Alta Journal ’s California Bestsellers List (April 24, 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 April 20, 2025.

This Independent Bookstore Day, April 26, pick up one of these standout new releases: If you’re in the mood for a thriller, grab Strangers in Time, by David Baldacci. Set in 1944, the story follows two orphans, Charlie and Molly, who find comfort in a London bookshop run by the mysterious Ignatius Oliver. When Charlie’s past resurfaces, Molly’s stalker comes forward, and Ignatius’s long-buried secrets come to light—the plot unravels into a gripping mystery set against the backdrop of World War II. Prefer nonfiction? Don’t miss Fahrenheit-182, a new memoir by Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus. From his early days immersed in the cultures of punk rock, skateboarding, and MTV to his celebrated career and battle with cancer, Hoppus offers a heartfelt look at his life.

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. Audition, Katie Kitamura, Riverhead Books, $28
3. The Wedding People, Alison Espach, Henry Holt and Company, $28.99
4. All Fours, Miranda July, Riverhead Books, $29. Read the Alta review.
5. Strangers in Time, David Baldacci, Grand Central Publishing, $30

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. The Let Them Theory: A Life-Changing Tool That Millions of People Can’t Stop Talking About, Mel Robbins and Sawyer Robbins, Hay House, $29.99
2. Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection (signed edition), John Green, Crash Course Books, $28
3. Fahrenheit-182: A Memoir, Mark Hoppus with Dan Ozzi, Dey Street Books, $32.50
4. Abundance, Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, Avid Reader Press, $30
5. One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, Omar El Akkad, Knopf, $28

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

1. Martyr!, Kaveh Akbar, Vintage, $18. Watch the author speak at a California Book Club event.
2. Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver, Harper Perennial, $21.99
3. Orbital, Samantha Harvey, Grove Press, $17
4. North Woods, Daniel Mason, Random House Trade Paperbacks, $18. Read the Alta review.
5. The Ministry of Time, Kaliane Bradley, Avid Reader Press, $18.99

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

1. On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, Timothy Snyder, Crown, $12
2. The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, Julia Cameron, TarcherPerigee, $20
3. The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession, Michael Finkel, Vintage, $18
4. The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder, David Grann, Vintage, $21
5. All About Love: New Visions, bell hooks, William Morrow, $16.99

Northern California

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. James, Percival Everett, Doubleday, $28. Read an excerpt in Alta.
2. Dream Count, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Knopf, $32
3. The Wedding People, Alison Espach, Henry Holt and Company, $28.99
4. Say You’ll Remember Me, Abby Jimenez, Forever, $28
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 and Sawyer Robbins, Hay House, $29.99
2. Abundance, Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, Avid Reader Press, $30
3. Who Is Government? The Untold Story of Public Service, Michael Lewis, Riverhead Books, $30
4. Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism, Sarah Wynn-Williams, Flatiron Books, $32.99
5. The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World, Robin Wall Kimmerer and John Burgoyne (illustrator), Scribner, $20

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

1. Martyr!, Kaveh Akbar, Vintage, $18. Watch the author speak at a California Book Club event.
2. The Ministry of Time, Kaliane Bradley, Avid Reader Press, $18.99
3. Table for Two: Fictions, Amor Towles, Penguin Books, $19
4. Orbital, Samantha Harvey, Grove Press, $17
5. Tom Lake, Ann Patchett, Harper Perennial, $19

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 Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession, Michael Finkel, Vintage, $18
4. The Backyard Bird Chronicles, Amy Tan, Knopf, $35
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.