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The week’s bestselling books, Dec. 7

Southern California Bestsellers
(Los Angeles Times)
0:00 0:00

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Hardcover fiction

1. The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (Crown: $28) A lifelong letter writer reckons with a painful past.

2. Heart the Lover by Lily King (Grove Press: $28) A woman reflects on a youthful love triangle and its consequences.

3. What We Can Know by Ian McEwan (Knopf: $30) A genre-bending love story about people and the words they leave behind.

4. Shadow Ticket by Thomas Pynchon (Penguin Press: $30) A private eye in 1932 Milwaukee is hired to find a missing dairy heiress.

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5. Dog Show by Billy Collins, Pamela Sztybel (illustrator) (Random House: $20) The former U.S. poet laureate captures the essence of dogs in a collection of poems that includes watercolor canine portraits.

6. The Widow by John Grisham (Doubleday: $32) A small-time lawyer accused of murder races to find the real killer to clear his name.

7. Katabasis by R. F. Kuang (Harper Voyager: $35) The deluxe limited edition of a dark academia fantasy about two rival graduate students’ descent into hell.

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8. The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai (Hogarth: $32) The fates of two young people intersect and diverge across continents and years.

9. The Strength of the Few by James Islington (S&S/Saga Press: $34) Book 2 of fantasy series the Hierarchy Quartet.

10. The Proving Ground by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown & Co.: $32) The Lincoln Lawyer is back with a case against an AI company for its role in a girl’s killing.

Hardcover nonfiction

1. Bread of Angels by Patti Smith (Random House: $30) A new memoir from the legendary writer and artist.

2. 1929 by Andrew Ross Sorkin (Viking: $35) An exploration of the most infamous stock market crash in history.

3. 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 fundamental values.

4. The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins (Hay House: $30) How to stop wasting energy on things you can’t control.

5. 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.

6. Always Remember by Charlie Mackesy (Penguin Life: $27) Revisiting the world of “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse.”

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7. The Uncool by Cameron Crowe (Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster: $35) The filmmaker recounts his experiences as a teenage music journalist.

9. Good Things by Samin Nosrat (Random House: $45) The celebrated chef shares 125 meticulously tested recipes.

9. Something From Nothing by Alison Roman (Clarkson Potter: $38) More than 100 recipes that make the most of a well-stocked pantry.

10. Book of Lives by Margaret Atwood (Doubleday: $35) The author of “The Handmaid’s Tale” tells her story.

Paperback fiction

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

2. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (Ballantine: $22)

3. The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali (Gallery Books: $19)

4. The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (Riverhead Books, $19)

5. Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell (Vintage: $19)

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

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

8. Playground by Richard Powers (W. W. Norton & Company, $20)

9. The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami (Vintage, $19)

10. The Princess Bride by William Goldman (Harper Perennial: $22)

Paperback nonfiction

1. Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion (Farrar, Straus & Giroux: $18)

2. How to Know a Person by David Brooks (Random House Trade Paperbacks, $20)

3. The Best American Essays 2025 by Jia Tolentino and Kim Dana Kupperman (editors) (Mariner Books: $19)

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

5. All About Love by bell hooks (Morrow: $17)

6. Signs by Laura Lynne Jackson (Dial Press Trade Paperback, $22)

7. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (HarperOne, $18)

8. The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron (TarcherPerigee: $24)

9. Fight Oligarchy by Sen. Bernie Sanders (Crown: $15)

10. Kingmaker by Sonia Purnell (Penguin Books, $22)

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