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Washington Area Bestsellers

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Paperback
Fiction
1

THE ROAD(Vintage, $14.95)

By Cormac McCarthy. A man and his son travel to the sea through a charred, post-apocalyptic land.

7
2

THE B00K OF FATE(Warner Vision, $7.99)

By Brad Meltzer. This thriller, laced with Masonic lore, opens with an attempt on the president's life.

3
3

THE HUSBAND(Bantam, $7.99). By Dean Koontz

A gardener's wife is kidnapped, and the culprits demand $2 million in cash within 60 hours.

2
4

THE 5TH HORSEMAN(Warner, $14.99)

By James Patterson and Maxine Paetro. Hospital patients' puzzling deaths suggest a wily murderer.

4
5

THE MEMORY KEEPER'S DAUGHTER

(Penguin, $14). By Kim Edwards. A doctor regrets deceiving his wife about their twins' birth.

44
6

SUITE FRANÇAISE(Vintage, $14.95)

By Irène Némirovsky. A WWII-era, unfinished novel exploring French collaboration with the Germans.

5
7

WATER FOR ELEPHANTS(Algonquin, $13.95)

By Sara Gruen. An orphan discovers love when he joins a traveling circus amid the Great Depression.

2
8

DEAD WATCH(Berkley, $9.99). By John Sandford

The disappearance of a former U.S. senator casts suspicion on his rival in a bid for the Oval Office.

3
9

COVER OF NIGHT(Ballantine, $7.99)

By Linda Howard. A widow's life is in jeopardy when a mysterious guest vanishes from her B&B.

2
10TWO LITTLE GIRLS IN BLUE(Pocket, $7.99) By Mary Higgins Clark. Twins' telepathic link is a blessing when only one returns after a kidnapping.7
Nonfiction/General
1

EAT PRAY LOVE: ONE WOMAN'S SEARCH FOR

EVERYTHING ACROSS ITALY, INDIA AND

INDONESIA(Penguin, $15). By Elizabeth Gilbert

15
2

BLINK: THE POWER OF THINKING WITHOUT

THINKING(Back Bay, $15.99)

By Malcolm Gladwell. Behind our snap decisions.

6
3

THE MEASURE OF A MAN: A SPIRITUAL

AUTOBIOGRAPHY(HarperSanFrancisco, $14.95)

By Sidney Poitier. The esteemed actor reflects.

16
4

THE GLASS CASTLE(Scribner, $14)

By Jeannette Walls. A daughter's memoir of her eccentric parents and an unorthodox upbringing.

63
5

MAYFLOWER: A STORY OF COURAGE,

COMMUNITY, AND WAR(Penguin, $16)

By Nathaniel Philbrick. Plymouth Colony redux.

3
6

THE TIPPING POINT: HOW LITTLE THINGS CAN

MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE(Back Bay, $14.95 )

By Malcolm Gladwell. Fads and their origins.

72
7

MYTHS, LIES, AND DOWNRIGHT STUPIDITY: GET OUT THE SHOVEL -- WHY EVERYTHING YOU KNOW

IS WRONG(Hyperion, $24.95). By John Stossel

1
8

STUMBLING ON HAPPINESS(Vintage, $14.95)

By Daniel Gilbert. A psychology professor examines why we err in anticipating the future.

8
9

THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING

(Vintage, $13.95). By Joan Didion. Mourning the death of her husband, John Gregory Dunne.

13
10

THREE CUPS OF TEA: ONE MAN'S MISSION

TO PROMOTE PEACE(Penguin, $15)

By Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

6
Hardcover
Fiction
1

THE 6TH TARGET(Little, Brown, $27.99)

By James Patterson and Maxine Paetro. Kids and their nannies are being kidnapped off the street.

1
2

SIMPLE GENIUS(Warner, $26.99)

By David Baldacci. Agents Sean King and Michelle Maxwell return, replete with personal baggage.

3
3

THE YIDDISH POLICEMEN'S UNION

(HarperCollins, $26.95). By Michael Chabon. Alaska substitutes for Israel in this alt-history tale.

2
4

THE CHILDREN OF HÚRIN(Houghton Mifflin, $26)

By J.R.R. Tolkien. Men and elves battle the minions of Morgoth in this tale of Middle Earth's First Age.

4
5

THE GOOD HUSBAND OF ZEBRA DRIVE

(Pantheon, $21.95). By Alexander McCall Smith. The eighth "No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" novel.

4
6

I HEARD THAT SONG BEFORE

(Simon & Schuster, $26.95). By Mary Higgins Clark

Suspicion and buried bodies mar newlyweds' bliss.

6
7

BODY SURFING(Little, Brown, $25.99)

By Anita Shreve. A young widow is drawn into the lives of a wealthy family.

3
8NINETEEN MINUTES(Atria, $26.95) By Jodi Picoult. A student shooter's brief reign of terror in a New Hampshire high school, and its aftermath.9
9

BACK ON BLOSSOM STREET(Mira, $24.95)

By Debbie Macomber. Susannah Nelson (from "Susannah's Garden") opens a shop on Blossom St.

3
10

LUNCHEON OF THE BOATING PARTY

(Viking, $25.95). By Susan Vreeland. Renoir conceives one of his most beloved canvases.

2
Nonfiction/General
1

AT THE CENTER OF THE STORM: MY YEARS AT

THE CIA(HarperCollins, $30). By George Tenet

Parsing Sept. 11 and the Bush administration.

2
2

PRESIDENTIAL COURAGE: BRAVE LEADERS AND

HOW THEY CHANGED AMERICA, 1789-1989

(Simon & Schuster, $28). By Michael Beschloss

1
3

EINSTEIN: HIS LIFE AND UNIVERSE

(Simon & Schuster, $32). By Walter Isaacson

An incisive look at the man behind the formulas.

5
4

ANIMAL VEGETABLE MIRACLE: A YEAR OF FOOD

LIFE(HarperCollins, $26.95)

By Barbara Kingsolver et al. Home-grown pleasures.

2
5

GOD IS NOT GREAT: HOW RELIGION POISONS

EVERYTHING(Twelve, $24.99)

By Christopher Hitchens. Faith and its downfalls.

2
6

THE DANGEROUS BOOK FOR BOYS(Collins, $24.95)

By Conn and Hal Iggulden. For boys at heart, a paean to paper airplanes, knots -- the simple stuff.

2
7

A LONG WAY GONE: MEMOIRS OF A BOY SOLDIER

(FSG, $22). By Ishmael Beah. Recalling the horrors of the civil war in Sierra Leone.

13
8

WHERE HAVE ALL THE LEADERS GONE?

(Scribner, $25). By Lee Iacocca with Catherine Whitney. Criticizing the state of government.

4
9

TALES FROM Q SCHOOL: INSIDE GOLF'S

FIFTH MAJOR(Little, Brown, $26.99)

By John Feinstein. The PGA's qualifying tournament.

2
10

THIS MOMENT ON EARTH: TODAY'S NEW

ENVIRONMENTALISTS ...(PublicAffairs, $25)

By John Kerry and Teresa Heinz Kerry

8

Rankings reflect sales for the week ended May 13, 2007. The charts may not be reproduced without permission from Nielsen BookScan. Copyright © 2007 by Nielsen BookScan. (The right-hand column of numbers represents 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.)

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