Best Sellers

Copyright © 2005 by The New York Times

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

August 14, 2005

Best Sellers This Week

FICTION

Last Week

Weeks On List

This Week

NONFICTION

Last Week

Weeks On List

1

LIFEGUARD, by James Patterson and Andrew Gross. (Little, Brown, $26.95.) Things go terribly awry when a lifeguard at a Florida resort agrees to take part in a $5 million heist.

1

3

1

1776, by David McCullough. (Simon & Schuster, $32.) An account of America’s founding year by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author, focusing on the inexperienced George Washington and heroic citizen soldiers.

1

10

2

THE HISTORIAN, by Elizabeth Kostova. (Little, Brown, $25.95.) A young woman’s quest to learn the truth about her father’s life and her mother’s death involves research into Vlad the Impaler and Dracula.

3

7

2

100 PEOPLE WHO ARE SCREWING UP AMERICA, by Bernard Goldberg. (HarperCollins, $25.95.) The author of ‘‘Bias’’ takes aim at ‘‘Hollywood blowhards,’’ ‘‘America bashers,’’ rappers and others.

2

4

3

THE DA VINCI CODE, by Dan Brown. (Doubleday, $24.95; special illustrated edition, $35.) A murder at the Louvre leads to a trail of clues found in the work of Leonardo and to the discovery of a secret society.

5

124

3

THE WORLD IS FLAT, by Thomas L. Friedman. (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $27.50.) A columnist for The New York Times analyzes 21st-century economics and foreign policy and presents an overview of globalization trends.

3

17

4

THE INTERRUPTION OF EVERYTHING, by Terry McMillan. (Viking, $25.95.) At the age of 44, an unhappily married California woman discovers she’s pregnant.

2

2

4

FREAKONOMICS, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. (Morrow, $25.95.) A maverick scholar applies economic thinking to everything from sumo wrestlers who cheat to legalized abortion and the falling crime rate.

4

16

5

UNTIL I FIND YOU, by John Irving. (Random House, $27.95.) Tracing the experiences of a movie star named Jack Burns, whose life has revolved around his relationships with older girls and older women.

4

3

5

BLINK, by Malcolm Gladwell. (Little, Brown, $25.95.) The author of ‘‘The Tipping Point’’ explores the importance of hunch and instinct to the workings of the mind.

6

29

6

DOUBLE TAP, by Steve Martini. (Putnam, $26.95.) The lawyer Paul Madriani comes upon government secrets when he defends a soldier who is on trial for murder.

6

CONFESSIONS OF A VIDEO VIXEN, by Karrine Steffans. (Amistad/HarperCollins, $24.95.) A tell-all memoir by a dancer and actress who has appeared in many hip-hop videos.

5

5

7

THE UNDOMESTIC GODDESS, by Sophie Kinsella. (Dial, $23.) At her wit’s end, a high-powered attorney decamps from London and winds up as an unqualified housekeeper in the middle of nowhere.

7

7

LANCE ARMSTRONG’S WAR, by Daniel Coyle. (HarperCollins, $25.95.) How the great cyclist won his sixth Tour de France in 2004.

9

6

8

THE MERMAID CHAIR, by Sue Monk Kidd. (Viking, $24.95.) On Egret Island, off the coast of South Carolina, a married woman is strongly attracted to a monk who is just months away from taking his final vows.

10

17

8

THE SECRET MAN, by Bob Woodward. (Simon & Schuster, $23.) The longtime reporter and editor for The Washington Post tells the story of Deep Throat and Watergate; with an afterword by Carl Bernstein.

7

4

9

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, by Cormac McCarthy. (Knopf, $24.95.) Mayhem ensues after a West Texas man stumbles upon $2 million in drug money — and decides to keep it.

8

2

BULL – – – –, by Harry G. Frankfurt. (Princeton 9* ON University, $9.95.) A philosopher attempts a theoretical

10

20

1

2

understanding of a ‘‘vast and amorphous’’ phenomenon.

1

10

NEW RULES, by Bill Maher. (Rodale, $24.95.) The comedian and onetime host of ‘‘Politically Incorrect’’ takes on everyone from President Bush to Bob Dylan.

11

THE TRUTH ABOUT HILLARY, by Edward Klein. (Sentinel, $24.95.) An unflattering portrait of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

8

6

5

12

AMERICA (THE BOOK), by Jon Stewart, Ben Karlin, David Javerbaum et al. (Warner, $24.95.) ‘‘The Daily Show’’ offers an illustrated parody of a civics textbook.

11

44

1

1

10

LONG TIME GONE, by J. A. Jance. (Morrow, $24.95.) A homicide investigator for the state of Washington probes a 50-year-old murder case.

11

MIRACLE, by Danielle Steel. (Delacorte, $20.) When a terrible storm hits Northern California, the lives of three people are changed forever.

12

CHILL OF FEAR, by Kay Hooper. (Bantam, $25.) Haunted by a murder that took place 20 years earlier, an F.B.I. agent heads to Tennessee to try to solve it.

