Alta Journal’s California Bestsellers List for 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 2023.

The past year brought tons of captivating stories from authors across all genres and backgrounds. We read debut writers and celebrity authors, memoirs and all types of fiction, but our favorites were those from the literary landscape of our home state. On 2023’s bestsellers list, you will find Los Angeles–based writer Ann Patchett’s Tom Lake, a mother-daughter story about love and loss; The Covenant of Water, a tale spanning three generations, by Palo Alto’s Abraham Verghese; Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, a novel about video game design, by Southern California’s Gabrielle Zevin; and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, set in the heart of Hollywood, by TikTok-famous Angeleno Taylor Jenkins Reid.

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

Southern California

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus, Doubleday, $29
2. Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver, Harper, $32.50
3. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin, Knopf, $28
4. Tom Lake, Ann Patchett, Harper, $30
5. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, James McBride, Riverhead Books, $28

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. The Creative Act: A Way of Being, Rick Rubin, Penguin Press, $32
2. The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder, David Grann, Doubleday, $30
3. I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette McCurdy, Simon & Schuster, $27.99
4. Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones, James Clear, Avery, $27
5. Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity, Peter Attia, MD, with Bill Gifford, Harmony, $32

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

1. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Washington Square Press, $17
2. Trust, Hernan Diaz, Riverhead Books, $17
3. The Thursday Murder Club, Richard Osman, Penguin Books, $18
4. Circe, Madeline Miller, Back Bay Books, $16.99
5. A Court of Thorns and Roses, Sarah J. Maas, Bloomsbury Publishing, $19

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

1. All About Love: New Visions, bell hooks, William Morrow, $16.99
2. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions, $20
3. Crying in H Mart: A Memoir, Michelle Zauner, Vintage, $17
4. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, Bessel van der Kolk, MD, Penguin Books, $19
5. The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, Don Miguel Ruiz and Janet Mills, Amber-Allen Publishing, $12.95

Northern California

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver, Harper, $32.50
2. Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus, Doubleday, $29
3. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin, Knopf, $28
4. The Covenant of Water, Abraham Verghese, Grove Press, $32
5. Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros, Red Tower Books, $29.99

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. The Creative Act: A Way of Being, Rick Rubin, Penguin Press, $32
2. Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones, James Clear, Avery, $27
3. The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder, David Grann, Doubleday, $30
4. I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette McCurdy, Simon & Schuster, $27.99
5. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, Charlie Mackesy, HarperOne, $22.99

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

1. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Washington Square Press, $17
2. A Court of Thorns and Roses, Sarah J. Maas, Bloomsbury Publishing, $19
3. The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller, Ecco Press, $17.99
4. Trust, Hernan Diaz, Riverhead Books, $17
5. The Midnight Library, Matt Haig, Penguin Books, $18

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

1. All About Love: New Visions, bell hooks, William Morrow, $16.99
2. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions, $20
3. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, Bessel van der Kolk, MD, Penguin Books, $19
4. Crying in H Mart: A Memoir, Michelle Zauner, Vintage, $17
5. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, David Grann, Vintage, $18

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.