Hardcover fiction
1. Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke (Knopf: $30) A “tradwife” influencer suddenly wakes up in the brutal world of 1855.
2. The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout (Random House: $29) A life-altering event forces a high school teacher to confront hidden truths.
3. The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (Crown: $28) A lifelong letter writer reckons with a painful past.
4. The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett (Spiegel & Grau: $35) In 1933 Mississippi, a group of female friends form a defiant bond.
5. John of John by Douglas Stuart (Grove Press: $28) A young man returns to his Hebridean island home to find little has changed.
6. Our Perfect Storm by Carley Fortune (Berkley: $30) Two best friends have one week in paradise to fix their friendship or fall apart.
7. Go Gentle by Maria Semple (G.P. Putnam’s Sons: $30) A woman’s carefully curated life is upended after meeting a handsome stranger.
8. Transcription by Ben Lerner (Farrar, Straus and Giroux: $25) A writer must conduct an interview without a recording device, setting off a meditation on memories and communication.
9. Platform Decay by Martha Wells (Tor Books: $25) The latest installment in the “Murderbot Diaries” series.
10. Heart the Lover by Lily King (Grove Press: $28) A woman reflects on a youthful love triangle and its consequences.
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Hardcover nonfiction
1. Strangers by Belle Burden (The Dial Press: $30) A woman explores her marriage, its end and the man she thought she knew.
2. Famesick by Lena Dunham (Random House: $32) The actor, writer and director’s frank reflections on illness, fame, sex and more.
3. Make Believe by Mac Barnett (Little, Brown & Co.: $20) A celebration of children’s books and the power of storytelling.
4. London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe (Doubleday: $35) A family uncovers their 19-year-old son’s secret life in the London criminal underground after his sudden death.
5. A World Appears by Michael Pollan (Penguin Press: $32) An exploration of consciousness and a meditation on the essence of our humanity.
6. Backtalker by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw (Simon & Schuster: $30) The legal scholar charts her rise from precocious child to renowned public intellectual.
7. One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad (Knopf: $28) Reckoning with what it means to live in a West that betrays its values.
8. When We See You Again by Rachel Goldberg-Polin (Random House: $30) A portrait of a mother’s grief in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack.
9. The Sane One by Anna Konkle (Random House: $30) The co-creator of the series “Pen15” tells her origin story.
10. Lessons From Cats for Surviving Fascism by Stewart Reynolds (Grand Central Publishing: $13) A guide to channeling feline wisdom in the face of authoritarian nonsense.
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Paperback fiction
1. Theo of Golden by Allen Levi (Atria Books: $20)
2. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (Ballantine: $22)
3. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt (Ecco: $20)
4. Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman (Ace: $20)
5. The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali (Gallery Books: $19)
6. Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte (William Morrow Paperbacks: $19)
7. I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman (Transit Books: $17)
8. Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid (Carina Press: $19)
9. James by Percival Everett (Vintage: $20)
10. The Last Contract of Isako by Fonda Lee (Orbit: $20)
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Paperback nonfiction
1. Turning to Birds by Lili Taylor (Crown: $20)
2. Hell in a Handbag by Jibz Cameron (Dopamine/Semiotext: $18)
3. Girl on Girl by Sophie Gilbert (Penguin Books: $20)
4. All About Love by bell hooks (William Morrow Paperbacks: $17)
5. Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten (Crown: $22)
6. Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer (Milkweed Editions: $22)
7. Everything Now by Rosecrans Baldwin (Picador: $19)
8. Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion (Farrar, Straus & Giroux: $18)
9. Hyperpolitics by Anton Jäger (Verso: $20)
10. The Beginning Comes After the End by Rebecca Solnit (Haymarket Books: $17)
The post The week’s bestselling books, May 17 appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