13

ELEVEN ON TOP, by Janet Evanovich. (St. Martin’s, $26.95.) As she tries to leave the world of bounty hunting, Stephanie Plum realizes a lunatic is stalking her.

6

6

13

IT TAKES A FAMILY, by Rick Santorum. (ISI Books, $25.) The Republican senator from Pennsylvania discusses ‘‘conservatism and the common good.’’

14

3

COLLAPSE, by Jared Diamond. (Viking, $29.95.) A historical investigation, by the author of ‘‘Guns, Germs, and Steel,’’ into why some societies succeed while others fail.

29

11

14

13

ORIGIN IN DEATH, by J. D. Robb. (Putnam, $24.95.) In 2059, Lt. Eve Dallas investigates the killings of a father and son, both of whom were cosmetic surgeons; by Nora Roberts, writing pseudonymously.

15

16

THREE NIGHTS IN AUGUST, by Buzz Bissinger. (Houghton Mifflin, $25.) A three-game series in 2003 between the Cubs and the Cardinals, as seen through the eyes of Tony La Russa, the St. Louis manager.

18

12

15

14

TRUE BELIEVER, by Nicholas Sparks. (Warner, $24.95.) A hip young New Yorker finds love with a beautiful librarian who lives in North Carolina.

9

1

Rankings reflect sales, for the week ended July 30, at almost 4,000 bookstores plus wholesalers serving 50,000 other retailers, statistically weighted to represent all such outlets nationwide. An asterisk (*) indicates that a book’s sales are barely distinguishable from those of the book above. A dagger (†) indicates that some bookstores report receiving bulk orders. Expanded rankings are available at The New York Times on the Web: nytimes.com/books.

Copyright © 2005 by The New York Times

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

August 14, 2005

Paperback Best Sellers This Week

FICTION

Weeks On List

This Week

NONFICTION

Weeks On List

1

NIGHT TALES: NIGHTSHADE, NIGHT SMOKE, by Nora Roberts. (Silhouette, $7.99.) Reprints two dark novels from 1993 and 1994.

1

1

IT’S NOT ABOUT THE BIKE, by Lance Armstrong with Sally Jenkins. (Berkley, $14.) A memoir by the Tour de France champion and cancer survivor.

77

2

DEAN KOONTZ’S FRANKENSTEIN: CITY OF NIGHT, by Dean Koontz and Ed Gorman. (Bantam, $7.99.) New Orleans detectives must stop the monster set loose by the modern Frankenstein, a biotech tycoon.

1

2

THE TIPPING POINT, by Malcolm Gladwell. (Back Bay/Little, Brown, $14.95.) A journalist’s study of social epidemics, otherwise known as fads.

51

3

2

3

DRESS YOUR FAMILY IN CORDUROY AND DENIM, by David Sedaris. (Back Bay/Little, Brown, $14.95.) The humorist’s latest collection of essays.

9

WHITE HOT, by Sandra Brown. (Pocket Books, $9.95.) Returning home after her brother’s mysterious death, a woman is embroiled in family intrigue.

4

152

TRACE, by Patricia Cornwell. (Berkley, $7.99.) The inept man who replaced Dr. Kay Scarpetta as chief medical examiner of Virginia asks for her help in investigating the unexplained death of a 14-year-old.

5

GUNS, GERMS, AND STEEL, by Jared Diamond. (Norton, $16.95.) An argument that Western dominance is due to geographical advantages.

5

THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY, by Erik Larson. (Vintage, $14.95.) A great architect and a serial killer, linked by the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893.

77

5

THE KITE RUNNER, by Khaled Hosseini. (Riverhead, $14.) An Afghan-American returns to Kabul to learn how his childhood friend fared under the Taliban.

47

6

6

FINAL SCREAM, by Lisa Jackson. (Zebra, $7.99.) A woman returns to the Oregon town where a fire destroyed her family 17 years ago to face more fires and deaths. Originally published as ‘‘Intimacies.’’

1

TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE, by Mitch Albom. (Broadway, $11.95.) The author,a sportswriter, tells of his visits to his old college mentor, who was near death’s door.

7

THE RULE OF FOUR, by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason. (Dell, $7.99.) Two Princeton students trying to unravel the mysteries of a Renaissance text become ensnared in murderous intrigue.

5

READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN, by Azar Nafisi. (Random House, $13.95.) A memoir of a teacher’s life in Iran, centered on a women’s reading group she organized.

8

ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY, by David Sedaris. (Back Bay/Little, Brown, $14.95.) A collection of autobiographical comic essays by the author of ‘‘Naked.’’

8

LOST CITY, by Clive Cussler with Paul Kemprecos. (Berkley, $9.99.) The discovery of a life-prolonging enzyme — 2,000 feet down in the Atlantic Ocean — results in a series of disappearances and killings.

1

9

A SHORT HISTORY OF NEARLY EVERYTHING, by Bill Bryson. (Broadway, $15.95.) From the Big Bang to the 21st century: a guided tour of the sciences and what they tell us about the physical world.

