Alta Journal’s California Bestsellers List (February 1, 2024)

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 January 28, 2024.

This week, the bestsellers list features the recently published Martyr!, a novel by Kaveh Akbar. The book—recently reviewed in the Los Angeles Times by Alta contributor Mark Athitakis—follows Cyrus Shams, the son of Iranian immigrants, as he overcomes addiction and discovers new information about his ancestors. Another immigrant story featured on the list, The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, by James McBride, captures the rich history of a vibrant community. The discovery of a skeleton in Chicken Hill, a traditionally Black and Jewish neighborhood in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, prompts a flashback to earlier years. Following multiple characters, the novel exposes the lives of these former residents and sheds light on the identity of the skeleton.

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

Southern California

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, James McBride, Riverhead Books, $28
2. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin, Knopf, $28
3. Iron Flame, Rebecca Yarros, Red Tower Books, $29.99
4. North Woods, Daniel Mason, Random House, $28. Read the Alta review.
5. Tom Lake, Ann Patchett, Harper, $30

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. The Creative Act: A Way of Being, Rick Rubin, Penguin Press, $32
2. How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen, David Brooks, Random House, $30
3. Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones, James Clear, Avery, $27
4. Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning, Liz Cheney, Little, Brown, $32.50
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. A Little Life, Hanya Yanagihara, Anchor, $18
3. Horse, Geraldine Brooks, Penguin, $19
4. A Court of Wings and Ruin, Sarah J. Maas, Bloomsbury Publishing, $19
5. A Court of Thorns and Roses, Sarah J. Maas, Bloomsbury Publishing, $19

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

1. The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics (movie tie-in edition), Daniel James Brown, Penguin, $19
2. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI (movie tie-in edition), David Grann, Vintage, $18
3. The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity (30th anniversary edition), Julia Cameron, TarcherPerigee, $19
4. All About Love: New Visions, bell hooks, William Morrow, $16.99
5. Everything I Know About Love: A Memoir, Dolly Alderton, Harper Perennial, $18.99

Northern California

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, James McBride, Riverhead Books, $28
2. North Woods, Daniel Mason, Random House, $28. Read the Alta review.
3. Martyr!, Kaveh Akbar, Knopf, $28
4. Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver, Harper, $32.50
5. Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus, Doubleday, $29

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen, David Brooks, Random House, $30
2. The Creative Act: A Way of Being, Rick Rubin, Penguin Press, $32
3. The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder, David Grann, Doubleday, $30
4. Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning, Liz Cheney, Little, Brown, $32.50
5. Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity, Peter Attia, MD, with Bill Gifford, Harmony, $32

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

1. Horse, Geraldine Brooks, Penguin, $19
2. Trust, Hernan Diaz, Riverhead Books, $17
3. A Court of Thorns and Roses, Sarah J. Maas, Bloomsbury Publishing, $19
4. A Court of Mist and Fury, Sarah J. Maas, Bloomsbury Publishing, $19
5. A Little Life, Hanya Yanagihara, Anchor, $18

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

1. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI (movie tie-in edition), David Grann, Vintage, $18
2. All About Love: New Visions, bell hooks, William Morrow, $16.99
3. The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics (movie tie-in edition), Daniel James Brown, Penguin, $19
4. The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017, Rashid Khalidi, Picador, $19.99
5. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions, $20

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.