Alta Journal’s California Bestsellers List (February 6, 2025)

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 February 2, 2025.

This week’s list features two compelling new titles. First is Good Material, by Dolly Alderton, an unconventional love story that follows protagonist Andy as he tries to understand why his ex-girlfriend, Jen, fell out of love with him. Andy believes that if he can determine the reason, maybe he can fix things with Jen. Also featured is The Sirens’ Call, by Chris Hayes. In his analysis, Hayes explores how our attention has become a valuable resource for which companies compete. He examines the ways this attention economy affects our lives and offers a framework for how to take back control.

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

Southern California

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. James, Percival Everett, Doubleday, $28. Read an excerpt in Alta.
2. Onyx Storm (deluxe limited edition), Rebecca Yarros, Red Tower Books, $32.99
3. Onyx Storm (standard edition), Rebecca Yarros, Red Tower Books, $29.99
4. All Fours, Miranda July, Riverhead Books, $29. Read the Alta review.
5. Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, Grady Hendrix, Berkley, $30

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. The Let Them Theory: A Life-Changing Tool That Millions of People Can’t Stop Talking About, Mel Robbins, Hay House, $29.99
2. The Creative Act: A Way of Being, Rick Rubin, Penguin Press, $32
3. The Sirens’ Call: How Attention Became the World’s Most Endangered Resource, Chris Hayes, Penguin Press, $32
4. Aflame: Learning from Silence, Pico Iyer, Riverhead Books, $30. Read the Alta review.
5. The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World, Robin Wall Kimmerer and John Burgoyne (illustrator), Scribner, $20

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

1. Orbital, Samantha Harvey, Grove Press, $17
2. Martyr!, Kaveh Akbar, Vintage, $18. Watch the author speak at a California Book Club event.
3. Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros, Red Tower Books, $20.99
4. Good Material, Dolly Alderton, Vintage, $18
5. Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver, Harper Perennial, $21.99

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

1. All About Love: New Visions, bell hooks, William Morrow, $16.99
2. On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, Timothy Snyder, Crown, $12
3. The Backyard Bird Chronicles, Amy Tan, Knopf, $35
4. The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession, Michael Finkel, Vintage, $18
5. The Courage to Be Disliked: The Japanese Phenomenon That Shows You How to Change Your Life and Achieve Real Happiness, Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga, Atria Books, $18.99

Northern California

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. Onyx Storm (deluxe limited edition), Rebecca Yarros, Red Tower Books, $32.99
2. James, Percival Everett, Doubleday, $28. Read an excerpt in Alta.
3. Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan, Grove Press, $20
4. Iron Flame, Rebecca Yarros, Red Tower Books, $29.99
5. The God of the Woods, Liz Moore, Riverhead Books, $30

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World, Robin Wall Kimmerer and John Burgoyne (illustrator), Scribner, $20
2. The Let Them Theory: A Life-Changing Tool That Millions of People Can’t Stop Talking About, Mel Robbins, Hay House, $29.99
3. The Sirens’ Call: How Attention Became the World’s Most Endangered Resource, Chris Hayes, Penguin Press, $32
4. The Creative Act: A Way of Being, Rick Rubin, Penguin Press, $32
5. Aflame: Learning from Silence, Pico Iyer, Riverhead Books, $30. Read the Alta review.

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

1. Orbital, Samantha Harvey, Grove Press, $17
2. Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros, Red Tower Books, $20.99
3. Martyr!, Kaveh Akbar, Vintage, $18. Watch the author speak at a California Book Club event.
4. North Woods, Daniel Mason, Random House Trade Paperbacks, $18. Read the Alta review.
5. The Frozen River, Ariel Lawhon, Vintage, $18

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

1. On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, Timothy Snyder, Crown, $12
2. The Backyard Bird Chronicles, Amy Tan, Knopf, $35
3. The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession, Michael Finkel, Vintage, $18
4. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions, $20
5. All About Love: New Visions, bell hooks, William Morrow, $16.99

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.