Washington Area Bestsellers

	Paperback
	Fiction
1	THE KITE RUNNER(Riverhead, $14) By Khaled Hosseini. An Afghan returns to his Taliban-ruled country to atone for a past betrayal.	128
2	WATER FOR ELEPHANTS(Algonquin, $13.95) By Sara Gruen. An orphan discovers love when he joins a traveling circus amid the Great Depression.	16
3	DEAR JOHN(Grand Central, $13.99) By Nicholas Sparks. 9/11 upends a budding romance between a soldier and a college student.	2
4	MIDDLESEX(Picador USA, $15) By Jeffrey Eugenides. A genetic anomaly causes a teen to become a hermaphrodite.	19
5	RICOCHET(Pocket, $9.99). By Sandra Brown A homicide detective determined to take down a drug lord is thwarted by an influential judge.	4
6	ECHO PARK(Grand Central, $7.99) By Michael Connelly. Det. Bosch suspects political meddling in a killer's guilty plea in a 1993 case.	4
7	THE EMPEROR'S CHILDREN(Vintage, $14.95) By Claire Messud. A social satire revolving around a vainglorious clique of young Manhattanites.	6
8	THE MEMORY KEEPER'S DAUGHTER (Penguin, $14). By Kim Edwards. A doctor regrets deceiving his wife about their twins' birth.	58
9	THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM(Bantam, $7.99) By Robert Ludlum. A master assassin renews his struggle against an international terrorist.	8
10	THE RUINS(Vintage, $7.99). By Scott Smith A Mexican holiday turns terrifying for four Americans who encounter a carnivorous plant.	2
	Nonfiction/General
1	EAT PRAY LOVE: ONE WOMAN'S SEARCH FOR EVERYTHING ACROSS ITALY, INDIA AND INDONESIA(Penguin, $15). By Elizabeth Gilbert	28
2	THE WORLD IS FLAT: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY(Picador USA, $16) By Thomas L. Friedman. A further revised edition.	5
3	BLINK: THE POWER OF THINKING WITHOUT THINKING(Back Bay, $15.99) By Malcolm Gladwell. Behind our snap decisions.	20
4	THE GLASS CASTLE(Scribner, $14) By Jeannette Walls. A daughter's memoir of her eccentric parents and an unorthodox upbringing.	77
5	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.	8
6	FIASCO: THE AMERICAN MILITARY ADVENTURE IN IRAQ(Penguin, $16). By Thomas E. Ricks The choices of U.S. military commanders.	3
7	THE TIPPING POINT: HOW LITTLE THINGS CAN MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE(Back Bay, $14.95 ) By Malcolm Gladwell. Fads and their origins.	85
8	THREE CUPS OF TEA: ONE MAN'S MISSION TO PROMOTE PEACE(Penguin, $15) By Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin	19
9	GUNS, GERMS, AND STEEL(Norton, $16.95) By Jared Diamond. The impact of geography and the environment on the course of civilization.	81
10	STUMBLING ON HAPPINESS(Vintage, $14.95) By Daniel Gilbert. A psychology professor examines why we err in anticipating the future.	18
	Hardcover
	Fiction
1	A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS (Riverhead, $25.95). By Khaled Hosseini Two Afghani women cope with a brutish husband.	13
2	PLAY DIRTY(Simon & Schuster, $26.95) By Sandra Brown. Fresh from prison, a former NFL star is pitched an unusual request from a wealthy Texas couple.	1
3	THE QUICKIE(Little, Brown, $27.99) By James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge A scorned wife finds revenge isn't so sweet.	7
4	FORCE OF NATURE(Ballantine, $21.95) By Suzanne Brockmann. This 11th "Troubleshooters" romantic thriller finds the mob and terrorists in cahoots.	1
5	SPOOK COUNTRY(Putnam, $25.95) By William Gibson. The linchpin of this expansive, post-9/11 thriller is a covert cargo container.	2
6	SANDWORMS OF DUNE(Tor, $27.95) By Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson. The denouement of Frank Herbert's "Dune" series.	2
7	THE SECRET SERVANT(Putnam, $25.95) By Daniel Silva. When an Israeli agent's murder exposes a terrorist plot, in steps Gabriel Allon.	4
8	LOVING FRANK(Ballantine, $23.95) By Nancy Horan. A fanciful look at the bond between Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Borthwick Cheney.	1
9	HIGH NOON(Putnam, $26.95). By Nora Roberts Heady emotions from past trauma surface when a top hostage negotiator finds herself a target.	6
10	THE BURNT HOUSE(Morrow, $25.95) By Faye Kellerman. A commuter plane's crash reveals startling errors in its passenger manifest.	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.	16
2	LONE SURVIVOR: THE EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT OF OPERATION REDWING ...(Little, Brown, $24.99) By Marcus Luttrell. The Navy SEALs' greatest loss.	10
3	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.	7
4	A LONG WAY GONE: MEMOIRS OF A BOY SOLDIER (FSG, $22). By Ishmael Beah. Recalling the horrors of the civil war in Sierra Leone.	24
5	YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CANT HIDE (Hyperion, $25.95). By Duane "Dog" Chapman. A memoir by the bounty hunter and reality TV star.	1
6	QUIET STRENGTH: THE PRINCIPLES, PRACTICES, & PRIORITIES OF A WINNING LIFE(Tyndale, $26.99). By Tony Dungy with Nathan Whitaker	6
7	GOD IS NOT GREAT: HOW RELIGION POISONS EVERYTHING(Twelve, $24.99) By Christopher Hitchens. Faith and its ill effects	16
8	IT'S ALL ABOUT HIM: FINDING THE LOVE OF MY LIFE (Thomas Nelson, $24.99). By Denise Jackson with Ellen Vaughn. The lives of Alan and Denise Jackson.	1
9	THE WORLD WITHOUT US (Thomas Dunne, $24.95). By Alan Weisman The fate of the planet if humans ceased to exist.	3
10	HARD CALL: GREAT DECISIONS AND THE EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE WHO MADE THEM (Twelve, $25.99). By John McCain with Mark Salter	1

Rankings reflect sales for the week ended Aug. 19, 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.)