Hardcover fiction
1. Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry (Berkley: $29) Two writers compete for the chance to tell the larger-than-life story of an heiress.
2. My Friends by Fredrik Backman (Atria Books: $30) The bond between a group of teens 25 years earlier has a powerful effect on a budding artist.
3. James by Percival Everett (Doubleday: $28) An action-packed reimagining of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”
4. My Name Is Emilia del Valle by Isabel Allende (Ballantine Books: $30) A young writer in the late 1800s travels to South America to uncover the truth about her father.
5. The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (Riverhead Books: $30) Worlds collide when a teenager vanishes from her Adirondacks summer camp.
6. Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall (Simon & Schuster: $29) A love triangle unearths dangerous secrets.
7. Audition by Katie Kitamura (Riverhead Books: $28) An accomplished actor grapples with the varied roles she plays in her personal life.
8. Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy (Flatiron Books: $29) As sea levels rise, a family on a remote island rescues a mysterious woman.
9. Silver Elite by Dani Francis (Del Rey: $33) Psychic gifts can get you killed in the first book of a dystopian romance series.
10. Strangers in Time by David Baldacci (Grand Central Publishing: $30) Two London teens scarred by World War II find an unexpected ally in a bereaved bookshop owner.
Hardcover nonfiction
1. The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins (Hay House: $30) How to stop wasting energy on things you can’t control.
2. Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson (Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster: $30) A call to renew a politics of plenty and abandon the chosen scarcities that have deformed American life.
3. Life of Your Dreams by Mark Pentecost (Mission Driven Press: $28) The billionaire entrepreneur reveals the seven steps that took him from surviving to thriving.
4. The Book of Alchemy by Suleika Jaouad (Random House: $30) A guide to the art of journaling, with contributions from Jon Batiste, Salman Rushdie, Gloria Steinem and others.
5. We Can Do Hard Things by Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach and Amanda Doyle (The Dial Press: $34) The guidebook for being alive.
6. Notes to John by Joan Didion (Knopf: $32) Diary entries from the famed writer’s journal.
7. Joy Prescriptions by Dr. Tiffany Moon (Legacy Lit: $29) The doctor and “Real Housewives” alum on how to find happiness.
8. Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton (Pantheon: $27) A meditation on freedom, trust, loss and our relationship with the natural world.
9. Conquering Crisis by Adm. William H. McRaven (Grand Central Publishing: $26) The retired four-star admiral’s personal stories illustrate the principles of effective leadership during times of crisis.
10. The Prism by Laura Day (Spiegel & Grau: $32) Seven steps to self-discovery and renewal.
Paperback fiction
1. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt (Ecco: $20)
2. Table for Two by Amor Towles (Penguin Books: $19)
3. One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune (Berkley: $19)
4. The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl (Random House Trade Paperbacks: $19)
5. Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar (Vintage: $18)
6. The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese (Grove Press: $22)
7. I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman (Transit Books: $17)
8. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (Harper Perennial: $22)
9. Orbital by Samantha Harvey (Grove Press: $17)
10. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (Anchor: $18)
Paperback nonfiction
1. On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder (Crown: $12)
2. The Wager by David Grann (Vintage: $21)
3. The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan (Knopf: $36)
4. Sociopath by Patric Gagne (Simon & Schuster: $20)
5. The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron (TarcherPerigee: $20)
6. The Art Thief by Michael Finkel (Vintage: $18)
7. All About Love by bell hooks (Morrow: $17)
8. The Last of His Kind by Andy McCullough (Grand Central Publishing: $22)
9. The Best of Me by David Sedaris (Back Bay: $22)
10. The Body Keeps the Score by Dr. Bessel van der Kolk (Penguin: $19)
The post The week’s bestselling books, May 18 appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
