Alta Journal’s California Bestsellers List (August 17, 2022)

With reporting from the California Independent Booksellers Alliance, Alta Journal is proud to bring you a list of bestselling titles across independent bookstores located in Northern and Southern California for the sales week ending August 14, 2022.

I’m Glad My Mom Died, by Jennette McCurdy, is among this week’s top titles. The hard-hitting memoir tracks former child actor McCurdy’s struggles during her time on Nickelodeon as well as her complicated relationship with her mother. The book’s raw honesty and candid discussion of abuse call to mind Melissa Chadburn’s A Tiny Upward Shove. Reviewed by Alta, the novel covers the life of Marina, a young girl experiencing hardships and abuse at the hands of those around her. Also on this week’s list of titles is Malibu Rising, by Taylor Jenkins Reid, a novel set in Malibu that follows four successful siblings throughout one family-drama-filled night. If the setting and the action catch your attention, make sure to read about Santa Monica and Malibu lifeguards and their part in World War II.

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

Southern California

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin, Knopf, $28
2. Heat 2, Michael Mann and Meg Gardiner, William Morrow and Company, $28.99
3. Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus, Doubleday, $29
4. Portrait of an Unknown Woman, Daniel Silva, Harper, $29.99
5. Horse, Geraldine Brooks, Viking, $28

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. Happy-Go-Lucky, David Sedaris, Little, Brown and Company, $29
2. I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette McCurdy, Simon & Schuster, $27.99
3. Crying in H Mart: A Memoir, Michelle Zauner, Knopf, $26.95
4. Bad City: Peril and Power in the City of Angels, Paul Pringle, Celadon Books, $29.99
5. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, James Clear, Avery, $27

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

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

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

1. All About Love: New Visions, bell hooks, William Morrow & Company, $16.99
2. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, Bessel van der Kolk, MD, Penguin Books, $19
3. This Is Your Mind on Plants, Michael Pollan, Penguin Books, $18
4. The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, Don Miguel Ruiz, Amber-Allen Publishing, $12.95
5. Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions, $20

Northern California

HARDCOVER FICTION

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

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette McCurdy, Simon & Schuster, $27.99
2. Happy-Go-Lucky, David Sedaris, Little, Brown and Company, $29
3. The High Sierra: A Love Story, Kim Stanley Robinson, Little, Brown and Company, $40
4. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, James Clear, Avery, $27
5. Crying in H Mart: A Memoir, Michelle Zauner, Knopf, $26.95

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

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. Circe, Madeline Miller, Back Bay Books, $16.99
4. It Ends with Us, Colleen Hoover, Atria Books, $16.99
5. Book Lovers, Emily Henry, Berkley, $17

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

1. Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions, $20
2. Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest, Suzanne Simard, Vintage, $17
3. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, Bessel van der Kolk, MD, Penguin Books, $19
4. All About Love: New Visions, bell hooks, William Morrow & Company, $16.99
5. This Is Your Mind on Plants, Michael Pollan, Penguin Books, $18

Source: California Independent Booksellers Alliance

Elizabeth Casillas

Elizabeth Casillas is an assistant editor at Alta Journal. A graduate of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, she has previously written for the Poly Post and Enspire Magazine.