With reporting from the California Independent Booksellers Alliance, Alta Journal highlights the bestselling books at independent bookstores across Northern and Southern California for the week ending April 12, 2026. This list includes bestselling fiction, nonfiction, and new releases, offering a snapshot of current book trends, popular authors, and must-read titles across California’s literary scene.
If you’re heading to the L.A. Times Festival of Books this weekend (we’ll be there too), keep an eye out for these two novels portraying women whose lives take uncanny turns. In Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke, social media personality Natalie Heller Mills lies to her followers about the comfort and ease of her lifestyle—until she wakes up trapped in the very life she’s been faking. In Emma Straub’s American Fantasy, a woman joins a four-day cruise ship voyage to see a famous 1990s boy band perform, and finds herself reconnecting with her younger self.
For a full list of titles and categories, visit the California Independent Booksellers Alliance.•
Southern California
HARDCOVER FICTION
- The Correspondent, Virginia Evans, Crown, $28
- Yesteryear, Caro Claire Burke, Alfred A. Knopf, $30
- American Fantasy, Emma Straub, Riverhead Books, $30
- The Keeper, Tana French, Viking, $32
- Heart the Lover, Lily King, Grove Press, $28
HARDCOVER NONFICTION
- London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth, Patrick Radden Keefe, Doubleday, $35
- A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness, Michael Pollan, Penguin Press, $32
- Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage, Belle Burden, the Dial Press, $30
- Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery, Gavin Newsom, Penguin Press, $30. Read the Alta review.
- Lessons from Cats for Surviving Fascism, Stewart “Brittlestar” Reynolds, Grand Central Publishing, $13
TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION
- Project Hail Mary (movie tie-in), Andy Weir, Ballantine Books, $22
- Theo of Golden, Allen Levi, Atria Books, $20
- Dungeon Crawler Carl, Matt Dinniman, Ace, $20
- Remarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby Van Pelt, Ecco, $19.99
- I Who Have Never Known Men, Jacqueline Harpman and Ros Schwartz (translator), Transit Books, $16.95
TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION
- The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War, Erik Larson, Crown, $22
- Raising Hare: A Memoir, Chloe Dalton, Vintage, $21
- The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession, Michael Finkel, Vintage, $18
- Everything Now: Lessons from the City-State of Los Angeles, Rosecrans Baldwin, Picador, $19. Read the Alta review.
- When the Going Was Good: An Editor's Adventures During the Last Golden Age of Magazines, Graydon Carter, Penguin Books, $22. Read the Alta feature.
Northern California
HARDCOVER FICTION
- The Correspondent, Virginia Evans, Crown, $28
- Yesteryear, Caro Claire Burke, Alfred A. Knopf, $30
- The Keeper, Tana French, Viking, $32
- Transcription, Ben Lerner, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $25
- Kin, Tayari Jones, Alfred A. Knopf, $32
HARDCOVER NONFICTION
- London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth, Patrick Radden Keefe, Doubleday, $35
- A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness, Michael Pollan, Penguin Press, $32
- Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage, Belle Burden, the Dial Press, $30
- Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery, Gavin Newsom, Penguin Press, $30. Read the Alta review.
- How to Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay: Tips and Tricks That Kept Me Alive, Happy, and Creative in Spite of Myself, Jenny Lawson, Penguin Life, $29
TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION
- Project Hail Mary (movie tie-in), Andy Weir, Ballantine Books, $22
- Theo of Golden, Allen Levi, Atria Books, $20
- Dungeon Crawler Carl, Matt Dinniman, Ace, $20
- Remarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby Van Pelt, Ecco, $19.99
- The God of the Woods, Liz Moore, Riverhead Books, $19
TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION
- Raising Hare: A Memoir, Chloe Dalton, Vintage, $21
- The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War, Erik Larson, Crown, $22
- The Beginning Comes After the End: Notes on a World of Change, Rebecca Solnit, Haymarket Books, $16.95. Watch the California Book Club event with the author.
- A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon, Kevin Fedarko, Scribner, $22
- The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, Bessel van der Kolk, MD, Penguin Books, $19
Source: California Independent Booksellers Alliance
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.
