Washington Area Bestsellers
Sunday, June 4, 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. | 9 |
| 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. | 97 |
| 3 | A WEDDING IN DECEMBER(Back Bay, $14.95) By Anita Shreve.A winter wedding sets the stage for a reunion of college friends, exposing myriad secrets. | 4 |
| 4 | BROKEN PREY(Berkley, $9.99). By John Sandford Gory slayings, reminiscent of those committed by two incarcerated killers, and a new iPod keep Davenport busy. | 4 |
| 5 | THE KITE RUNNER(Riverhead, $14) By Khaled Hosseini.An Afghan immigrant returns to his Taliban-ruled country to atone for a childhood betrayal. | 84 |
| 6 | MARCH(Penguin, $14). By Geraldine Brooks The imagined Civil War experiences of Mr. March, the absent father in Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women." | 4 |
| 7 | MAP OF BONES(Avon, $7.99). By James Rollins After a slaughter of worshipers, an ancient religious order loots the fabled bones of the Magi from a cathedral. | 5 |
| 8 | 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. | 7 |
| 9 | THE HISTORY OF LOVE(Norton, $13.95) By Nicole Krauss.Alost manuscript brings together a lonely WWII refugee living in NYC and a young woman. | 1 |
| 10 | VELOCITY(Bantam, $7.99). By Dean Koontz An affable bartender is forced to choose a sociopath's next series of victims via menacing, time-sensitive notes. | 5 |
| Nonfiction/General | ||
| 1 | NIGHT(FSG, $9). By Elie Wiesel The Nobel laureate's terrifying account of his experience in Nazi concentration camps during World War II. | 27 |
| 2 | THE COVENANT WITH BLACK AMERICA (Third World, $12). Ed. by Tavis Smiley.Prominent African Americans propose a proactive plan for change. | 12 |
| 3 | 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. | 31 |
| 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. | 74 |
| 5 | THE GLASS CASTLE(Scribner, $14) By Jeannette Walls.A daughter's memoir of her eccentric parents and the unorthodox upbringing she survived. | 14 |
| 6 | CONFESSIONS OF AN ECONOMIC HIT MAN (Plume, $15). By John Perkins.Charges of financial malfeasance at the expense of developing nations. | 20 |
| 7 | THE TRUTH BEHIND THE DA VINCI CODE: A CHALLENGING RESPONSE TO THE BESTSELLING NOVEL(Harvest House, $7.99). By Richard Abanes | 1 |
| 8 | COLLAPSE: HOW SOCIETIES CHOOSE TO FAIL OR SUCCEED(Penguin, $17). By Jared Diamond The fatal consequences of ecological mismanagement. | 22 |
| 9 | 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. | 109 |
| 10 | HOLY BLOOD, HOLY GRAIL(Dell, $7.99) By Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln A controversial exploration of the life of Jesus. | 1 |
| Hardcover | ||
| Fiction | ||
| 1 | AT RISK(Putnam, $21.95). By Patricia Cornwell A tenacious DA employs new DNA technology to solve a 20-year-old murder and bolster her run for governor. | 1 |
| 2 | BEACH ROAD(Little, Brown, $27.95) By James Patterson and Peter de Jonge.Asensational murder case jump-starts a struggling attorney's career. | 4 |
| 3 | DIGGING TO AMERICA(Knopf, $24.95). By Anne Tyler Two couples' chance meeting at the airport while awaiting their adopted Korean daughters sparks a friendship. | 4 |
| 4 | DEAD WATCH(Putnam, $26.95). By John Sandford An Army Intelligence veteran is called in when an ex-U.S. senator vanishes, casting suspicion on his political rival. | 2 |
| 5 | I SAY A LITTLE PRAYER(Doubleday, $21.95) By E. Lynn Harris.A zealous preacher's run for office on an anti-gay platform divides a black Atlanta church. | 4 |
| 6 | THE HARD WAY(Delacorte, $25). By Lee Child Former army MP Jack Reacher agrees to help a mercenary (also ex-Army) find his kidnapped wife and daughter. | 2 |
| 7 | THE MAN OF MY DREAMS(Random House, $22.95) By Curtis Sittenfeld.At age 14, with the dissolution of her parents' marriage, Hannah begins her quest for true love. | 2 |
| 8 | THE POE SHADOW(Random House, $24.95) By Matthew Pearl.Edgar Allan Poe's baffling death and summary burial spur a young attorney to seek the truth. | 1 |
| 9 | BLUE SHOES AND HAPPINESS(Pantheon, $21.95) By Alexander McCall Smith.Precious Ramotswe's "No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" faces more challenges. | 6 |
| 10 | 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. | 8 |
| Nonfiction/General | ||
| 1 | WISDOM OF OUR FATHERS: LESSONS AND LETTERS FROM DAUGHTERS AND SONS (Random House, $22.95). By Tim Russert | 1 |
| 2 | DISPATCHES FROM THE EDGE: A MEMOIR OF WAR, DISASTERS, AND SURVIVAL(HarperCollins, $24.95) By Anderson Cooper.Musings from theCNN reporter. | 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. | 24 |
| 4 | MAYFLOWER: A STORY OF COURAGE, COMMUNITY, AND WAR(Viking, $29.95). By Nathaniel Philbrick The saga of Plymouth Colony, stripped of mythology. | 3 |
| 5 | AMERICA: THE LAST BEST HOPE: VOLUME I: FROM THE AGE OF DISCOVERY TO A WORLD AT WAR (Nelson Current, $29.99). By William J. Bennett | 1 |
| 6 | THE WORLD IS FLAT: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY(FSG, $30) By Thomas L. Friedman.Arevised and expanded edition. | 6 |
| 7 | FREAKONOMICS: A ROGUE ECONOMIST EXPLORES THE HIDDEN SIDE OF EVERYTHING(Morrow, $25.95) By Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner | 58 |
| 8 | DON'T MAKE A BLACK WOMAN TAKE OFF HER EARRINGS: MADEA'S UNINHIBITED COMMENTARIES ON LOVE AND LIFE(Riverhead, $23.95). By Tyler Perry | 7 |
| 9 | THE MIGHTY & THE ALMIGHTY: REFLECTIONS ON AMERICA, GOD, AND WORLD AFFAIRS (HarperCollins, $25.95). By Madeleine Albright | 4 |
| 10 | MYTHS, LIES, AND DOWNRIGHT STUPIDITY: GET OUT THE SHOVEL -- WHY EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS WRONG (Hyperion, $24.95). By John Stossel.Libertarian views. | 2 |
Rankings reflect sales for the week ended May 28, 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. The advice/miscellaneous list below reflects sales from 5/1 to 5/28.)
