Best-selling 'Hillbilly Elegy' helps explain Trump's appeal

Here’s a look at what’s new on USA TODAY’s Best-Selling Books list…

‘Hillbilly’ chic: During this charged election cycle, J.D. Vance has found himself becoming a spokesman for a disaffected group — America’s working-class whites — and in the process has racked up a best seller.

Vance’s very personal book Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis (Harper), released on June 28, has gained steam this month, landing on the list at No. 62 on Aug. 4, bumping up to No. 28 last week, and now surging to No. 10. (The full list will publish on Thursday.)

Vance has appeared on CNN, MSNBC and NPR, talking about Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s appeal to what The American Conservative called “poor white people.” Positive reviews in outlets such as The Washington Post and The New York Times also have helped raise the profile of the book, Vance’s first.

As far back as February, Vance wrote an Op-Ed for USA TODAY headlined: “Trump Speaks for Those Bush Betrayed,” writing then that “what unites Trump’s voters is a sense of alienation from America’s wealthy and powerful.”

Trump speaks for those Bush betrayed: Column

Now, Vance tells USA TODAY, “I love the way (Trump) criticizes party elites, but really dislike the candidate himself.  I'm definitely not supporting Trump, though I probably won't vote for Hillary either — she just seems like she doesn't care about the people I grew up around.”

In Hillbilly Elegy, Vance, 32, recounts his journey from Appalachia to Yale Law School, with a stint with the Marines in Iraq, and writes of his mother’s descent into addiction and being raised by his hardscrabble but supportive grandparents. Today he is a Silicon Valley executive.

By examining his own family in his book, Vance gives insight into how “hillbillies” lost faith in the promise of upward mobility.

Inspiring women: Two Christian/inspirational/self-help titles, both released on Aug. 9, are appealing to the faithful.

Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely by Lysa TerKeurst (Thomas Nelson) lands at No. 4, while Shauna Niequist’s Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living (Zondervan) makes its debut at No. 8.

It’s the highest showing for TerKeurst, who hit No. 33 in 2014 with Unglued: Making Wise Choices in the Midst of Raw Emotions. This is the first time Niequist, whose previous titles include Savor: Living Abundantly Where You Are, As You Are, has made USA TODAY’s list.

TerKeurst makes the case that in a social-media driven world in which women feel the pain of rejection more than ever, “Uninvited helps us realize the more fully we invite God in, the less we will feel uninvited by others.”

In Present Over Perfect, Niequist, who became fed up with her “frantic” life, shares tips on “simple, soulful living as a rich alternative to striving for perfection.”