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 May 5, 2024.
This week brings two new novels just in time for summer. The Paris Novel, by former Los Angeles Times food critic Ruth Reichl, captures the food and art scenes of Paris in the 1980s. The book follows Stella St. Vincent on her trip to the city as she quickly becomes a well-connected Parisian, rubbing elbows with Allen Ginsberg and other notable personalities. And the author of Beach Read and Happy Place, Emily Henry, brings us back to the present in Funny Story. When Daphne’s fiancé, Peter, calls off the wedding, she’s forced to move in with Miles, Peter’s new fiancée’s ex. Feelings (inevitably) develop. Witty banter and descriptions of small-town charm make this a perfect summer read.
For a full list of titles and categories, visit the California Independent Booksellers Alliance.•
Southern California
HARDCOVER FICTION
- Table for Two: Fictions, Amor Towles, Viking, $32
- The Women, Kristin Hannah, St. Martin’s Press, $30
- Funny Story, Emily Henry, Berkley, $29
- James, Percival Everett, Doubleday, $28. Read an excerpt in Alta.
- The Paris Novel, Ruth Reichl, Random House, $29
HARDCOVER NONFICTION
- The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War, Erik Larson, Crown, $35
- Somehow: Thoughts on Love, Anne Lamott, Riverhead Books, $22
- Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder, Salman Rushdie, Random House, $28
- An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Simon & Schuster, $35
- The Creative Act: A Way of Being, Rick Rubin, Penguin Press, $32
TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION
- A Court of Thorns and Roses, Sarah J. Maas, Bloomsbury Publishing, $19
- Dune, Frank Herbert, Ace Books, $18
- The Midnight Library, Matt Haig, Penguin Books, $18
- Happy Place, Emily Henry, Berkley Books, $19
- Pineapple Street, Jenny Jackson, Penguin, $18
TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION
- The Backyard Bird Chronicles, Amy Tan, Knopf, $35
- The Eater Guide to Los Angeles, Eater, Abrams Image, $19.99
- Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions, $20
- Crying in H Mart: A Memoir, Michelle Zauner, Vintage, $17
- Poverty, by America, Matthew Desmond, Crown, $20
Northern California
HARDCOVER FICTION
- Table for Two: Fictions, Amor Towles, Viking, $32
- James, Percival Everett, Doubleday, $28. Read an excerpt in Alta.
- The Women, Kristin Hannah, St. Martin’s Press, $30
- Funny Story, Emily Henry, Berkley, $29
- The Paris Novel, Ruth Reichl, Random House, $29
HARDCOVER NONFICTION
- The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War, Erik Larson, Crown, $35
- Somehow: Thoughts on Love, Anne Lamott, Riverhead Books, $22
- Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder, Salman Rushdie, Random House, $28
- An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Simon & Schuster, $35
- The Creative Act: A Way of Being, Rick Rubin, Penguin Press, $32
TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION
- A Court of Thorns and Roses, Sarah J. Maas, Bloomsbury Publishing, $19
- The Three-Body Problem, Cixin Liu, Tor Books, $18.99
- A Court of Mist and Fury, Sarah J. Maas, Bloomsbury Publishing, $19
- Dune, Frank Herbert, Ace Books, $18
- Happy Place, Emily Henry, Berkley Books, $19
TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION
- The Backyard Bird Chronicles, Amy Tan, Knopf, $35
- Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions, $20
- The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017, Rashid Khalidi, Metropolitan Books, $19.99
- All About Love: New Visions, bell hooks, William Morrow, $16.99
- Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI (movie tie-in edition), David Grann, Vintage, $18
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.
