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The week’s bestselling books, Aug. 31

Southern California Bestsellers
(Los Angeles Times)

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Hardcover fiction

1. 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.

2. The Wedding People by Alison Espach (Henry Holt & Co.: $29) An unexpected wedding guest gets surprise help on her journey to starting anew.

3. Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Ballantine Books: $30) A story of friendship, love and adversity during the 1980s Space Shuttle program.

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4. James by Percival Everett (Doubleday: $28) An action-packed reimagining of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”

5. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab (Tor Books: $30) A vampiric tale follows three women across the centuries.

6. The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong (Penguin Press: $30) An unlikely pair develops a life-altering bond.

7. Culpability by Bruce Holsinger (Spiegel & Grau: $30) A suspenseful family drama about moral responsibility in the age of artificial intelligence.

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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. The End of the World As We Know It by Christopher Golden (editor), Brian Keene (editor) (Gallery Books: $35) Stephen King’s classic apocalyptic novel “The Stand” is the basis of this original short story anthology.

10. An Inside Job by Daniel Silva (Harper: $32) An art restorer and legendary spy must solve the perfect crime.

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. Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton (Pantheon: $27) A meditation on freedom, trust, loss and our relationship with the natural world.

3. The Creative Act by Rick Rubin (Penguin: $32) The music producer on how to be a creative person.

4. Tonight in Jungleland by Peter Ames Carlin (Doubleday: $30) Inside the making of Bruce Springsteen’s groundbreaking album “Born to Run.”

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5. I Regret Almost Everything by Keith McNally (Gallery Books: $30) The restaurateur on his rise in the dining scene.

6. Everything Is Tuberculosis by John Green (Crash Course Books: $28) The fight against the world’s deadliest infectious disease.

7. Baldwin by Nicholas Boggs (Farrar, Straus & Giroux: $36) The first major biography of influential writer James Baldwin in three decades.

8. Empire of AI by Karen Hao (Penguin Press: $32) An insider’s account of how OpenAI and ChatGPT came to be.

9. King of Kings by Scott Anderson (Doubleday: $35) A history of the Iranian Revolution offers insights into today’s global unrest.

10. A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst (Riverhead Books: $28) The true story of a young couple shipwrecked at sea.

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Paperback fiction

1. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (Ballantine: $20)

2. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt (Ecco: $20)

3. All Fours by Miranda July (Riverhead Books: $19)

4. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (Ecco: $18)

5. Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar (Vintage: $18)

6. Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout (Random House Trade Paperbacks: $18)

7. Never Whistle at Night by Shane Hawk (editor), Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. (editor) (Vintage: $17)

8. I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman (Transit Books: $17)

9. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury Publishing: $18)

10. The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster: $19)

Paperback nonfiction

1. Didion and Babitz by Lili Anolik (Scribner: $20)

2. On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder (Crown: $12)

3. The Wager by David Grann (Vintage: $21)

4. All the Beauty in the World by Patrick Bringley (Simon & Schuster: $19)

5. Single-Minded by Bob Wheatley (Streamline Books: $13)

6. The Art Thief by Michael Finkel (Vintage: $18)

7. Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer (Milkweed Editions: $22)

8. The White Album by Joan Didion (Farrar, Straus & Giroux: $18)

9. Vegas by John Gregory Dunne (McNally Editions: $19)

10. Barbarian Days by William Finnegan (Penguin: $20)

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