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Washington Area Bestsellers

Sunday, August 5, 2007

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
10QUIET STRENGTH: THE PRINCIPLES, PRACTICES, & PRIORITIES OF A WINNING LIFE(Tyndale, $26.99). By Tony Dungy with Nathan Whitaker3

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.)

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