers
Sunday, April 30, 2006; Page BW11
| Paperback | ||
| Fiction | ||
| 1 | THE DA VINCI CODE(Anchor, 14.95; $7.99) By Dan Brown.A startling murder and ancient cryptograms spur a perilous hunt for the Cup of Christ. | 4 |
| 2 | ANGELS & DEMONS(Pocket Star, $9.99) By Dan Brown.The Illuminati, a secret cabal, threatens the Vatican at the outset of a papal conclave. | 92 |
| 3 | TRUE BELIEVER(Warner, $12.95). By Nicholas Sparks A science reporter, famed for his myth-debunking articles, investigates eerie lights in a North Carolina cemetery. | 2 |
| 4 | THE TWELFTH CARD(Pocket Star, $9.99) By Jeffery Deaver.Lincoln Rhyme's forensic aptitude comes to the rescue of a schoolgirl stalked by a hit man. | 1 |
| 5 | 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. | 7 |
| 6 | NO PLACE LIKE HOME(Pocket, $9.99) By Mary Higgins Clark.A woman's tragic past looms when her new husband buys her childhood home. | 5 |
| 7 | DECEPTION POINT(Pocket, $9.99). By Dan Brown A meteorite discovered by NASA, containing never-before-seen fossils, may be a giant hoax. | 40 |
| 8 | SATURDAY(Anchor, $14.95). By Ian McEwan February 2003: A London neurosurgeon's day of leisure shifts from the mundane to the life-threatening. | 1 |
| 9 | THE KITE RUNNER(Riverhead, $14) By Khaled Hosseini.An Afghan immigrant returns to his Taliban-ruled country to atone for a childhood betrayal. | 80 |
| 10 | MARCH(Penguin, $14). By Geraldine Brooks The imagined Civil War experiences of Mr. March, the absent father in Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women." | 1 |
| Nonfiction/General | ||
| 1 | THE COVENANT WITH BLACK AMERICA (Third World, $12). Ed. by Tavis Smiley.Prominent African Americans propose a proactive plan for change. | 7 |
| 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. | 26 |
| 3 | NIGHT(FSG, $9). By Elie Wiesel The Nobel laureate's terrifying account of his experience in Nazi camps during World War II. | 22 |
| 4 | 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. | 68 |
| 5 | MY LIFE SO FAR(Random House, $16.95) By Jane Fonda.The actress, controversial activist and daughter of Hollywood royalty sets the record straight. | 1 |
| 6 | COLLAPSE: HOW SOCIETIES CHOOSE TO FAIL OR SUCCEED(Penguin, $17). By Jared Diamond The fatal consequences of ecological mismanagement. | 17 |
| 7 | AMERICAN PROMETHEUS: THE TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY OF J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER (Vintage, $17.95). By Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin | 1 |
| 8 | GARLIC AND SAPPHIRES: THE SECRET LIFE OFA CRITIC IN DISGUISE(Penguin, $15) By Ruth Reichl.Stealth and costumes at the dinner table. | 2 |
| 9 | THE GLASS CASTLE(Scribner, $14) By Jeanette Walls.A daughter's memoir of her eccentric parents and the unorthodox upbringing she survived. | 9 |
| 10 | 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. | 106 |
| Hardcover | ||
| Fiction | ||
| 1 | BLUE SHOES AND HAPPINESS(Pantheon, $21.95) By Alexander McCall Smith.Precious Ramotswe's "No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" faces further challenges. | 1 |
| 2 | TWO LITTLE GIRLS IN BLUE(Simon & Schuster, $25.95) By Mary Higgins Clark.Twins' telepathic link is a blessing when only one girl is returned after their kidnapping. | 3 |
| 3 | CHASING DESTINY(Dutton, $24.95) By Eric Jerome Dickey.Keith's daughter runs away while he's juggling his estranged wife and newly pregnant lover. | 2 |
| 4 | DARK HARBOR(Putnam, $25.95). By Stuart Woods Stone Barrington suspects a serial killer in the murder of his cousin Dick and his family in rural Maine. | 2 |
| 5 | GONE(Ballantine, $26.95). By Jonathan Kellerman Alex Delaware investigates an offbeat acting studio in the murder of a student who faked her own abduction. | 4 |
| 6 | DARK TORT(Morrow, $24.95). By Diane Mott Davidson Goldy Schulz, flourishing caterer and sometime sleuth, investigates the death of a paralegal at a client's firm. | 2 |
| 7 | THE 5TH HORSEMAN(Little, Brown, $27.95) By James Patterson and Maxine Paetro.Patients' puzzling deaths at a hospital suggest a ruthless murderer. | 10 |
| 8 | THE TEMPLAR LEGACY(Ballantine, $24.95) By Steve Berry.An ex-Justice Department agent spars with a lethal Templar order seeking a lost archive. | 8 |
| 9 | LABYRINTH(Putnam, $25.95). By Kate Mosse The lives of two women living 800 years apart are linked by a peculiar stone ring and the mystery of the Grail. | 6 |
| 10 | OAKDALE CONFIDENTIAL(Pocket, $19.95) By Anonymous.The "novel" that is causing a stir on the daytime soap "As the World Turns" is brought to life. | 2 |
| Nonfiction/General | ||
| 1 | DON'T MAKE A BLACK WOMAN TAKE OFF HER EARRINGS: MADEA'S UNINHIBITED COMMENTARIES ON LOVE AND LIFE(Riverhead, $23.95). By Tyler Perry | 2 |
| 2 | THE WORLD IS FLAT: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY(FSG, $30) By Thomas L. Friedman.Arevised and expanded edition. | 1 |
| 3 | MARLEY & ME: LIFE AND LOVE WITH THE WORLD'S WORST DOG(Morrow, $21.95) By John Grogan.For the love of an unruly Labrador. | 19 |
| 4 | COBRA II: THE INSIDE STORY OF THE INVASION AND OCCUPATION OFIRAQ(Pantheon, $27.95) By Michael R. Gordon and Bernard E. Trainor | 6 |
| 5 | FREAKONOMICS: A ROGUE ECONOMIST EXPLORES THE HIDDEN SIDE OF EVERYTHING(Morrow, $25.95) By Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner | 53 |
| 6 | AMERICAN THEOCRACY: THE PERIL AND POLITICS OF RADICAL RELIGION, OIL, AND BORROWED MONEY IN THE 21ST CENTURY(Viking, $26.95). By Kevin Phillips | 5 |
| 7 | THE GOSPEL OF JUDAS(National Geographic, $22) Ed. by Rodolphe Kasser, Marvin Meyer & Gregor Wurst The papyrus pages of Judas's testament translated. | 2 |
| 8 | MISQUOTING JESUS: THE STORY BEHIND WHO CHANGED THE BIBLE AND WHY (HarperSanFrancisco, $24.95). By Bart D. Ehrman | 7 |
| 9 | AMERICAN GOSPEL: GOD, THE FOUNDING FATHERS, AND THE MAKING OF A NATION (Random House, $23.95). By Jon Meacham | 3 |
| 10 | A DEATH IN BELMONT(Norton, $23.95) By Sebastian Junger.Reexamining a 1963 "solved" murder that might be the work of the Boston Strangler. | 1 |
Rankings reflect sales for the week ended April 23, 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.)
