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Washington Area Bestsellers

Sunday, September 2, 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.

17
2

THE KITE RUNNER(Riverhead, $14)

By Khaled Hosseini. An Afghan returns to his Taliban-ruled country to atone for a past betrayal.

129
3

THE EMPEROR'S CHILDREN(Vintage, $14.95)

By Claire Messud. A social satire revolving around a vainglorious clique of young Manhattanites.

7
4

DEAR JOHN(Grand Central, $13.99)

By Nicholas Sparks. 9/11 upends a budding romance between a soldier and a college student.

3
5

MIDDLESEX(Picador USA, $15)

By Jeffrey Eugenides. A genetic anomaly causes a teen to become a hermaphrodite.

20
6

THE MEMORY KEEPER'S DAUGHTER

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

59
7

ECHO PARK(Grand Central, $7.99)

By Michael Connelly. Det. Bosch suspects political meddling in a killer's guilty plea in a 1993 case.

5
8

THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM(Bantam, $7.99)

By Robert Ludlum. A master assassin renews his struggle against an international terrorist.

9
9

SUITE FRAN?AISE(Vintage, $14.95)

By Ir?ne N?mirovsky. An unfinished novel exploring French collaboration with the Germans.

12
10

GOLDEN BUDDHA(Berkley, $7.99)

By Clive Cussler and Craig Dirgo. A reprint of the first "Oregon Files" thriller -- mercenaries for hire.

1
Nonfiction/General
1

EAT PRAY LOVE: ONE WOMAN'S SEARCH FOR

EVERYTHING ACROSS ITALY, INDIA AND

INDONESIA(Penguin, $15). By Elizabeth Gilbert

29
2

THE WORLD IS FLAT: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY(Picador USA, $16)

By Thomas L. Friedman. A further revised edition.

6
3

THE GLASS CASTLE(Scribner, $14)

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

78
4

BLINK: THE POWER OF THINKING WITHOUT

THINKING(Back Bay, $15.99)

By Malcolm Gladwell. Behind our snap decisions.

21
5

THE TIPPING POINT: HOW LITTLE THINGS CAN

MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE(Back Bay, $14.95 )

By Malcolm Gladwell. Fads and their origins.

86
6

THE LOOMING TOWER:AL-QAEDA AND THE ROAD

TO 9/11(Vintage, $15.95). By Lawrence Wright

The ascent of post-World War II radical Islam.

1
7

FIASCO: THE AMERICAN MILITARY ADVENTURE

IN IRAQ(Penguin, $16). By Thomas E. Ricks

The choices of U.S. military commanders.

4
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.

9
9

THREE CUPS OF TEA: ONE MAN'S MISSION

TO PROMOTE PEACE(Penguin, $15)

By Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

20
10

STUMBLING ON HAPPINESS(Vintage, $14.95)

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

19
Hardcover
Fiction
1

A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS

(Riverhead, $25.95). By Khaled Hosseini

Two Afghani women cope with a brutish husband.

14
2

PLAY DIRTY(Simon & Schuster, $26.95)

By Sandra Brown. Fresh from prison, a former NFL star is offered a tidy sum for an unusual request.

2
3

THE QUICKIE(Little, Brown, $27.99)

By James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge

A scorned wife finds revenge isn't so sweet.

8
4

SWEET REVENGE(Morrow, $25.95)

By Diane Mott Davidson. Rare maps and murder spoil plans for caterer/detective Goldy Schulz.

1
5

THE SANCTUARY(Dutton, $25.95)

By Raymond Khoury. U.S. forces in Baghdad stumble across a dire, centuries-old conspiracy.

1
6

AWAY(Random House, $23.95). By Amy Bloom

Lillian Leyb, a Russian Jew in mid-1920s NYC, begins a rousing quest to find her lost daughter.

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.

5
8

LOVING FRANK(Ballantine, $23.95)

By Nancy Horan. A fictional look at the bond between Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Cheney.

2
9

POWER PLAY(St. Martin's, $24.95)

By Joseph Finder. An aerospace firm's executive retreat turns into a hostage scenario.

1
10

SANDWORMS OF DUNE(Tor, $27.95)

By Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson. The denouement of Frank Herbert's "Dune" series.

3
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.

17
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.

8
3

THE WORLD WITHOUT US

(Thomas Dunne, $24.95). By Alan Weisman

The fate of the planet if humans ceased to exist.

4
4

LONE SURVIVOR: THE EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT OF

OPERATION REDWING ...(Little, Brown, $24.99)

By Marcus Luttrell. The Navy SEALs' greatest loss.

11
5QUIET STRENGTH: THE PRINCIPLES, PRACTICES, & PRIORITIES OF A WINNING LIFE(Tyndale, $26.99). By Tony Dungy with Nathan Whitaker7
6

GOD IS NOT GREAT: HOW RELIGION POISONS

EVERYTHING(Twelve, $24.99)

By Christopher Hitchens. Faith and its ill effects.

17
7

HAPPY ENDINGS: TALES OF A MEATY-BREASTED

ZILCH(Simon Spotlight, $23.95). By Jim Norton

Bawdy comedy from the raucous radio host.

2
8

A LONG WAY GONE: MEMOIRS OF A BOY SOLDIER

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

25
9

YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE

(Hyperion, $25.95). By Duane "Dog" Chapman. A memoir by the bounty hunter and reality TV star.

2
10

IT'S ALL ABOUT HIM: FINDING THE LOVE OF

MY LIFE(Thomas Nelson, $24.99)

By Denise Jackson with Ellen Vaughn.

2

Rankings reflect sales for the week ended Aug. 26, 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 represents sales from 7/30/07 to 8/26/07.)

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