42

9

THE WEDDING, by Nicholas Sparks. (Warner, $12.95 and $7.50.) A man tries to regain his wife’s love; a sequel to ‘‘The Notebook.’’

12 47

NIGHT TALES: NIGHT SHIFT, NIGHT SHADOW, by Nora Roberts. (Silhouette, $7.99.) Reprints two dark novels from 1990 and 1991.

5

DREAMS FROM MY FATHER, by Barack Obama. (Three Rivers, $13.95.) The Democratic senator from Illinois reflects on life as the son of a black African father and white American mother.

11

RUNNING WITH SCISSORS, by Augusten Burroughs. (Picador, $14.) In the 1970’s, a young boy lives with a crazy psychiatrist in a squalid household.

91

12

A CHILD CALLED ‘‘IT,’’ by Dave Pelzer. (Health Communications, $9.95.) The autobiography of a man who survived his mother’s abuse.

13

SHADOW DIVERS, by Robert Kurson. (Random House, $14.95; Ballantine, $7.50.) Divers discover the wreckage of a World War II-era German U-boat 60 miles off the coast of New Jersey.

8

14

UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN, by Jon Krakauer. (Anchor, $14.95.) The author of ‘‘Into Thin Air’’ explores the implications of the murder of a woman by two religious fundamentalists.

53

4

7

10

10

ANGELS & DEMONS, by Dan Brown. (Pocket Star, $7.99.) A Harvard scholar tries to save the Vatican from the machinations of an underground society.

107

LYON’S GATE, by Catherine Coulter. (Jove, $9.99.) In 19th-century England, a well-born man and woman compete to buy a racing stud farm.

1

13

MEMORIAL DAY, by Vince Flynn. (Pocket Star, $9.95.) A counterterrorism expert rushes to prevent an attack on American soil.

2

14

BACK TO THE BEDROOM, by Janet Evanovich. (HarperTorch, $7.50.) Two neighbors fall in love; originally published in slightly altered form in 1989.

1

15

THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES, by Sue Monk Kidd. (Penguin, $14.) In South Carolina in 1964, a teenage girl tries to discover the secret to her mother’s past.

11 12

97

THE BOOKSELLER OF KABUL, by Asne Seierstad. 15* (Back Bay/Little, Brown, $12.95.) A Norwegian

138

83

104

322

35

journalist examines the treatment of Afghan women.

Rankings reflect sales, for the week ended July 30, at almost 4,000 bookstores plus wholesalers serving 60,000 other retailers (gift shops, department stores, newsstands, supermarkets), statistically weighted to represent all such outlets nationwide. An asterisk (*) indicates that a book’s sales are barely distinguishable from those of the book above. A dagger (†) indicates that some bookstores report receiving bulk orders. Expanded rankings are available at The New York Times on the Web: nytimes.com/books.

Copyright © 2005 by The New York Times

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

August 14, 2005

Best Sellers Expanded List HARDCOVER FICTION

HARDCOVER NON-FICTION

16

16

GOOD TO GREAT, by Jim Collins (HarperBusiness)

17

OBJECTION!, by Nancy Grace with Diane Clehane (Hyperion)

18

MY FRIEND LEONARD, by James Frey (Riverhead)

19

SHOOTER, by Jack Coughlin and Casey Kuhlman with Donald A.

THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN, by Mitch Albom

(Hyperion)

17

CRUSADER’S CROSS, by James Lee Burke (Simon & Schuster)

18

A LONG WAY DOWN, by Nick Hornby (Riverhead)

19

THE BIG OVER EASY, by Jasper Fforde (Viking)

20

ROCOCO, by Adriana Trigiani (Random House)

20

SILENT WITNESS, by Mark Fuhrman (Morrow)

21

DANCING IN THE DARK, by Mary Jane Clark (St. Martin’s)

21

KILLING YOURSELF TO LIVE, by Chuck Klosterman (Scribner)

22

CROSS BONES, by Kathy Reichs (Scribner)

22

THE DEVIL’S TEETH, by Susan Casey (Holt)

23

BREAKING POINT, by Suzanne Brockmann (Ballantine)

23

UNDER AND ALONE, by William Queen (Random House)

4TH OF JULY, by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro (Little,

24

A LOTUS GROWS IN THE MUD, by Goldie Hawn with Wendy

24

Brown)

25

SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN, by Lisa See (Random

House)

Davis (St. Martin’s)

Holden (Putnam)

25

PRAYING FOR GIL HODGES, by Thomas Oliphant (Thomas Dunne/St.Martin’s)

26

THE PATRIOTS CLUB, by Christopher Reich (Delacorte)

27

ANGELS AND DEMONS, by Dan Brown (Atria)

28

HAUNTED, by Chuck Palahniuk (Doubleday)

29

FIRE SALE, by Sara Paretsky (Putnam)

30

DINNER WITH A PERFECT STRANGER, by David Gregory

(WaterBrook)

26

COACH, by Michael Lewis (Norton)

