Alta Journal’s California Bestsellers List (September 26, 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 September 22, 2024.

Two gripping novels hit the bestsellers list just in time for the spookiest month of the year. The premise of We Solve Murders, by Richard Osman, may seem like that of a generic mystery novel: Several murders take place, and two detectives are tasked with solving the case. But Osman adds humor, a quirky cast of characters, and brainteasers to make it a refreshing whodunit. Another mystery unfolds in The Life Impossible, by Matt Haig, when Grace Winters, a retired math teacher, inherits a house in Ibiza from a long-lost friend. As Grace searches for answers about her friend’s untimely death, she is forced to confront her own troubled past.

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

Southern California

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. We Solve Murders, Richard Osman, Pamela Dorman Books, $30
2. The Life Impossible, Matt Haig, Viking, $30
3. Tell Me Everything, Elizabeth Strout, Random House, $30
4. The God of the Woods, Liz Moore, Riverhead Books, $30
5. Creation Lake, Rachel Kushner, Scribner, $29.99. Read the Alta review.

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI, Yuval Noah Harari, Random House, $35
2. Something Lost, Something Gained: Reflections on Life, Love, and Liberty, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Simon & Schuster, $29.99
3. Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success, Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig, Penguin Press, $35
4. Want, Anonymous and Gillian Anderson (editor), Abrams Press, $28
5. The Creative Act: A Way of Being, Rick Rubin, Penguin Press, $32

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

1. Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver, Harper Perennial, $21.99
2. Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros, Red Tower Books, $20.99
3. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin, Vintage, $19
4. My Brilliant Friend (HBO tie-in edition), Elena Ferrante and Ann Goldstein (translator), Europa Editions, $17. Read more about the HBO series in Alta.
5. The Bee Sting, Paul Murray, Picador, $20

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

1. The Backyard Bird Chronicles, Amy Tan, Knopf, $35
2. The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession, Michael Finkel, Vintage, $18
3. The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017, Rashid Khalidi, Metropolitan Books, $19.99
4. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, Bessel van der Kolk, MD, Penguin Books, $19
5. Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World, Naomi Klein, Picador, $20

Northern California

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. Creation Lake, Rachel Kushner, Scribner, $29.99. Read the Alta review.
2. Tell Me Everything, Elizabeth Strout, Random House, $30
3. We Solve Murders, Richard Osman, Pamela Dorman Books, $30
4. James, Percival Everett, Doubleday, $28. Read an excerpt in Alta.
5. The Life Impossible, Matt Haig, Viking, $30

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI, Yuval Noah Harari, Random House, $35
2. On Freedom, Timothy Snyder, Crown, $32
3. Something Lost, Something Gained: Reflections on Life, Love, and Liberty, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Simon & Schuster, $29.99
4. The Art of Power: My Story As America’s First Woman Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, Simon & Schuster, $30
5. Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success, Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig, Penguin Press, $35

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

1. Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver, Harper Perennial, $21.99
2. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin, Vintage, $19
3. My Brilliant Friend (HBO tie-in edition), Elena Ferrante and Ann Goldstein (translator), Europa Editions, $17. Read more about the HBO series in Alta.
4. The Bee Sting, Paul Murray, Picador, $20
5. A Court of Thorns and Roses, Sarah J. Maas, Bloomsbury Publishing, $19

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

1. The Backyard Bird Chronicles, Amy Tan, Knopf, $35
2. The Truths We Hold: An American Journey, Kamala Harris, Penguin, $20
3. The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession, Michael Finkel, Vintage, $18
4. Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World, Naomi Klein, Picador, $20
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 assistant editor at Alta Journal. A graduate of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, she has previously written for the Poly Post and Enspire Magazine.