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 June 7, 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.
Add these two fiction titles to your summer reading list. In Whistler, by author Ann Patchett, Daphne Fuller comes face-to-face with her former stepfather after decades of no contact. This time, however, they’re determined to stay in touch. In Land, author Maggie O’Farrell transports readers to 1865, when father-and-son-duo Tomás and Liam are tasked with mapping Ireland. But after Tomás experiences a life-changing event, it’s up to 10-year-old Liam to finish the task.
For a full list of titles and categories, visit the California Independent Booksellers Alliance.•
Southern California
HARDCOVER FICTION
- Whistler, Ann Patchett, Harper, $30
- Yesteryear, Caro Claire Burke, Alfred A. Knopf, $30
- Land, Maggie O’Farrell, Alfred A. Knopf, $32
- The Midnight Train, Matt Haig, Viking, $30
- The Things We Never Say, Elizabeth Strout, Random House, $29
HARDCOVER NONFICTION
- Famesick: A Memoir, Lena Dunham, Random House, $32
- The Land and Its People: Essays, David Sedaris, Little, Brown and Company, $30
- 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
TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION
- Project Hail Mary (movie tie-in), Andy Weir, Ballantine Books, $22
- Dungeon Crawler Carl, Matt Dinniman, Ace, $20
- Theo of Golden, Allen Levi, Atria Books, $20
- I Who Have Never Known Men, Jacqueline Harpman and Ros Schwartz (translator), Transit Books, $16.95
- Remarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby Van Pelt, Ecco, $19.99
TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION
- Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, Anthony Bourdain, Ecco, $18.99
- Rewrite the Program: How to Stop Conforming, Start Exploring, and Find Fulfillment, Eli Bowman, Storybuilders Press, $18.99
- All About Love: New Visions, bell hooks, William Morrow, $16.99
- Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI, Karen Hao, Penguin Books, $20
- The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, Julia Cameron, TarcherPerigee, $24. Read Alta’s feature on the book and the author.
Northern California
HARDCOVER FICTION
- Whistler, Ann Patchett, Harper, $30
- Yesteryear, Caro Claire Burke, Alfred A. Knopf, $30
- Land, Maggie O’Farrell, Alfred A. Knopf, $32
- The Correspondent, Virginia Evans, Crown, $28
- The Midnight Train, Matt Haig, Viking, $30
HARDCOVER NONFICTION
- The Land and Its People: Essays, David Sedaris, Little, Brown and Company, $30
- Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage, Belle Burden, the Dial Press, $30
- All We Say: The Battle for American Identity: A History in 15 Speeches, Ben Rhodes, Random House, $35
- London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth, Patrick Radden Keefe, Doubleday, $35
- 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
- Dungeon Crawler Carl, Matt Dinniman, Ace, $20
- Remarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby Van Pelt, Ecco, $19.99
- James, Percival Everett, Vintage, $20. Read Alta’s feature on the book and the author.
TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION
- Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI, Karen Hao, Penguin Books, $20
- Raising Hare: A Memoir, Chloe Dalton, Vintage, $21
- The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate—Discoveries from a Secret World, Peter Wohlleben and Jane Billinghurst (translator), Greystone Books, $18.95
- Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions, $22
- On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, Timothy Snyder, Crown, $12
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.
