Washington Area Bestsellers

	Paperback
	Fiction
1	WATER FOR ELEPHANTS(Algonquin, $13.95) By Sara Gruen. An orphan discovers love when he joins a traveling circus amid the Great Depression.	13
2	THE KITE RUNNER(Riverhead, $14) By Khaled Hosseini. An Afghan returns to his Taliban-ruled country to atone for a past betrayal.	125
3	RICOCHET(Pocket, $9.99). By Sandra Brown A homicide detective's effort to take down a drug lord is thwarted by an influential judge.	1
4	ECHO PARK(Grand Central, $7.99) By Michael Connelly. Det. Bosch suspects political prying in a killer's guilty plea in a 1993 cold case.	1
5	THE MEMORY KEEPER'S DAUGHTER (Penguin, $14). By Kim Edwards. A doctor regrets deceiving his wife about their twins' birth.	55
6	THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM(Bantam, $7.99) By Robert Ludlum. A master assassin renews his struggle against an international terrorist.	5
7	THE ROAD(Vintage, $14.95) By Cormac McCarthy. A man and his son travel to the sea through a charred, post-apocalyptic land.	18
8	MIDDLESEX(Picador USA, $15) By Jeffrey Eugenides. A genetic anomaly causes a teen to become a hermaphrodite.	16
9	BEACH ROAD(Warner Vision, $9.99) By James Patterson and Peter de Jonge A struggling attorney lands a lurid murder case.	9
10	THE EMPEROR'S CHILDREN(Vintage, $14.95) By Claire Messud. A social satire revolving around a vainglorious clique of young Manhattanites.	3
	Nonfiction/General
1	EAT PRAY LOVE: ONE WOMAN'S SEARCH FOR EVERYTHING ACROSS ITALY, INDIA AND INDONESIA(Penguin, $15). By Elizabeth Gilbert	25
2	THE WORLD IS FLAT: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY(Picador USA, $16) By Thomas L. Friedman. A further revised edition.	2
3	BLINK: THE POWER OF THINKING WITHOUT THINKING(Back Bay, $15.99) By Malcolm Gladwell. Behind our snap decisions.	17
4	THE GLASS CASTLE(Scribner, $14) By Jeannette Walls. A daughter's memoir of her eccentric parents and an unorthodox upbringing.	74
5	THE TIPPING POINT: HOW LITTLE THINGS CAN MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE(Back Bay, $14.95 ) By Malcolm Gladwell. Fads and their origins.	82
6	90 MINUTES IN HEAVEN: A TRUE STORY OF DEATH AND LIFE(Revell, $12.99). By Don Piper. A Baptist minister declared dead returns to life.	5
7	THREE CUPS OF TEA: ONE MAN'S MISSION TO PROMOTE PEACE(Penguin, $15) By Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin	16
8	NIGHT(FSG, $9). By Elie Wiesel The terrifying account of his experiences in Nazi concentration camps during World War II.	60
9	STUMBLING ON HAPPINESS(Vintage, $14.95) By Daniel Gilbert. A psychology professor examines why we err in anticipating the future.	16
10	MAYFLOWER: A STORY OF COURAGE, COMMUNITY, AND WAR(Penguin, $16) By Nathaniel Philbrick. Plymouth Colony redux.	14
	Hardcover
	Fiction
1	A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS (Riverhead, $25.95). By Khaled Hosseini Two Afghani women cope with a brutish husband.	10
2	THE SECRET SERVANT(Putnam, $25.95) By Daniel Silva. When an Israeli agent's murder exposes a terrorist plot, in steps Gabriel Allon.	1
3	THE QUICKIE(Little, Brown, $27.99) By James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge A scorned wife finds revenge isn't so sweet.	4
4	HIGH NOON(Putnam, $26.95). By Nora Roberts Heady emotions of past trauma surface when a top hostage negotiator finds herself a target.	3
5	THURSDAY NEXT: FIRST AMONG SEQUELS (Viking, $24.95). By Jasper Fforde. The fifth installment of Fforde's satirical literary series.	1
6	THE TIN ROOF BLOWDOWN (Simon & Schuster, $26). By James Lee Burke Robicheaux in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.	2
7	LEAN MEAN THIRTEEN(St. Martin's, $27.95) By Janet Evanovich. Stephanie Plum becomes a suspect in her ex-husband's presumed death.	6
8	THE FIRST COMMANDMENT(Atria, $25.95) By Brad Thor. A terrorist, recently discharged from Guantanamo, targets ex-Navy SEAL Scot Harvath.	2
9	UP CLOSE AND DANGEROUS(Ballantine, $25.95) By Linda Howard. A wealthy widow, resented by her stepchildren, dodges attempts on her life.	2
10	PEONY IN LOVE(Random House, $23.95) By Lisa See. In 17th-century China, love overcomes Peony, an already betrothed girl.	2
	Nonfiction/General
1	THE DANGEROUS BOOK FOR BOYS (Collins, $24.95). By Conn and Hal Iggulden For boys at heart, a paean to simple pastimes.	13
2	LEGACY OF ASHES: THE HISTORY OF THE CIA (Doubleday, $27.95). By Tim Weiner. Exposing the good, the bad and the ugly in covert ops.	4
3	A LONG WAY GONE: MEMOIRS OF A BOY SOLDIER (FSG, $22). By Ishmael Beah. Recalling the horrors of the civil war in Sierra Leone.	21
4	LONE SURVIVOR: THE EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT OF OPERATION REDWING ...(Little, Brown, $24.99) By Marcus Luttrell. The Navy SEALs' greatest loss.	7
5	GOD IS NOT GREAT: HOW RELIGION POISONS EVERYTHING(Twelve, $24.99) By Christopher Hitchens. Faith and its downfalls.	13
6	THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS: 50 YEARS OF REPORTINGIN WASHINGTON (Crown Forum, $29.95). By Robert D. Novak	2
7	CHENEY: ... AMERICA'S MOST POWERFUL AND CONTROVERSIAL VICE PRESIDENT (HarperCollins, $27.95). By Stephen F. Hayes	1
8	THE DIANA CHRONICLES(Doubleday, $27.50) By Tina Brown. Copious interviews and research back this new profile of the late Princess of Wales.	7
9	EINSTEIN: HIS LIFE AND UNIVERSE (Simon & Schuster, $32). By Walter Isaacson An incisive look at the man behind the science.	15
10	QUIET STRENGTH: THE PRINCIPLES, PRACTICES, & PRIORITIES OF A WINNING LIFE(Tyndale, $26.99). By Tony Dungy with Nathan Whitaker	3

Rankings reflect sales for the week ended July 29, 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. The advice/miscellaneous list to the right is based on sales from 7/2/07 to 7/29/07.)