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 August 6, 2023.
This week’s list centers female voices and offers meditations on the boundary between true love and fantasy. In Tom Lake, Ann Patchett recounts the return of Lara and her three daughters to their orchard in Michigan. Patchett’s latest novel toggles between past and present, painting a colorful history of this small family. In Jen Beagin’s Big Swiss, a transcriber for a sex coach forms a relationship with a new client after routinely eavesdropping on her therapy sessions.
For a full list of titles and categories, visit the California Independent Booksellers Alliance.•
Southern California
HARDCOVER FICTION
- Tom Lake, Ann Patchett, Harper, $30
- The Covenant of Water, Abraham Verghese, Grove Press, $32
- Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin, Knopf, $28
- Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros, Red Tower Books, $29.99
- Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver, Harper, $32.50
HARDCOVER NONFICTION
- The Creative Act: A Way of Being, Rick Rubin, Penguin Press, $32
- The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder, David Grann, Doubleday, $30
- Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones, James Clear, Avery, $27
- I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette McCurdy, Simon & Schuster, $27.99
- Baking Yesteryear: The Best Recipes from the 1900s to the 1980s, B. Dylan Hollis, DK Publishing, $32
TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION
- The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Washington Square Press, $17
- Trust, Hernan Diaz, Riverhead Books, $17
- Circe, Madeline Miller, Back Bay Books, $18.99
- The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho, HarperOne, $17.99
- Big Swiss, Jen Beagin, Scribner, $17
TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION
- American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, Vintage, $25
- Crying in H Mart: A Memoir, Michelle Zauner, Vintage, $17
- Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, David Grann, Vintage, $17
- All About Love: New Visions, bell hooks, William Morrow, $16.99
- Happy-Go-Lucky, David Sedaris, Back Bay Books, $18.99
Northern California
HARDCOVER FICTION
- Tom Lake, Ann Patchett, Harper, $30
- The Covenant of Water, Abraham Verghese, Grove Press, $32
- Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver, Harper, $32.50
- Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros, Red Tower Books, $29.99
- Crook Manifesto, Colson Whitehead, Doubleday, $29
HARDCOVER NONFICTION
- The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder, David Grann, Doubleday, $30
- The Creative Act: A Way of Being, Rick Rubin, Penguin Press, $32
- Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones, James Clear, Avery, $27
- Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity, Peter Attia, MD, with Bill Gifford, Harmony, $32
- The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession, Michael Finkel, Knopf, $28
TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION
- Trust, Hernan Diaz, Riverhead Books, $17
- The Midnight Library, Matt Haig, Penguin Books, $18
- A Court of Thorns and Roses, Sarah J. Maas, Bloomsbury Publishing, $19
- The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Washington Square Press, $17
- The Maid, Nita Prose, Ballantine Books, $18
TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION
- American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, Vintage, $25
- Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, David Grann, Vintage, $17
- Crying in H Mart: A Memoir, Michelle Zauner, Vintage, $17
- Happy-Go-Lucky, David Sedaris, Back Bay Books, $18.99
- All About Love: New Visions, bell hooks, William Morrow, $16.99
Source: California Independent Booksellers Alliance
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.