27

SURROUNDED BY IDIOTS by Mike Gallagher (Morrow)

28

ASSASSINATION VACATION by Sarah Vowell (Simon & Schuster)

29

OH THE GLORY OF IT ALL, by Sean Wilsey (Penguin Press)

30

LIBERALISM IS A MENTAL DISORDER, by Michael Savage (Nelson Current/Thomas Nelson)

31

MINE ARE SPECTACULAR, by Janice Kaplan and Lynn Schnurn-

berger (Ballantine)

31

MY LIFE SO FAR, by Jane Fonda (Random House)

32

ALWAYS TIME TO DIE, by Elizabeth Lowell (Morrow)

32

EVERYBODY INTO THE POOL by Beth Lisick (ReganBooks)

33

THE TRAVELER, by John Twelve Hawks (Doubleday)

33

ELVIS BY THE PRESLEY’S Edited by David Ritz (Crown)

34

FREDDY AND FREDERICKA, by Mark Helprin (Penguin Press)

34

SEARCHING FOR THE SOUND, by Phil Lesh (Little, Brown)

35

VELOCITY, by Dean Koontz (Bantam)

35

CHINA INC., by Ted C. Fishman (Scribner)

Copyright © 2005 by The New York Times

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

August 14, 2005

Best Sellers Expanded List PAPERBACK FICTION

PAPERBACK NON-FICTION

16

16

THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME, by

WHAT’S THE MATTER WITH KANSAS?, by Thomas Frank

(Owl/Holt)

Mark Haddon (Vintage Contemporaries)

17

MOUNTAINS BEYOND MOUNTAINS, by Tracy Kidder (Random

17

BODY DOUBLE, by Tess Gerritsen (Ballantine)

18

BLACK ROSE, by Nora Roberts (Jove)

18

GHOST WARS, by Steve Coll (Penguin)

19

TEN BIG ONES, by Janet Evanovich (St. Martin’s)

19

MY LIFE, by Bill Clinton (Vintage)

20

NIGHTS OF RAIN AND STARS, by Maeve Binchy (Signet)

20

PLEDGED, by Alexandra Robbins (Hyperion)

21

MY SISTER’S KEEPER, by Jodi Picoult (Washington Square)

21

FAST FOOD NATION, by Eric Schlosser (Perennial)

22

22

TRUTH & BEAUTY, by Ann Patchett (Perennial/HarperCollins)

DARK SKY, by Carla Neggers (Mira)

LITTLE EARTHQUAKES, by Jennifer Weiner (Washington Square)

23

FATHER JOE, by Tony Hendra(Random House)

23

GENGHIS KHAN, by Jack Weatherford (Three Rivers)

24

24 DECEPTION POINT, by Dan Borwn (Pocket)

25

ALEXANDER HAMILTON, by Ron Chernow (Penguin)

26

LEAP OF FAITH, by Queen Noor (Miramax/Hyperion)

27

ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN, by Carl Bernstein and Bob Wood-

25 26

THE SUMMER I DARED, by Barbara Delinsky (Pocket Books)

STAR WARS: DARK NEST 1: THE JOINER KING, by Troy Denning

(Lucas/DelRey/Ballantine)

27

House)

LAKESIDE COTTAGE, by Susan Wiggs (Mira)

ward (Simon & Schuster/Pocket)

28

DON’T LET’S GO TO THE DOGS TONIGHT, by Alexandra Fuller

(Random House)

28

SKINNY DIP, by Carl Hiaasen (Warner)

29

THE UNITED STATES OF WAL-MART, by John Dicker

(Tarcher/Penguin)

29

DIGITAL FORTRESS, by Dan Brown (Thomas Dunne/St. Matin’s)

30

WICKED, by Gregory Maguire (ReganBooks)

31

HOT NUMBER, by Carly Phillips(HQN)

31

32

LIFE OF PI, by Yann Martel (Harvest Books, Harvest Edition)

32

33

BLAZE, by JoAnn Ross (Pocket)

33

BIG RUSS AND ME, by Tim Russert(Miramax/Hyperion)

34

BERGDORF BLONDES, by Plum Sykes (Miramax)

34

JOHN ADAMS, by David McCullough (Simon & Schuster)

35

THUNDER AT DAWN, by Jill Gregory (Dell)

35

SUPERSTUD, by Paul Feig (Three Rivers)

30

NICKEL AND DIMED, by Barbara Ehrenreich

(Metropolitan/Owl/Holt)

FOUNDING MOTHERS, by Cokie Roberts (Perennial/HarperCollins)

SKELETONS ON THE ZAHARA, by Dean King (Little, Brown/Back

Bay)

Copyright © 2005 by The New York Times

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

August 14, 2005

Advice, How-To and Miscellaneous HARDCOVER

PAPERBACK

1

NATURAL CURES ‘‘THEY’’ DON’T WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT, by Kevin Trudeau. (Alliance Publishing Group, $29.95.) Remedies that do not include drugs or surgery. (†)

6

2

YOUR BEST LIFE NOW, by Joel Osteen. (Warner Faith, $19.99.) A faith-based approach to living. (†)

41

3

THE PURPOSE-DRIVEN LIFE, by Rick Warren. (Zondervan, $19.99.) Finding the meaning of life through God. (†)

133

4

YOU: THE OWNER’S MANUAL, by Michael F. Roizen and Mehmet C. Oz. (HarperResource, $24.95.) A guide to how the body works, and advice on maintaining health and youth.

