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 28, 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’s bestsellers list features two authors with close ties to Alta Journal. In Too L.A., Lili Anolik anthologized a collection of letters by Los Angeles writer Eve Babitz. Discovered by Babitz’s sister Mirandi after the author’s death, these letters—some addressed to notable people including Joseph Heller and Annie Leibovitz—are contextualized through insightful context from Anolik. In The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI, author Cory Doctorow addresses the concept of reverse centaurs, or people forced by technology to overexert themselves, and points to ways that technology can serve us instead.

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

Southern California

HARDCOVER FICTION

books, southern california bestsellers, july 2 2026, hardcover fiction, whistler, yesteryear, the correspondent, the calamity club, daughters of the sun and moon.
Alta

  1. Whistler, Ann Patchett, Harper, $30
  2. Yesteryear, Caro Claire Burke, Alfred A. Knopf, $30
  3. The Correspondent, Virginia Evans, Crown, $28
  4. The Calamity Club, Kathryn Stockett, Spiegel & Grau, $35
  5. Daughters of the Sun and Moon, Lisa See, Scribner, $29. See it on Alta’s list of new releases for June.

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

books, southern california bestsellers, july 2 2026, hardcover nonfiction, regime change, famesick, strangers, david sedaris, london falling
Alta

  1. Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump, Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan, Simon & Schuster, $34
  2. Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage, Belle Burden, the Dial Press, $30
  3. The Land and Its People: Essays, David Sedaris, Little, Brown and Company, $30
  4. London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth, Patrick Radden Keefe, Doubleday, $35
  5. Famesick: A Memoir, Lena Dunham, Random House, $32

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

books, southern california bestsellers, july 2 2026, trade paperback fiction, theo of golden, atmosphere, dungeon crawler carl, taiwan travelogue, the odyssey.
Alta

  1. Theo of Golden, Allen Levi, Atria Books, $20
  2. Atmosphere, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Ballantine Books, $20
  3. Dungeon Crawler Carl, Matt Dinniman, Ace, $20
  4. Taiwan Travelogue, Shuang-zi Yang and Lin King (translator), Graywolf Press, $18
  5. The Odyssey, Homer and Emily Wilson (translator), Norton, $18.95

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

books, southern california bestsellers, july 2 2026, trade paperback nonfiction
Alta

  1. Too L.A.: Letters Never Sent (But Some Were), Eve Babitz and Lili Anolik (editor), New York Review Books, $18.95. Read Alta’s interview with Lili Anolik.
  2. Communion: The Female Search for Love, bell hooks, William Morrow Paperbacks, $17.99
  3. The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI: How to Think About Artificial Intelligence—Before It's Too Late, Cory Doctorow, MCD, $18. Watch the Alta event with the author.
  4. The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession, Michael Finkel, Vintage, $18
  5. It’s Only Drowning: A Memoir, David Litt, Gallery Books, $19

Northern California

HARDCOVER FICTION

books, northern california bestsellers, july 2 2026, hardcover fiction, whistler, yesteryear, land, the correspondent, the midnight train.
Alta

  1. Whistler, Ann Patchett, Harper, $30
  2. Yesteryear, Caro Claire Burke, Alfred A. Knopf, $30
  3. Land, Maggie O’Farrell, Alfred A. Knopf, $32
  4. The Correspondent, Virginia Evans, Crown, $28
  5. The Midnight Train, Matt Haig, Viking, $30

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

books, northern california bestsellers, july 2 2026, hardcover nonfiction
Alta

  1. Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump, Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan, Simon & Schuster, $34
  2. The Land and Its People: Essays, David Sedaris, Little, Brown and Company, $30
  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. A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness, Michael Pollan, Penguin Press, $32

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

books, northern california bestsellers, july 2 2026, trade paperback fiction
Alta

  1. Theo of Golden, Allen Levi, Atria Books, $20
  2. Project Hail Mary (movie tie-in), Andy Weir, Ballantine Books, $22
  3. Dungeon Crawler Carl, Matt Dinniman, Ace, $20
  4. Angel Down, Daniel Kraus, Atria Books, $18
  5. Atmosphere, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Ballantine Books, $20

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

books, northern california bestsellers, july 2 2026, trade paperback nonfiction
Alta

  1. Raising Hare: A Memoir, Chloe Dalton, Vintage, $21
  2. The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI: How to Think About Artificial Intelligence—Before It's Too Late, Cory Doctorow, MCD, $18. Watch the Alta event with the author.
  3. Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI, Karen Hao, Penguin Books, $20
  4. Too L.A.: Letters Never Sent (But Some Were), Eve Babitz and Lili Anolik (editor), New York Review Books, $18.95. Read Alta’s interview with Lili Anolik.
  5. All About Love: New Visions, bell hooks, William Morrow, $17.99

Source: California Independent Booksellers Alliance

Headshot of Elizabeth Casillas
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.