Alta Journal ’s California Bestsellers List (May 1, 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 27, 2025.

Check out two standout nonfiction titles this week. First is Notes to John, by Joan Didion, a posthumous release of Didion’s therapy notes to her husband. Fans of Didion will discover more of the author’s raw and intimate thoughts during one of the most difficult periods of her life—“a rough few years,” as Didion puts it. Sociopath, by Patric Gagne, which was recently released in paperback, also delves deep into the complexities of human emotion. Growing up, Gagne experiences difficulty connecting with others and regulating emotions. Finally, in adulthood, she’s diagnosed as a sociopath. Despite the diagnosis, this memoir shares just how much emotion Gagne is able to feel.

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

Southern California

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. Great Big Beautiful Life, Emily Henry, Berkley, $29
2. James, Percival Everett, Doubleday, $28. Read an excerpt in Alta.
3. Wild Dark Shore, Charlotte McConaghy, Flatiron Books, $28.99
4. Audition, Katie Kitamura, Riverhead Books, $28
5. The God of the Woods, Liz Moore, Riverhead Books, $30

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. Notes to John, Joan Didion, Knopf, $32. Read Alta’s review.
2. Abundance, Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, Avid Reader Press, $30
3. 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
4. Fahrenheit-182: A Memoir, Mark Hoppus with Dan Ozzi, Dey Street Books, $32.50
5. The Creative Act: A Way of Being, Rick Rubin, Penguin Press, $32

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

1. Martyr!, Kaveh Akbar, Vintage, $18. Watch the author speak at a California Book Club event.
2. The Frozen River, Ariel Lawhon, Vintage, $18
3. Orbital, Samantha Harvey, Grove Press, $17
4. Table for Two: Fictions, Amor Towles, Penguin Books, $19
5. The Handmaid’s Tale (series tie-in), Margaret Atwood, Anchor, $18

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. Sociopath: A Memoir, Patric Gagne, PhD, Simon & Schuster, $19.99
4. All About Love: New Visions, bell hooks, William Morrow, $16.99
5. Grief Is for People, Sloane Crosley, Picador, $18

Northern California

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. Great Big Beautiful Life, Emily Henry, Berkley, $29
2. James, Percival Everett, Doubleday, $28. Read an excerpt in Alta.
3. The God of the Woods, Liz Moore, Riverhead Books, $30
4. Audition, Katie Kitamura, Riverhead Books, $28
5. Say You’ll Remember Me, Abby Jimenez, Forever, $28

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. Abundance, Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, Avid Reader Press, $30
2. Notes to John, Joan Didion, Knopf, $32. Read Alta’s review.
3. 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
4. Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism, Sarah Wynn-Williams, Flatiron Books, $32.99
5. Who Is Government? The Untold Story of Public Service, Michael Lewis, Riverhead Books, $30

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

1. The Ministry of Time, Kaliane Bradley, Avid Reader Press, $18.99
2. The Paris Novel, Ruth Reichl, Random House Trade Paperbacks, $19
3. Martyr!, Kaveh Akbar, Vintage, $18. Watch the author speak at a California Book Club event.
4. Table for Two: Fictions, Amor Towles, Penguin Books, $19
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 Backyard Bird Chronicles, Amy Tan, Knopf, $36. Register for the California Book Club event.
3. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions, $22
4. The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder, David Grann, Vintage, $21
5. The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession, Michael Finkel, Vintage, $18

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.