Alta Journal’s California Bestsellers List (February 27, 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 23, 2025.

These two books have captured readers’ attention, earning spots on the bestsellers list: First up is a thoroughly researched dive into California’s history. Golden State: The Making of California, by Michael Hiltzik, is a must-read for history buffs, California lovers, and anyone curious about the state’s evolution. This 448-page book explores everything from the Spanish incursions to the rise of Big Tech, offering a bird’s-eye view of the forces that have shaped California. For a lighter read, The Wedding People, by Alison Espach, delivers a captivating story set in Newport, Rhode Island. Two strangers—one about to be married, the other a lone guest at an inn—form a bond that may unravel both their lives.

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. The God of the Woods, Liz Moore, Riverhead Books, $30
3. All Fours, Miranda July, Riverhead Books, $29. Read the Alta review.
4. Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan, Grove Press, $20
5. The Wedding People, Alison Espach, Henry Holt and Co., $28.99

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. Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live, Susan Morrison, Random House, $36
3. Memorial Days: A Memoir, Geraldine Brooks, Viking, $28
4. How We Learn to Be Brave: Decisive Moments in Life and Faith, Mariann Edgar Budde, Avery, $28
5. Golden State: The Making of California, Michael Hiltzik, Mariner Books, $32.50

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

1. Deep End, Ali Hazelwood, Berkley, $20
2. Orbital, Samantha Harvey, Grove Press, $17
3. Martyr!, Kaveh Akbar, Vintage, $18. Watch the author speak at a California Book Club event.
4. The Handmaid’s Tale (series tie-in), Margaret Atwood, Anchor, $18
5. Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros, Red Tower Books, $20.99

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

1. The Backyard Bird Chronicles, Amy Tan, Knopf, $35
2. All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me, Patrick Bringley, Simon & Schuster, $18.99
3. The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, Julia Cameron, TarcherPerigee, $20
4. All About Love: New Visions, bell hooks, William Morrow, $16.99
5. Slouching Towards Bethlehem: Essays, Joan Didion, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $18

Northern 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. Three Days in June, Anne Tyler, Knopf, $27
4. Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan, Grove Press, $20
5. All Fours, Miranda July, Riverhead Books, $29. Read the Alta review.

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 Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World, Robin Wall Kimmerer and John Burgoyne (illustrator), Scribner, $20
3. Golden State: The Making of California, Michael Hiltzik, Mariner Books, $32.50
4. The Sirens’ Call: How Attention Became the World’s Most Endangered Resource, Chris Hayes, Penguin Press, $32
5. How We Learn to Be Brave: Decisive Moments in Life and Faith, Mariann Edgar Budde, Avery, $28

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
5. The Frozen River, Ariel Lawhon, Vintage, $18

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

1. The Backyard Bird Chronicles, Amy Tan, Knopf, $35
2. On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, Timothy Snyder, Crown, $12
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 associate editor at Alta Journal. A graduate of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, she has previously written for the Poly Post and Enspire Magazine.