Alta Journal’s California Bestsellers List (September 6, 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 September 3, 2023.

Just one week after its release, the sensational Assistant to the Villain has quickly risen to the top of the bestsellers list. Author Hannah Nicole Maehrer describes the adventures of the scrappy Evie Sage in this novel that was originally released as short episodes on TikTok. Also on the list is Celeste Ng’s Our Missing Hearts, a suspenseful novel about a boy’s search for his poet mother three years after her disappearance.

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

Southern California

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. Tom Lake, Ann Patchett, Harper, $30
2. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin, Knopf, $28
3. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, James McBride, Riverhead Books, $28
4. Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver, Harper, $32.50
5. Yellowface, R.F. Kuang, William Morrow, $30

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. The Creative Act: A Way of Being, Rick Rubin, Penguin Press, $32
2. Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity, Peter Attia, MD, with Bill Gifford, Harmony, $32
3. Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones, James Clear, Avery, $27
4. The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder, David Grann, Doubleday, $30
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. Babel, R.F. Kuang, Harper Voyager, $20
3. Our Missing Hearts, Celeste Ng, Penguin Books, $18
4. Assistant to the Villain, Hannah Nicole Maehrer, Red Tower Books, $19.99
5. A Court of Thorns and Roses, Sarah J. Maas, Bloomsbury Publishing, $19

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

1. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, David Grann, Vintage, $17
2. American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, Vintage, $25
3. Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions, $17.99
4. Crying in H Mart: A Memoir, Michelle Zauner, Vintage, $17
5. All About Love: New Visions, bell hooks, William Morrow, $16.99

Northern California

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. Tom Lake, Ann Patchett, Harper, $30
2. Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver, Harper, $32.50
3. The Covenant of Water, Abraham Verghese, Grove Press, $32
4. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, James McBride, Riverhead Books, $28
5. Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus, Doubleday, $29

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder, David Grann, Doubleday, $30
2. Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity, Peter Attia, MD, with Bill Gifford, Harmony, $32
3. The Creative Act: A Way of Being, Rick Rubin, Penguin Press, $32
4. Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones, James Clear, Avery, $27
5. Poverty, by America, Matthew Desmond, Crown, $28

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

1. Trust, Hernan Diaz, Riverhead Books, $17
2. Our Missing Hearts, Celeste Ng, Penguin Books, $18
3. The Midnight Library, Matt Haig, Penguin Books, $18
4. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Washington Square Press, $17
5. A Court of Thorns and Roses, Sarah J. Maas, Bloomsbury Publishing, $19

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

1. American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, Vintage, $25
2. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, David Grann, Vintage, $17
3. An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us, Ed Yong, Random House, $20
4. Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions, $17.99
5. Solito: A Memoir, Javier Zamora, Hogarth, $18

Source: California Independent Booksellers Alliance

Elizabeth Casillas

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