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Washington Area Bestsellers

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Paperback
Fiction
1

THE COLLECTORS(Grand Central, $9.99)

By David Baldacci. The Camel Club reunites to solve a murder at the Library of Congress.

2
2

WATER FOR ELEPHANTS(Algonquin, $13.95)

By Sara Gruen. An orphan discovers love when he joins a traveling circus amid the Great Depression.

19
3

THE KITE RUNNER(Riverhead, $14)

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

131
4

ACT OF TREASON(Pocket, $9.99)

By Vince Flynn. Unorthodox CIA agent Mitch Rapp copes with an attack on a presidential candidate.

2
5

74 SEASIDE AVENUE(Mira, $7.99)

By Debbie Macomber. Another spell in Cedar Cove, Wash., and a crisis for a chess superstar.

2
6

AT FIRST SIGHT(Grand Central, $7.99)

By Nicholas Sparks. Jeremy Marsh and Lexie Darnell cope with the stress of engagement.

2
7

KILLER DREAMS(Bantam, $7.99)

By Iris Johansen. A rogue scientist aims to exploit a drug that transforms people into zombies.

2
8

EXILE(St. Martin's, $9.99)

By Richard North Patterson. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict propels this murder whodunit.

2
9

THE EMPEROR'S CHILDREN(Vintage, $14.95)

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

8
10

THE MEPHISTO CLUB(Ballantine, $7.99)

By Tess Gerritsen. A grisly, demonic-ritual style murder challenges Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles.

1
Nonfiction/General
1

EAT PRAY LOVE: ONE WOMAN'S SEARCH FOR

EVERYTHING ACROSS ITALY, INDIA AND

INDONESIA(Penguin, $15). By Elizabeth Gilbert

31
2

THE OMNIVORE'S DILEMMA: A NATURAL HISTORY

OF FOUR MEALS(Penguin, $16)

By Michael Pollan. Surprising origins of foodstuffs.

2
3

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.

3
4

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

By Thomas L. Friedman. A further revised edition.

8
5

THE GLASS CASTLE(Scribner, $14)

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

80
6

IMPERIAL LIFE IN THE EMERALD CITY: INSIDE

IRAQ'SGREEN ZONE(Vintage, $14.95)

By Rajiv Chandrasekaran. A bureau chief reports.

1
7

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.

11
8

BLINK: THE POWER OF THINKING WITHOUT

THINKING(Back Bay, $15.99)

By Malcolm Gladwell. Behind our snap decisions.

23
9

THREE CUPS OF TEA: ONE MAN'S MISSION

TO PROMOTE PEACE(Penguin, $15)

By Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

22
10

THE LOST: A SEARCH FOR SIX OF SIX MILLION

(HarperPerennial, $15.95). By Daniel Mendelsohn

A quest to learn the fate of a great-uncle's family.

21
Hardcover
Fiction
1

A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS

(Riverhead, $25.95). By Khaled Hosseini

Two Afghani women cope with a brutish husband.

16
2

THE WHEEL OF DARKNESS

(Grand Central, $25.99). By Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child. Aloysius Pendergast returns.

2
3

BONES TO ASHES(Scribner, $25.95)

By Kathy Reichs. A cold case becomes personal for forensic anthropologist Tempe Brennan.

2
4

LORD JOHN AND THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE

BLADE(Delacorte, $25). By Diana Gabaldon

Lust, murder and treason haunt the Grey clan.

2
5

THE QUICKIE(Little, Brown, $27.99)

By James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge

A scorned wife finds revenge isn't so sweet.

10
6

TREE OF SMOKE(FSG, $27). By Denis Johnson

This hefty novel knits together the lives of diverse characters coping with the maelstrom of Vietnam.

1
7

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.

3
8

THE ELVES OF CINTRA: GENESIS OF SHANNARA

(Del Rey, $26.95). By Terry Brooks. The last Knights of the Word rally to save humanity.

2
9

GARDEN SPELLS(Bantam, $20)

By Sarah Addison Allen. Two sisters, endowed with their family's magical gift, are reunited.

2
10

SONGS WITHOUT WORDS(Knopf, $24.95)

By Ann Packer. Liz and Sarabeth, pals since childhood, find their tight bond tested as adults.

1
Nonfiction/General
1

GIVING: HOW EACH OF US CAN CHANGE

THE WORLD(Knopf, $24.95). By Bill Clinton

Extolling the virtues of volunteering and charity.

1
2

DEAD CERTAIN: THE PRESIDENCY OF

GEORGE W. BUSH(Free Press, $28)

By Robert Draper. Sanctioned by the White House.

1
3

THE DANGEROUS BOOK FOR BOYS

(Collins, $24.95). By Conn and Hal Iggulden

For boys at heart, a paean to simple pastimes.

19
4

MOTHER TERESA: COME BE MY LIGHT

(Doubleday, $22.95). Ed. by Brian Kolodiejchuk

Intimate, revealing letters from the Catholic nun.

1
5

THE ISRAEL LOBBY AND U.S. FOREIGN POLICY

(FSG, $26). By John J. Mearsheimer and

Stephen M. Walt. A critical, provocative appraisal.

2
6

THE WORLD WITHOUT US

(Thomas Dunne, $24.95). By Alan Weisman

The fate of the planet if humans ceased to exist.

6
7

THINGS I OVERHEARD WHILE TALKING TO MYSELF

(Random House, $24.95). By Alan Alda

The actor's musings on a life in search of meaning.

1
8

LONE SURVIVOR: THE EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT OF

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

By Marcus Luttrell. The Navy SEALs' greatest loss.

13
9

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.

10
10QUIET STRENGTH: THE PRINCIPLES, PRACTICES, & PRIORITIES OF A WINNING LIFE(Tyndale, $26.99). By Tony Dungy with Nathan Whitaker9

Rankings reflect sales for the week ended Sept. 9, 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.)

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