Alta Journal’s California Bestsellers List (August 10, 2022)

Alta Journal brings you a curated list of bestselling titles at independent bookstores across Northern and Southern California for the sales week ending August 7, 2022, as reported by the California Independent Booksellers Alliance. Check in every Wednesday to see what’s new.

This week’s top titles include The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, by Charlie Mackesy. This touching story follows the journey of an unlikely cast of characters as they discover kindness and love. If heartwarming tales of friendship between animals intrigue you, check out Fox & I: An Uncommon Friendship, by Catherine Raven, a book that details the playful relationship between the author and a fox she encountered during her time in the woods. (Alta’s got you covered with an excerpt.) Along with Mackesy’s tale, Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Daisy Jones & the Six takes the stage. In this 2019 title that’s enjoying renewed interest, Reid brings to life the fictional band Daisy Jones & the Six as they take Sunset Strip by storm.

For a full list of titles and categories, visit the California Independent Booksellers Alliance.•

Southern California

HARDCOVER FICTION

Alta

1. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin, Knopf, $28
2. Horse, Geraldine Brooks, Viking, $28
3. Portrait of an Unknown Woman, Daniel Silva, Harper, $29.99
4. Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus, Doubleday, $29
5. The Midnight Library, Matt Haig, Viking, $26

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

Alta

1. Bad City: Peril and Power in the City of Angels, Paul Pringle, Celadon Books, $29.99
2. Happy-Go-Lucky, David Sedaris, Little, Brown and Company, $29
3. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, Charlie Mackesy, HarperOne, $22.99
4. Crying in H Mart: A Memoir, Michelle Zauner, Knopf, $26.95
5. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, James Clear, Avery, $27

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

Alta

1. Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, $18
2. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Washington Square Press, $17
3. Book Lovers, Emily Henry, Berkley, $17
4. It Ends with Us, Colleen Hoover, Atria Books, $16.99
5. Daisy Jones & the Six, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Ballantine Books, $17

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

Alta

1. This Is Your Mind on Plants, Michael Pollan, Penguin Books, $18
2. The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, Don Miguel Ruiz, Amber-Allen Publishing, $12.95
3. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Yuval Noah Harari, Harper Perennial, $24.99
4. The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself, Michael A. Singer, New Harbinger Publications, $18.95
5. Slouching Towards Bethlehem: Essays, Joan Didion, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $17

Northern California

HARDCOVER FICTION

Alta

1. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin, Knopf, $28
2. Horse, Geraldine Brooks, Viking, $28
3. Mercury Pictures Presents, Anthony Marra, Hogarth Press, $28.99
4. The Last White Man, Mohsin Hamid, Riverhead Books, $26
5. Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus, Doubleday, $29

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

Alta

1. Happy-Go-Lucky, David Sedaris, Little, Brown and Company, $29
2. Crying in H Mart: A Memoir, Michelle Zauner, Knopf, $26.95
3. The High Sierra: A Love Story, Kim Stanley Robinson, Little, Brown and Company, $40
4. An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us, Ed Yong, Random House, $30
5. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, Charlie Mackesy, HarperOne, $22.99

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

Alta

1. Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, $18
2. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Washington Square Press, $17
3. Book Lovers, Emily Henry, Berkley, $17
4. Beautiful World, Where Are You, Sally Rooney, Picador, $18
5. Circe, Madeline Miller, Back Bay Books, $16.99

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

Alta

1. Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions, $20
2. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, Bessel van der Kolk, M.D., Penguin Books, $19
3. Do the Work! An Antiracist Activity Book, W. Kamau Bell and Kate Schatz, Workman Publishing, $22.95
4. This Is Your Mind on Plants, Michael Pollan, Penguin Books, $18
5. All About Love: New Visions, bell hooks, William Morrow & Company, $16.99

Source: California Independent Booksellers Alliance

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