Alta Journal, with reporting from the California Independent Booksellers Alliance, brings you a list of the bestselling titles at independent bookstores across Northern and Southern California for the week ending October 16, 2022.
Debuting on the list this week is Andy Weir’s science fiction novel Project Hail Mary. This interstellar adventure tale follows astronaut Ryland Grace on a last-ditch effort to save humanity as he struggles to remember who he is. For science fiction enthusiasts, Alta’s Issue 12 includes original short stories by Charlie Jane Anders and Jonathan Lethem plus a classic tale from Philip K. Dick. Have burning science fiction–related questions? Randall Munroe has you covered with What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, which appears for a fifth time on Alta’s bestsellers list and may be the first book to answer whether or not a lava lamp can be made from lava.
For a full list of titles and categories, visit the California Independent Booksellers Alliance.•
Southern California
HARDCOVER FICTION
- Our Missing Hearts, Celeste Ng, Penguin Press, $29
- Lucy by the Sea, Elizabeth Strout, Random House, $28
- Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin, Knopf, $28
- Less Is Lost, Andrew Sean Greer, Little, Brown, $29. Read the Alta review
- Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus, Doubleday, $29
HARDCOVER NONFICTION
- Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America, Maggie Haberman, Penguin Press, $32
- I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette McCurdy, Simon & Schuster, $27.99
- Crying in H Mart: A Memoir, Michelle Zauner, Knopf, $26.95
- When Women Lead: What They Achieve, Why They Succeed, and How We Can Learn from Them, Julia Boorstin, Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster, $29.99
- Adrift: America in 100 Charts, Scott Galloway, Portfolio, $35
TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION
- It Ends with Us, Colleen Hoover, Atria Books, $16.99
- Cloud Cuckoo Land, Anthony Doerr, Scribner, $20
- The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Washington Square Press, $17
- Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir, Ballantine Books, $20
- Still Life, Sarah Winman, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, $17
TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION
- All About Love: New Visions, bell hooks, William Morrow, $16.99
- The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, Bessel van der Kolk, MD, Penguin Books, $19
- Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Yuval Noah Harari, Harper Perennial, $24.99
- Meditations: A New Translation (Revised), Marcus Aurelius, Modern Library, $11
- The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself, Michael A. Singer, New Harbinger Publications, $18.95
Northern California
HARDCOVER FICTION
- Our Missing Hearts, Celeste Ng, Penguin Press, $29
- Lucy by the Sea, Elizabeth Strout, Random House, $28
- Fairy Tale, Stephen King, Scribner, $32.50
- Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus, Doubleday, $29
- Less Is Lost, Andrew Sean Greer, Little, Brown, $29. Read the Alta review
HARDCOVER NONFICTION
- Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America, Maggie Haberman, Penguin Press, $32
- I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette McCurdy, Simon & Schuster, $27.99
- What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, Randall Munroe, Riverhead Books, $30
- Dinner in One: Exceptional & Easy One-Pan Meals, Melissa Clark, Clarkson Potter, $29.99
- The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture, Gabor Maté, MD, with Daniel Maté, Avery, $30
TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION
- Cloud Cuckoo Land, Anthony Doerr, Scribner, $20
- The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Washington Square Press, $17
- It Ends with Us, Colleen Hoover, Atria Books, $16.99
- Verity, Colleen Hoover, Grand Central Publishing, $16.99
- Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir, Ballantine Books, $20
TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION
- All About Love: New Visions, bell hooks, William Morrow, $16.99
- The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, Bessel van der Kolk, MD, Penguin Books, $19
- Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions, $20
- Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law, Mary Roach, W.W. Norton & Company, $16.95
- The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, Don Miguel Ruiz, Amber-Allen Publishing, $12.95
Source: California Independent Booksellers Alliance
