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 May 10, 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.
This week, the bestsellers list features two new nonfiction titles. From Jibz Cameron, a queer performance artist who uses the stage name Dynasty Handbag, comes Hell in a Handbag: a memoir that touches on her Northern California upbringing and New York theater experience. The book also addresses her struggles with depression and experiences of misogyny. In turn, Sophie Gilbert’s Girl on Girl analyzes why riot grrrl feminism collapsed, focusing on the late 1990s and early 2000s’ wave of sexualization and objectification.
For a full list of titles and categories, visit the California Independent Booksellers Alliance.•
Southern California
HARDCOVER FICTION
- Yesteryear, Caro Claire Burke, Alfred A. Knopf, $30
- The Things We Never Say, Elizabeth Strout, Random House, $29
- The Correspondent, Virginia Evans, Crown, $28
- The Calamity Club, Kathryn Stockett, Spiegel & Grau, $35
- John of John, Douglas Stuart, Grove Press, $28
HARDCOVER NONFICTION
- Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage, Belle Burden, the Dial Press, $30
- Famesick: A Memoir, Lena Dunham, Random House, $32
- Make Believe: On Telling Stories to Children, Mac Barnett, Little, Brown and Company, $20
- 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
TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION
- Theo of Golden, Allen Levi, Atria Books, $20
- Project Hail Mary (movie tie-in), Andy Weir, Ballantine Books, $22
- Remarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby Van Pelt, Ecco, $19.99
- Dungeon Crawler Carl, Matt Dinniman, Ace, $20
- The Lion Women of Tehran, Marjan Kamali, Gallery Books, $18.99
TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION
- Turning to Birds: The Power and Beauty of Noticing, Lili Taylor, Crown, $20
- Hell in a Handbag, Jibz Cameron, Dopamine/Semiotext(e), $17.95
- Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves, Sophie Gilbert, Penguin Books, $20
- All About Love: New Visions, bell hooks, William Morrow, $16.99
- Be Ready When the Luck Happens: A Memoir, Ina Garten, Crown, $22
Northern California
HARDCOVER FICTION
- Yesteryear, Caro Claire Burke, Alfred A. Knopf, $30
- The Correspondent, Virginia Evans, Crown, $28
- Platform Decay, Martha Wells, Tor Books, $24.99
- John of John, Douglas Stuart, Grove Press, $28
- The Things We Never Say, Elizabeth Strout, Random House, $29
HARDCOVER NONFICTION
- Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage, Belle Burden, the Dial Press, $30
- 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
- Make Believe: On Telling Stories to Children, Mac Barnett, Little, Brown and Company, $20
- Famesick: A Memoir, Lena Dunham, Random House, $32
TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION
- Theo of Golden, Allen Levi, Atria Books, $20
- Project Hail Mary (movie tie-in), Andy Weir, Ballantine Books, $22
- Remarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby Van Pelt, Ecco, $19.99
- Dungeon Crawler Carl, Matt Dinniman, Ace, $20
- James, Percival Everett, Vintage, $20. Read Alta’s feature on the book and the author.
TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION
- Raising Hare: A Memoir, Chloe Dalton, Vintage, $21
- Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions, $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.
- The Backyard Bird Chronicles, Amy Tan, Alfred A. Knopf, $36. Read a recap of the California Book Club event.
- Turning to Birds: The Power and Beauty of Noticing, Lili Taylor, Crown, $20
Source: California Independent Booksellers Alliance
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.