13

5

THE 3-HOUR DIET, by Jorge Cruise. (HarperCollins, $24.95.) Reset your metabolism by eating frequently.

3

1

THE SOUTH BEACH DIET, by Arthur Agatston. (St. Martin’s, $14.95 and $7.99.) A weight-loss plan designed by a Miami cardiologist.

15

2

WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU’RE EXPECTING, by Heidi Murkoff, Arlene Eisenberg and Sandee Hathaway. (Workman, $13.95.) Advice for parentsto-be. (†)

231

3

RICH DAD, POOR DAD, by Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter. (Warner, $16.95.) Teaching one’s children how to get rich and stay rich. (†)

250

4

1,000 PLACES TO SEE BEFORE YOU DIE, by Patricia Schultz. (Workman, $18.95.) A reference book for travelers.

52

5

BAD CAT, by Jim Edgar. (Workman, $9.95.) The feline dark side, depicted in humorous pictures and captions.

23

Advice, How-To and Miscellaneous Expanded List PAPERBACK

HARDCOVER 6

WINNING, by Jack Welch with Suzy Welch (HarperBusiness)

7

HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU, by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuc-

cillo (Simon Spotlight Entertainment)

6

DON’T THINK OF AN ELEPHANT, by George Lakoff (ChelseaGreen)

7

PROPHECY, by Sylvia Browne written with Lindsay Harrison (NAL)

8

FRENCH WOMEN DON’T GET FAT, by Mireille Guiliano (Knopf)

8

THE MAKER’S DIET, by Jordan S. Rubin (Berkley)

9

WHO MOVED MY CHEESE?, by Spencer Johnson (Putnam)

9

THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE, by Stephen R. Covey (Free Press)

10

BODY FOR LIFE FOR WOMEN, by Pamela Peeke (Rodale)

11

REAL MONEY, by James J. Cramer (Simon & Schuster)

12

GOD’S MIRROR, by Max Lucado (Integrity)

13

NOW, DISCOVER YOUR STRENGHTS, by Marcus Buckingham and

Donald O. Clifton (Free Press)

15

THE HIDDEN MESSAGES IN WATER, by Masaru Emoto (Beyond

Words)

11

POWER OF NOW, by Eckhart Tolle (New World Library)

12

THE FOUR AGREEMENTS, by Don Miguel Ruiz (Amber-Allen)

13

THE MILLIONAIRE REAL ESTATE INVESTOR, by Gary Keller, with Dave Jenks, Jay Papasan (McGraw-Hill)

14

BOYS WILL PUT YOU ON A PEDESTAL (SO THEY CAN LOOK UP

15

30-MINUTE GET REAL MEALS, by Rachael Ray (Clarkson Potter)

HOW FULL IS YOUR BUCKET?, by Tom Rath and Donald O.

Clifton (Gallup Press)

14

10

CAPTIVATING, by John and Stasi Eldredge (Nelson)

YOUR SKIRT) by Philip Van Munching (Simon & Schuster)

Rankings reflect sales, for the week ended July 30, at almost 4,000 bookstores plus wholesalers serving 60,000 other retailers (gift shops, department stores, newsstands, supermarkets), statistically weighted to represent all such outlets nationwide. An asterisk (*) indicates that a book’s sales are barely distinguishable from those of the book above. A dagger (†) indicates that some bookstores report receiving bulk orders. Expanded rankings are available at The New York Times on the Web: nytimes.com/books.

Copyright © 2005 by The New York Times

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

August 14, 2005

Children’s Best Sellers This Week

PICTURE BOOKS

Last Week

Weeks On List

1

DR. ERNEST DRAKE’S DRAGONOLOGY, edited by Dugald A. Steer. (Candlewick, $18.99.) The complete book of dragons. (Ages 8 and up)

1

72

2

ENCYCLOPEDIA PREHISTORICA: DINOSAURS, by Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart. (Candlewick, $26.99.) A pop-up dinosaur compendium. (Ages 5 and up)

3

2

3

DIARY OF A SPIDER, by Doreen Cronin. Illustrated by Harry Bliss. (Cotler/HarperCollins, $15.99.) Oh, what a sticky web we weave; an arachnidan ‘‘memoir.’’ (Ages 4 to 8)

4

THE DRAGONOLOGY HANDBOOK, edited by Dugald A. Steer. (Candlewick, $12.99.) A companion volume to ‘‘Dr. Ernest Drake’s Dragonology,’’ offering a ‘‘practical course in dragons.’’ (Ages 8 and up)

