Bestsellers List Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021
SoCal Bestsellers
Hardcover Fiction
1. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett (Riverhead: $27) Identical twin sisters run away from their small Black community in the South and live very different lives.
2. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (Viking: $26) A reader in an infinite library is torn between versions of the life she is leading and the life she could be leading.
3. Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell (Knopf: $27) An Elizabethan tale of love and grief in 16th century Stratford-Upon-Avon.
4. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab (Tor: $27) In 1714 France, a desperate young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever but is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.
5. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Del Rey: $27) A woman is summoned to a mysterious home in rural Mexico to rescue her newlywed cousin.
6. The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr. (Putnam: $27) A forbidden relationship between two enslaved men is torn apart when a fellow slave begins preaching the master’s gospel.
7. Outlawed by Anna North (Bloomsbury: $26) In the Old West a married, childless woman joins a gang of desperados.
8. The Searcher by Tana French (Viking: $27) A recently divorced retired Chicago cop settles down in a quiet Irish village, where he gets dragged into a mystery.
9. Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline (Ballantine: $29) A return to the world of OASIS in a sequel to “Ready Player One.”
10. Anxious People by Fredrik Backman (Atria: $28) After a botched bank robbery, the perpetrator takes eight hostages in an apartment.Hardcover nonfiction
1. A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders (Random House: $28) A masterclass for writers using Russian short stories.
2. A Promised Land by Barack Obama (Crown: $45) The first Black president of the U.S. offers a personal account of the issues he faced early in his presidency.
3. Caste by Isabel Wilkerson (Random House: $32) A hidden caste system influences the lives of Americans.
4. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy (HarperOne: $23) A modern fable explores life’s universal lessons through four archetypes.
5. Breath by James Nestor (Riverhead: $28) New research yields breathtaking results.
6. Exercised by Daniel Lieberman (Pantheon: $30) The professor of human biology debunks myths and answers questions about exercise.
7. The Art of Impossible by Steven Kotler (Harper Wave: $29) The performance expert reveals the secrets of elite athletes, scientists, CEOs and artists.
8. Untamed by Glennon Doyle (Dial: $28) The activist explores the peace that comes when we stop striving to meet the world’s expectations.
9. The Beauty of What Remains by Steve Leder (Avery: $26) The rabbi shares his experience with loss.
10. Kamala’s Way by Dan Morain (Simon & Schuster: $28) A biography of the U.S.’ first Black female vice president.Paperback fiction
1. Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart (Grove Press: $17)
2. Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu (Vintage: $16)
3. The Dutch House by Ann Patchett (Harper: $17)
4. Circe by Madeline Miller (Back Bay: $17)
5. The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See (Scribner: $18)
6. When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole (Morrow: $17)
7. Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions by Mario Giordano (Mariner: $15)
8. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (Ecco: $17)
9. The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (Anchor: $16)
10. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (HarperOne: $17)Paperback nonfiction
1. Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer (Milkweed: $18)
2. The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz (Amber-Allen: $13)
3. The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron (TarcherPerigee: $17)
4. On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder (Tim Duggan Books: $10)
5. The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk (Penguin: $19)
6. The Truths We Hold by Kamala Harris (Penguin: $18)
7. The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin (Vintage: $14)
8. How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan (Penguin: $18)
9. So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo (Seal Press: $17)
10. How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell (Melville House: $18)
More to Read
Sign up for our Book Club newsletter
Get the latest news, events and more from the Los Angeles Times Book Club, and help us get L.A. reading and talking.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.