Alta Journal’s California Bestsellers List (July 19, 2023)

With reporting from the California Independent Booksellers Alliance, Alta Journal brings you a list of the bestselling titles at independent bookstores across Northern and Southern California for the week ending July 16, 2023.

The list this week brings us captivating reads to fill out the remaining days of summer. Perfect for the beach is a paperback, such as The Marriage Portrait, by Maggie O’Farrell, a work of historical fiction set in the 1550s. The novel follows young Lucrezia de’ Medici as she finds herself in an unwanted marriage and attempts to assimilate into an unfamiliar court. And good for an afternoon in the park is This Is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. This science fiction romance spans time and space, following an enemies-to-lovers couple struggling to keep the future intact amid a tumultuous war.

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

Southern California

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. Lady Tan’s Circle of Women, Lisa See, Scribner, $28
2. The Covenant of Water, Abraham Verghese, Grove Press, $32
3. Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver, Harper, $32.50
4. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin, Knopf, $28
5. Yellowface, R.F. Kuang, William Morrow, $30

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. The Creative Act: A Way of Being, Rick Rubin, Penguin Press, $32
2. Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS, BTS, Myeongseok Kang, Anton Hur (translator), Slin Jung (translator), and Clare Richards (translator), Flatiron Books, $45
3. The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder, David Grann, Doubleday, $30
4. Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity, Peter Attia, MD, with Bill Gifford, Harmony, $32
5. The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession, Michael Finkel, Knopf, $28

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

1. Trust, Hernan Diaz, Riverhead Books, $17
2. The Midnight Library, Matt Haig, Penguin Books, $18
3. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Washington Square Press, $17
4. The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller, Ecco, $17.99
5. This Is How You Lose the Time War, Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, Gallery/Saga Press, $16.99

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

1. Crying in H Mart: A Memoir, Michelle Zauner, Vintage, $17
2. Happy-Go-Lucky, David Sedaris, Back Bay Books, $18.99
3. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, David Grann, Vintage, $17
4. The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, Don Miguel Ruiz and Janet Mills, Amber-Allen Publishing, $12.95
5. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, Bessel van der Kolk, MD, Penguin Books, $19

Northern California

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. The Covenant of Water, Abraham Verghese, Grove Press, $32
2. Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver, Harper, $32.50
3. Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus, Doubleday, $29
4. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin, Knopf, $28
5. Yellowface, R.F. Kuang, William Morrow, $30

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder, David Grann, Doubleday, $30
2. The Creative Act: A Way of Being, Rick Rubin, Penguin Press, $32
3. Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity, Peter Attia, MD, with Bill Gifford, Harmony, $32
4. The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession, Michael Finkel, Knopf, $28
5. Poverty, by America, Matthew Desmond, Crown, $28

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

1. Trust, Hernan Diaz, Riverhead Books, $17
2. The Midnight Library, Matt Haig, Penguin Books, $18
3. The Marriage Portrait, Maggie O’Farrell, Vintage, $17
4. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Washington Square Press, $17
5. The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller, Ecco, $17.99

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

1. Solito: A Memoir, Javier Zamora, Hogarth, $18
2. Crying in H Mart: A Memoir, Michelle Zauner, Vintage, $17
3. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, David Grann, Vintage, $17
4. Happy-Go-Lucky, David Sedaris, Back Bay Books, $18.99
5. All About Love: New Visions, bell hooks, William Morrow, $16.99

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.