5

This Week

CHAPTER BOOKS

Last Week

Weeks On List

1

READY OR NOT, by Meg Cabot. (HarperCollins, $15.99.) Samantha Madison, the all-American girl, is dating the president’s son and just trying to fit in at school. (Ages 12 and up)

2

DRAGON RIDER, by Cornelia Funke. (Chicken House/Scholastic, $12.95.) A boy and a dragon set off on a magical quest. (Ages 10 and up)

2

51

1

3

MAXIMUM RIDE: THE ANGEL EXPERIMENT, by James Patterson. (Little, Brown, $16.99.) Bred to fly, a flock of children has to track down its parents, rescue one of its own and save the world. (Ages 12 and up)

3

16

2

15

4

THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX, by Kate DiCamillo. Illustrated by Timothy Basil Ering. (Candlewick, $17.99.) A mouse, a rat and a simple servant girl embark on a magical journey. (Ages 10 and up)

1

65

EGYPTOLOGY, by Emily Sands. Illustrated by Ian Andrew, Nick Harris and Helen Ward. (Candlewick, $19.99.) The fanciful journal of an explorer from the 1920’s. (Ages 8 and up)

6

39

5

LUNCH MONEY, by Andrew Clements. (Simon & Schuster, $15.95.) A sixth grader with a penchant for making money decides to sell the comic books he writes and illustrates. (Ages 8 to 12)

4

5

6

OH, THE PLACES YOU’LL GO! written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss. (Random House, $17.) The problems of finding your way through life. (Ages 8 and up)

4

298

6

AL CAPONE DOES MY SHIRTS, by Gennifer Choldenko. (Putnam, $15.99.) Growing up on Alcatraz as the son of a guard has its challenges. (Ages 9 to 12)

5

22

7

10 LITTLE RUBBER DUCKS, written and illustrated by Eric Carle. (HarperCollins, $19.99.) Bathtub toys overboard! Adrift at sea, rubber duckies meet marine animals; a counting book. (Ages 2 to 6)

8

12

7

RAVEN’S GATE, by Anthony Horowitz. (Scholastic, $17.95.) A boy wrongfully banished to a small town must foil a sinister plan. (Ages 9 to 12)

8

8

5

20

SEPTIMUS HEAP: MAGYK, by Angie Sage. (Tegen/ HarperCollins, $16.99.) A boy stolen at birth, a girl left for dead and raised by her rescuers, and their quests to uncover their true identities. (Ages 9 and up)

19

RUNNY BABBIT, by Shel Silverstein. (HarperCollins, $17.99.) A clayful pollection of animal verse by the author of ‘‘Where the Sidewalk Ends.’’ (Ages 6 and up)

8

6

8 9

TAILS, written and illustrated by Matthew Van Fleet. Edited by Skip Skwarek. (Red Wagon/Harcourt, $12.95.) All about them: furry ones and rough ones, long ones and stumpy ones. (Ages 2 to 5)

7

72

9

KIRA-KIRA, by Cynthia Kadohata. (Atheneum, $15.95.) A Japanese-American family copes with a move and a terminal disease. (Ages 11 and up)

7

28

46

ZEN SHORTS, written and illustrated by Jon J. Muth. (Scholastic, $16.95.) Stillwater the giant panda tells classic Zen tales to his young neighbors. (Ages 4 to 8)

9

20

PETER AND THE STARCATCHERS, by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. (Disney/Hyperion, $17.99.) In a prequel to ‘‘Peter Pan,’’ an orphan and his friend Molly try to save the world from evil. (Ages 10 and up)

9

10

10

1

Rankings reflect sales, for the week ended July 30, at almost 4,000 bookstores plus wholesalers serving 50,000 other retailers (gift shops, department stores, newsstands, supermarkets), statistically weighted to represent all such outlets nationwide. An asterisk (*) indicates that a book’s sales are barely distinguishable from those of the book above. A dagger (†) indicates that some bookstores report receiving bulk orders. Expanded rankings are available at The New York Times on the Web: nytimes.com/books.

Copyright © 2005 by The New York Times

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

August 14, 2005

Children’s Best Sellers This Week

PAPERBACK BOOKS

Last Week

Weeks On List

1

CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, by Roald Dahl. (Puffin, $6.99.) A boy’s adventures with Willy Wonka; the unabridged original, with illustrations from the movie. (Ages 8 to 12)

1

7

2

ERAGON, by Christopher Paolini. (Knopf, $9.95.) A boy and a young dragon must navigate a bewildering world of dark powers. (Ages 12 and up)

2

3

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA, by C. S. Lewis. (HarperCollins, $19.99.) Through the wardrobe with the Pevensie siblings and friends; all seven volumes collected in one book. (Ages 9 and up)

4

This Week

SERIES

Last Week

Weeks On List

1

HARRY POTTER, by J. K. Rowling. (Levine/Scholastic, hardcover and paperback.) A boy wizard hones his skills and battles evil at Hogwarts. (Ages 10 and up)

