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.	14
2	THE KITE RUNNER(Riverhead, $14) By Khaled Hosseini. An Afghan returns to his Taliban-ruled country to atone for a past betrayal.	126
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.	2
4	ECHO PARK(Grand Central, $7.99) By Michael Connelly. Det. Bosch suspects political meddling in a killer's guilty plea in a 1993 case.	2
5	THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM(Bantam, $7.99) By Robert Ludlum. A master assassin renews his struggle against an international terrorist.	6
6	THE EMPEROR'S CHILDREN(Vintage, $14.95) By Claire Messud. A social satire revolving around a vainglorious clique of young Manhattanites.	4
7	MIDDLESEX(Picador USA, $15) By Jeffrey Eugenides. A genetic anomaly causes a teen to become a hermaphrodite.	17
8	THE MEMORY KEEPER'S DAUGHTER (Penguin, $14). By Kim Edwards. A doctor regrets deceiving his wife about their twins' birth.	56
9	THE ROAD(Vintage, $14.95) By Cormac McCarthy. A man and his son travel to the sea through a charred, post-apocalyptic land.	19
10	THE RUINS(Vintage, $7.99). By Scott Smith A Mexican holiday turns terrifying for four Americans who encounter a carnivorous plant.	1
	Nonfiction/General
1	EAT PRAY LOVE: ONE WOMAN'S SEARCH FOR EVERYTHING ACROSS ITALY, INDIA AND INDONESIA(Penguin, $15). By Elizabeth Gilbert	26
2	THE WORLD IS FLAT: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY(Picador USA, $16) By Thomas L. Friedman. A further revised edition.	3
3	BLINK: THE POWER OF THINKING WITHOUT THINKING(Back Bay, $15.99) By Malcolm Gladwell. Behind our snap decisions.	18
4	THE GLASS CASTLE(Scribner, $14) By Jeannette Walls. A daughter's memoir of her eccentric parents and an unorthodox upbringing.	75
5	FIASCO: THE AMERICAN MILITARY ADVENTURE IN IRAQ(Penguin, $16). By Thomas E. Ricks The choices of U.S. military commanders.	1
6	THE TIPPING POINT: HOW LITTLE THINGS CAN MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE(Back Bay, $14.95 ) By Malcolm Gladwell. Fads and their origins.	83
7	THREE CUPS OF TEA: ONE MAN'S MISSION TO PROMOTE PEACE(Penguin, $15) By Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin	17
8	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.	6
9	STUMBLING ON HAPPINESS(Vintage, $14.95) By Daniel Gilbert. A psychology professor examines why we err in anticipating the future.	17
10	THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY (Vintage, $14.95).By Erik Larson. A killer preys on Chicago residents amid the 1893 World's Fair.	129
	Hardcover
	Fiction
1	A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS (Riverhead, $25.95). By Khaled Hosseini Two Afghani women cope with a brutish husband.	11
2	THE QUICKIE(Little, Brown, $27.99) By James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge A scorned wife finds revenge isn't so sweet.	5
3	THE SECRET SERVANT(Putnam, $25.95) By Daniel Silva. When an Israeli agent's murder exposes a terrorist plot, in steps Gabriel Allon.	2
4	HIGH NOON(Putnam, $26.95). By Nora Roberts Heady emotions from past trauma surface when a top hostage negotiator finds herself a target.	4
5	LEAN MEAN THIRTEEN(St. Martin's, $27.95) By Janet Evanovich. Stephanie Plum becomes a suspect in her ex-husband's presumed death.	7
6	IN AT THE DEATH: SETTLING ACCOUNTS #4 (Del Rey, $26.95). By Harry Turtledove The 20th century alt-history saga concludes.	1
7	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.	15
8	UP CLOSE AND DANGEROUS(Ballantine, $25.95) By Linda Howard. A wealthy widow, resented by her stepchildren, dodges attempts on her life.	3
9	THE TIN ROOF BLOWDOWN (Simon & Schuster, $26). By James Lee Burke Robicheaux in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.	3
10	THE 6TH TARGET(Little, Brown, $27.99) By James Patterson and Maxine Paetro. Kids and their nannies are being kidnapped off the street.	9
	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.	14
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.	5
3	PROMISES TO KEEP: ON LIFE AND POLITICS (Random House, $25.95). By Joe Biden A memoir from Delaware's veteran U.S. senator.	1
4	LONE SURVIVOR: THE EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT OF OPERATION REDWING ...(Little, Brown, $24.99) By Marcus Luttrell. The Navy SEALs' greatest loss.	8
5	THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS: 50 YEARS OF REPORTINGIN WASHINGTON (Crown Forum, $29.95). By Robert D. Novak	3
6	THE WORLD WITHOUT US (Thomas Dunne, $24.95). By Alan Weisman The fate of the planet if humans ceased to exist.	1
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.	22
8	GOD IS NOT GREAT: HOW RELIGION POISONS EVERYTHING(Twelve, $24.99) By Christopher Hitchens. Faith and its downfalls.	14
9	QUIET STRENGTH: THE PRINCIPLES, PRACTICES, & PRIORITIES OF A WINNING LIFE(Tyndale, $26.99). By Tony Dungy with Nathan Whitaker	4
10	THE DIANA CHRONICLES(Doubleday, $27.50) By Tina Brown. Copious interviews and research back this new profile of the late Princess of Wales.	8

Rankings reflect sales for the week ended Aug. 5, 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.)