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 August 30, 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.

Round out your long weekend with these two fiction titles. Following her hit book Big Little Lies, author Liane Moriarty brings back her cast of characters in Big Little Truths. Madeline, Celeste, Jane, Renata, and Bonnie are together again, but instead of raising small children and navigating the perils of playdates, they’re now contending with high schoolers and a new set of challenges. Meanwhile, Life of M by Rachel Cusk centers on M, a fabulous movie star who captivates those around her—including an unnamed writer, who begins following her to try to understand the person beneath the glam.

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

Southern California

HARDCOVER FICTION

books, southern california bestsellers, hardcover fiction, yesteryear, whistler, life of m, the correspondent, big little truths.
Alta

  1. Yesteryear, Caro Claire Burke, Alfred A. Knopf, $30
  2. Whistler, Ann Patchett, Harper, $30
  3. Life of M, Rachel Cusk, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $27
  4. The Correspondent, Virginia Evans, Crown, $28
  5. Big Little Truths, Liane Moriarty, Crown, $34

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

books, southern california bestsellers, hardcover nonfiction
Alta

  1. Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage, Belle Burden, the Dial Press, $30
  2. Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump, Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, Simon & Schuster, $34
  3. London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth, Patrick Radden Keefe, Doubleday, $35
  4. The Land and Its People: Essays, David Sedaris, Little, Brown and Company, $30
  5. Nobody Broke Your Heart: An Intimate Biography of Elliott Smith, Jamie Fisher, Dutton, $34

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

books, southern california bestsellers, trade paperback fiction
Alta

  1. Theo of Golden, Allen Levi, Atria Books, $20
  2. Dungeon Crawler Carl, Matt Dinniman, Ace, $20
  3. East of Eden, John Steinbeck, Penguin, $25
  4. The Wedding People, Alison Espach, Holt Paperbacks, $19
  5. I Who Have Never Known Men, Jacqueline Harpman and Ros Schwartz (translator), Transit Books, $17

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

books, southern california bestsellers, trade paperback nonfiction
Alta

  1. Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, Anthony Bourdain, Ecco, $19
  2. The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, Don Miguel Ruiz and Janet Mills, Tarcher, $18
  3. Too L.A.: Letters Never Sent (but Some Were), Eve Babitz and Lili Anolik (editor), New York Review Books, $19. Read Alta’s review.
  4. Kitchen Confidential Annotated Edition: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, Anthony Bourdain, Ecco, $24
  5. All About Love: New Visions, bell hooks, William Morrow, $18

Northern California

HARDCOVER FICTION

books, northern california bestsellers, hardcover fiction, yesteryear, whistler, the calamity club, the correspondent, big little truths.
Alta

  1. Yesteryear, Caro Claire Burke, Alfred A. Knopf, $30
  2. Whistler, Ann Patchett, Harper, $30
  3. The Calamity Club, Kathryn Stockett, Spiegel & Grau, $35
  4. The Correspondent, Virginia Evans, Crown, $28
  5. Big Little Truths, Liane Moriarty, Crown, $34

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

books, northern california bestsellers, hardcover nonfiction, regime change, the land and its people, the nerd reich, strangers, no prophets
Alta

  1. Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump, Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, Simon & Schuster, $34
  2. The Land and Its People: Essays, David Sedaris, Little, Brown and Company, $30
  3. The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy, Gil Durán, Avid Reader Press, $30
  4. Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage, Belle Burden, the Dial Press, $30
  5. No Prophets: The Fight to Save Democracy from Christian Nationalism, Jared Huffman, W.W. Norton & Company, $29

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

books, northern california bestsellers, trade paperback fiction, theo of golden, dungeon crawler carl, project hail mary, east of eden, the wedding people.
Alta

  1. Theo of Golden, Allen Levi, Atria Books, $20
  2. Dungeon Crawler Carl, Matt Dinniman, Ace, $20
  3. Project Hail Mary (movie tie-in), Andy Weir, Ballantine Books, $22
  4. East of Eden, John Steinbeck, Penguin, $25
  5. The Wedding People, Alison Espach, Holt Paperbacks, $19

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

books, northern california bestsellers, trade paperback nonfiction
Alta

  1. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions, $22
  2. Raising Hare: A Memoir, Chloe Dalton, Vintage, $21
  3. A Marriage at Sea, Sophie Elmhirst, Riverhead Books, $20
  4. Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America, Robert B. Reich, Vintage, $22
  5. Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, Anthony Bourdain, Ecco, $19

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.