1

44

2

THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS, by Ann Brashares. (Delacorte, hardcover and paperback.) Four friends share magical pants. (Ages 12 and up)

2

27

14

MAGIC TREE HOUSE, by Mary Pope Osborne. Illustrated by Sal Murdocca. (Stepping Stone/Random House, hardcover and paperback.) Children travel to the past in a spinning tree house. (Ages 6 to 9)

44

9

3

3

3

11

A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS, by Lemony Snicket. (HarperCollins, hardcover only.) The chronicles of the poor Baudelaire siblings. (Ages 10 and up)

44

8

4

5

INKHEART, by Cornelia Funke. (Scholastic, $7.99.) An evil fictional character escapes from the book a girl is reading and turns up in her house. (Ages 10 and up)

7

8

ARTEMIS FOWL, by Eoin Colfer. (Miramax/Hyperion, hardcover and paperback.) The adventures of a magical criminal mastermind. (Ages 8 and up)

44

CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, by Roald Dahl. (Puffin, $6.99.) Abridged from the original, with illustrations from the movie. (Ages 5 to 8)

5

4

5

9

62

JUNIE B., FIRST GRADER, by Barbara Park. Illustrated by Denise Brunkus. (Stepping Stone/Random House, hardcover and paperback.) It’s a whole new school year for Junie B. Jones. (Ages 4 to 8)

44

HOOT, by Carl Hiaasen. (Knopf, $8.95.) Trying to solve a mystery, a boy newly arrived in Florida encounters bizarre people. (Ages 10 and up)

6

7

6 7

NOBODY DOES IT BETTER, by Cecily von Ziegesar. (Little, Brown, $9.99.) Sex, love and college admissions in the world of Gossip Girl. (Ages 14 and up)

5

15

7

PENDRAGON, by D. J. MacHale. (Aladdin, hardcover and softcover.) A teenage boy travels through time and space. (Ages 10 and up)

8

8

8

SPEAK, by Laurie Halse Anderson. (Puffin, $8.99.) Af- 10 ter calling the cops about an end-of-summer party, a teenager is shunned at school. (Ages 12 and up)

5

8

CHARLIE BONE, by Jenny Nimmo. (Orchard/ Scholastic, hardcover and paperback.) An ancient king’s descendants learn magic at Bloor’s Academy. (Ages 9 to 12)

6

10

9

BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE, by Kate DiCamillo. (Candlewick, $5.99.) The new girl in town makes friends with the help of a dog. (Ages 9 to 12)

6

9

THE PRINCESS DIARIES, by Meg Cabot. (HarperCollins, hardcover and paperback.) Mia Thermopolis is the crown princess of Genovia. (Ages 12 and up)

10

THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE, by C. S. Lewis. (HarperCollins/HarperTrophy, $10.95 and $5.99.) The Pevensie siblings discover the land of Narnia on the other side of the wardrobe. (Ages 9 and up)

4

10

THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES, by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. (Simon & Schuster, hardcover only.) The Grace siblings find a hidden world. (Ages 6 to 10)

50 34

6 9

41

Rankings reflect sales, for the week ended July 30, at almost 4,000 bookstores plus wholesalers serving 50,000 other retailers (gift shops, department stores, newsstands, supermarkets), statistically weighted to represent all such outlets nationwide. An asterisk (*) indicates that a book’s sales are barely distinguishable from those of the book above. A dagger (†) indicates that some bookstores report receiving bulk orders. Expanded rankings are available at The New York Times on the Web: nytimes.com/books.

Copyright © 2005 by The New York Times

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

August 14, 2005

Editor’s Choice ALMONDS TO ZHOOF: Collected Stories, by Richard Stern. (TriQuarterly/Northwestern University, $29.95.) A lifetime’s stories by an academic who knows much but judges none. THE SUMMER HE DIDN’T DIE, by Jim Harrison. (Atlantic Monthly, $24.) Three novellas, in tones ribald to reflective, by a versatile writer. MR. MUO’S TRAVELLING COUCH, by Dai Sijie. (Knopf, $22.) A novel about China, in which a Freudian analyst must find a chaste woman. THE FIRST EMANCIPATOR, by Andrew Levy. (Random House, $25.95.) An examination, by a professor of English, of the psychic and religious struggles that made Robert Carter III, a Virginia planter, free his slaves, starting in 1791.

ISRAEL ON THE APPOMATTOX, by Melvin Patrick Ely. (Knopf, $35.) A historian’s report on Richard Randolph’s emancipation of 90 slaves at his death in 1796; despite the anxieties of the Virginia establishment, it worked. THE EMPEROR OF WINE: The Rise of Robert M. Parker, Jr. and the Reign of American Taste, by Elin McCoy. (Ecco/HarperCollins, $25.95.) The success story of a tough, dogmatic expert. MAGIC FOR BEGINNERS, by Kelly Link. (Small Beer, $24.) Anxious regular folks mix with zombies to powerful effect in these stories. HIDE & SEEK, by Clare Sambrook. (Canongate, $21.) A first novel, plausibly told by a 9-year-old whose little brother has disappeared.

