Alta Journal’s California Bestsellers List (October 11, 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 October 8, 2023.

Death Valley, written by Angeleno Melissa Broder, makes its debut on the bestsellers list this week. The novel follows a woman’s journey to California’s High Desert in an attempt to find peace after caring for family members suffering from illness. Once there, she stumbles on a cactus with special powers that start her on a spiritual journey. Additionally, Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan’s novel, Mad Honey, appears on the bestsellers list for the first time. This heart-wrenching saga captures the limits of Olivia McAfee’s love after her son becomes a prime suspect in a murder case.

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

Southern California

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. The Fraud, Zadie Smith, Penguin Press, $29
2. Death Valley, Melissa Broder, Scribner, $27
3. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, James McBride, Riverhead Books, $28
4. Tom Lake, Ann Patchett, Harper, $30
5. Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros, Red Tower Books, $29.99

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon, Michael Lewis, W.W. Norton & Company, $30
2. The Creative Act: A Way of Being, Rick Rubin, Penguin Press, $32
3. Elon Musk, Walter Isaacson, Simon & Schuster, $35
4. Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America, Heather Cox Richardson, Viking, $30
5. Enough, Cassidy Hutchinson, Simon & Schuster, $30

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

1. Trust, Hernan Diaz, Riverhead Books, $17
2. The Midnight Library, Matt Haig, Penguin Books, $18
3. A Little Life, Hanya Yanagihara, Anchor, $18
4. Babel, R.F. Kuang, Harper Voyager, $20
5. The Passenger, Cormac McCarthy, Vintage, $18. Read the Alta review.
   

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

1. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, David Grann, Vintage, $17
2. Crying in H Mart: A Memoir, Michelle Zauner, Vintage, $17
3. Stay True: A Memoir, Hua Hsu, Anchor, $17. Read Alta’s coverage here.
4. The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, Don Miguel Ruiz and Janet Mills, Amber-Allen Publishing, $12.95
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 Iliad, Homer, Emily Wilson (translator), W.W. Norton & Company, $39.95
4. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, James McBride, Riverhead Books, $28
5. Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus, Doubleday, $29

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon, Michael Lewis, W.W. Norton & Company, $30
2. Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America, Heather Cox Richardson, Viking, $30
3. Elon Musk, Walter Isaacson, Simon & Schuster, $35
4. The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder, David Grann, Doubleday, $30
5. The Creative Act: A Way of Being, Rick Rubin, Penguin Press, $32

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

1. Trust, Hernan Diaz, Riverhead Books, $17
2. The Passenger, Cormac McCarthy, Vintage, $18. Read the Alta review.
3. The Midnight Library, Matt Haig, Penguin Books, $18
4. The Best Short Stories 2023: The O. Henry Prize Winners, Lauren Groff (editor), Anchor, $18
5. Mad Honey, Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan, Ballantine, $18

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

1. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, David Grann, Vintage, $17
2. Solito: A Memoir, Javier Zamora, Hogarth, $18
3. Crying in H Mart: A Memoir, Michelle Zauner, Vintage, $17
4. Stay True: A Memoir, Hua Hsu, Anchor, $17. Read Alta’s coverage here.
5. Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions, $17.99

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.