Alta Journal ’s California Bestsellers List (March 13, 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 March 9, 2025.

Two new books explore the female experience from vastly different angles. In her new novel, Dream Count, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie introduces readers to four women, each navigating her own unique yet entangled life. And in Eve, Washington State author Cat Bohannon takes a scientific approach to her nonfiction book. The heavily researched title explains how the female body evolved over millions of years and challenges male-centered narratives of evolution.

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. Dream Count, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Knopf, $32
3. The God of the Woods, Liz Moore, Riverhead Books, $30
4. The Women, Kristin Hannah, St. Martin’s Press, $30
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. How We Learn to Be Brave: Decisive Moments in Life and Faith, Mariann Edgar Budde, Avery, $28
3. On the Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Kathmandu and the Making of a Travel Writer, Rick Steves, $30
4. The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World, Robin Wall Kimmerer and John Burgoyne (illustrator), Scribner, $20
5. Golden State: The Making of California, Michael Hiltzik, Mariner Books, $32.50

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. Parable of the Sower, Octavia E. Butler, Grand Central Publishing, $19.99. Read Lynell George’s reflection on the novel.
4. Funny Story, Emily Henry, Berkley, $19
5. Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros, Red Tower Books, $20.99

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

1. The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder, David Grann, Vintage, $21
2. On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, Timothy Snyder, Crown, $12
3. The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, Julia Cameron, TarcherPerigee, $20
4. The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession, Michael Finkel, Vintage, $18
5. The Backyard Bird Chronicles, Amy Tan, Knopf, $35

Northern California

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. James, Percival Everett, Doubleday, $28. Read an excerpt in Alta.
2. Dream Count, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Knopf, $32
3. Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan, Grove Press, $20
4. All Fours, Miranda July, Riverhead Books, $29. Read the Alta review.
5. The God of the Woods, Liz Moore, Riverhead Books, $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 Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World, Robin Wall Kimmerer and John Burgoyne (illustrator), Scribner, $20
3. One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, Omar El Akkad, Knopf, $28
4. The Creative Act: A Way of Being, Rick Rubin, Penguin Press, $32
5. Golden State: The Making of California, Michael Hiltzik, Mariner Books, $32.50

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

1. Martyr!, Kaveh Akbar, Vintage, $18. Watch the author speak at a California Book Club event.
2. Orbital, Samantha Harvey, Grove Press, $17
3. Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros, Red Tower Books, $20.99
4. The Frozen River, Ariel Lawhon, Vintage, $18
5. Parable of the Sower, Octavia E. Butler, Grand Central Publishing, $19.99. Read Lynell George’s reflection on the novel.

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

1. On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, Timothy Snyder, Crown, $12
2. The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder, David Grann, Vintage, $21
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. Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution, Cat Bohannon, Vintage, $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.