FINDING MARTHA’S VINEYARD: African Americans at Home on an Island, by Jill Nelson. (Doubleday, $27.50.) A memoir and oral history about a black vacation colony since the 1880’s. ROGUE REGIME: Kim Jong Il and the Looming Threat of North Korea, by Jasper Becker. (Oxford University, $28.) A veteran reporter’s reading of an ace tyrant and an immiserated people. MARSDEN HARTLEY: Race, Region, and Nation, by Donna M. Cassidy. (University Press of New England, $39.95.) A reading of Hartley as a Nazi fellow traveler whose enthusiasms went unmarked in the ubiquitous racism of the 1930’s. The full reviews of these and other recent books are on the Web: nytimes.com/books

Paperback Row THE SILVER SCREEN, by Maureen Howard. (Penguin, $14.) The third in a four-book project inspired by the seasons, following winter (‘‘A Lover’s Almanac’’) and spring (‘‘Big as Life’’), this meditative novel looks at celebrity and its distortions of family life. The fame attained by Bel Murphy, a silent film star, works its changes on her aging children: Joe, a Jesuit priest; Rita, who falls for a mobster and joins him in the witness protection program; and Bel’s honorary third child, Gemma, a photographer. The narrative blends past, present and future, and the stories of all four characters are anchored by Howard’s precise prose. POWER, TERROR, PEACE, AND WAR: America’s Grand Strategy in a World at Risk, by Walter Russell Mead. (Vintage, $13.95.) This cleareyed survey measures the Bush administration’s foreign-policy record against America’s historical role in the world. Mead, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, expresses support for some of the administration’s controversial policies (on Iraq, for example) but criticizes the White House’s brusque conduct. In PEACE KILLS (Grove, $13), P. J. O’Rourke visits Kosovo, Egypt, Israel, Kuwait and Iraq, relentlessly pointing out the absurdities in America’s recent foreign interventions. THE COMA, by Alex Garland. Illustrated by Nicholas Garland. (Riverhead, $13.) Garland’s novella, which includes original woodblock illustrations by his father, a political cartoonist, concerns a young man, Carl, who slips into a coma after being assaulted on the London Underground. Trapped in a fugue state, Carl fights to

separate hallucination from reality and find the trigger that will release him from his coma. ADVENTURES OF THE ARTIFICIAL WOMAN, by Thomas Berger. (Simon & Schuster, $13.) Berger’s 23rd novel is a satirical fantasy about a beautiful creation gone haywire. ‘‘Never having found a real woman with whom he could sustain a more than temporary connection,’’ he writes, ‘‘Ellery Pierce, a technician at a firm that made animatronic creatures . . . decides to fabricate one.’’ When this human-robot marriage fails, Ellery’s creation, Phyllis, goes on to become a Hollywood sensation. ‘‘Adventures’’ is deadpan humor at its best; ‘‘Berger is as stone-faced as an Easter Island statue playing poker,’’ Donald E. Westlake wrote here. WAKE UP, SIR! by Jonathan Ames. (Scribner, $14.) In this laugh-out-loud-funny novel, Alan Blair, an eccentric, alcoholic writer, hires a gentleman’s gentleman named Jeeves who, despite his various talents, may be only imaginary. Alan sets off for an artists’ colony in Saratoga Springs, where his efforts to clean up his act and finish his second novel are repeatedly interrupted by more neurotic residents. ONE MATCHLESS TIME: A Life of William Faulkner, by Jay Parini. (Harper Perennial, $15.95.) Parini, a novelist and biographer of Robert Frost and John Steinbeck, presents a full account of Faulkner’s life (1897-1962) and critically evaluates the Nobel laureate’s body of work.

PUBLIC ENEMIES: America’s Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34, by Bryan Burrough. (Penguin, $16.) This is a colorful history of the early days of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and its first national crime problem: heavily armed, highly mobile criminals like Machine Gun Kelly, Ma Barker and John Dillinger. Burrough, a special correspondent for Vanity Fair and the author of ‘‘Barbarians at the Gate,’’ explores the gangs’ pulpish glamour, and his profile of J. Edgar Hoover is compelling. Our reviewer, Mark Costello, said this book ‘‘brims with vivid portraiture.’’ BLING, by Erica Kennedy. (Miramax/Hyperion, $13.95.) In Kennedy’s gleefully trashy first novel, which our reviewer, Sia Michel, called ‘‘hip-hop gossip lit,’’ a rapacious music mogul turns a small-town singer into a star. THE DREAM LIFE: Movies, Media and the Mythology of the Sixties, by J. Hoberman. (New Press, $19.95.) Hoberman, the senior film critic at The Village Voice, retells American history from John F. Kennedy to Watergate with a focus on the era’s films. Thus ‘‘Spartacus’’ and ‘‘The Alamo’’ competed for Americans’ hearts and minds during the 1960 presidential campaign, and ‘‘Bonnie and Clyde’’ became an inspiration to the radical left. IHSAN TAYLOR