Alta Journal ’s California Bestsellers List (April 23, 2026)

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 19, 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.

Check out these April releases to discover titles to add to your shelf. California Book Club author Ada Limón has spent decades writing poetry. In her latest book, Against Breaking, Limón reflects on how the art form binds all of us to one another and the natural world. For fiction-lovers, Maria Semple’s novel Go Gentle is a thrilling ride. Adora Hazzard, a woman who seemingly has everything, finds her life unraveling after a random encounter with an intriguing stranger. Soon Hazzard is forced to revisit a past she’s worked hard to forget.

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

Southern California

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. The Correspondent, Virginia Evans, Crown, $28
2. Yesteryear (indies introduce), Caro Claire Burke, Knopf, $30
3. Go Gentle, Maria Semple, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, $30
4. The Keeper, Tana French, Viking, $32
5. American Fantasy, Emma Straub, Riverhead Books, $30

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. Famesick: A Memoir, Lena Dunham, Random House, $32
2. Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage, Belle Burden, the Dial Press, $30
3. Start With Yourself: A New Vision for Work & Life, Emma Grede, Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster, $30
4. London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth, Patrick Radden Keefe, Doubleday, $35
5. A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness, Michael Pollan, Penguin Press, $32

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

1. Project Hail Mary (movie tie-in), Andy Weir, Ballantine Books, $22
2. Theo of Golden, Allen Levi, Atria Books, $20
3. Dungeon Crawler Carl, Matt Dinniman, Ace, $20
4. The God of the Woods, Liz Moore, Riverhead Books, $19
5. Martyr!, Kaveh Akbar, Vintage, $20. Watch the author speak at a California Book Club event.

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

1. Raising Hare: A Memoir, Chloe Dalton, Vintage, $21
2. The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession, Michael Finkel, Vintage, $18
3. 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.
4. A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon, Kevin Fedarko, Scribner, $22
5. I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette McCurdy, Simon and Schuster, $19.99

Northern California

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. The Correspondent, Virginia Evans, Crown, $28
2. Yesteryear (indies introduce), Caro Claire Burke, Knopf, $30
3. The Keeper, Tana French, Viking, $32
4. Go Gentle, Maria Semple, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, $30
5. Transcription, Ben Lerner, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $25

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. Famesick: A Memoir, Lena Dunham, Random House, $32
2. A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness, Michael Pollan, Penguin Press, $32
3. London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth, Patrick Radden Keefe, Doubleday, $35
4. Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage, Belle Burden, the Dial Press, $30
5. Against Breaking: On the Power of Poetry, Ada Limón, Scribner, $20. Watch the California Book Club event with the author.

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

1. Project Hail Mary (movie tie-in), Andy Weir, Ballantine Books, $22
2. Theo of Golden, Allen Levi, Atria Books, $20
3. Dungeon Crawler Carl, Matt Dinniman, Ace, $20
4. Remarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby Van Pelt, Ecco, $19.99
5. Fever Beach, Carl Hiaasen, Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, $19

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

1. Raising Hare: A Memoir, Chloe Dalton, Vintage, $21
2. 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.
3. A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon, Kevin Fedarko, Scribner, $22
4. The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War, Erik Larson, Crown, $22
5. The Backyard Bird Chronicles, Amy Tan, Knopf, $36. Read a recap of the California Book Club event.

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.