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 21, 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, consider these two novels about women embarking on transformative journeys. In Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke, social media influencer Natalie Heller Mills has built a platform to share her traditional lifestyle—but it’s all fake. When Mills wakes up one morning actually living in the 1850s, she has to find a way to break out. In Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid, physics professor-turned-astronaut Joan Goodwin becomes part of a small team of talented people who will travel to space on mission STS-LR9. As Goodwin prepares for takeoff, she battles sexism and stereotypes that rattle her beliefs.
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 Correspondent, Virginia Evans, Crown, $28
- Daughters of the Sun and Moon, Lisa See, Scribner, $29. See it on Alta’s list of new releases for June.
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
- 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
- One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, Omar El Akkad, Alfred A. Knopf, $28
TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION
- Theo of Golden, Allen Levi, Atria Books, $20
- Angel Down, Daniel Kraus, Atria Books, $18
- Dungeon Crawler Carl, Matt Dinniman, Ace, $20
- Project Hail Mary (movie tie-in), Andy Weir, Ballantine Books, $22
- Atmosphere, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Ballantine Books, $20
TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION
- Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI, Karen Hao, Penguin Books, $20
- All About Love: New Visions, bell hooks, William Morrow, $17.99
- The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession, Michael Finkel, Vintage, $18
- Things in Nature Merely Grow, Yiyun Li, Picador, $18
- 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
- The Correspondent, Virginia Evans, Crown, $28
- Land, Maggie O’Farrell, Alfred A. Knopf, $32
- Villa Coco, Andrew Sean Greer, Doubleday, $30. See it on Alta’s list of new releases for June.
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
- 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
- One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, Omar El Akkad, Alfred A. Knopf, $28
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
- Angel Down, Daniel Kraus, Atria Books, $18
- Atmosphere, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Ballantine Books, $20
TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION
- Raising Hare: A Memoir, Chloe Dalton, Vintage, $21
- Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI, Karen Hao, Penguin Books, $20
- Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions, $22
- Is a River Alive?, Robert Macfarlane, W. W. Norton & Company, $19
- All About Love: New Visions, bell hooks, William Morrow, $17.99
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.
