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Ask a Bookseller

These California booksellers are always happy to help you find the right book—including their picks for favorite Golden State titles.

By Alta Editors

Karen Finlay at Alibi Bookshop, Vallejo

25 books that define california, chowder, karen finlay
karen finlay
  • Favorite California novel: The Day of the Locust, by Nathanael West
  • Favorite California sci-fi: Parable of the Sower, by Octavia E. Butler
  • Favorite California noir: Tapping the Source, by Kem Nunn

John Evans at Camino Books, San Diego

25 books that define california, chowder, john evans
John Evans
  • Favorite California novel: The Barbarian Nurseries, by Héctor Tobar
  • Favorite California sci-fi: Ubik, by Philip K. Dick
  • Favorite California noir: Inherent Vice, by Thomas Pynchon
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Fiction

a long game, elizabeth mccracken

Permission for Writers

only way out by tod goldberg, book review

Long Con in the New West

the pelican child, joy williams

Time and Tide

lightbreakers, aja gabel

The Physics of Grief: Aja Gabel’s ‘Lightbreakers’

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susan straight, sacrament

Nurses and Lowriders

at last, marisa silver

Writer’s Room: Form and Function

joyride by susan orlean, book review

Golden Run

a wooded shore by thomas mcguane, book review

When Things Go Very Wrong

beings by ilana masad, book review

Out of the Archives

author ross macdonald, book jackets

Light in the Lew Archer Novels

shadow ticket, thomas pynchon

Conspiracy Theory

angela flournoy seated on a park bench wearing a mustard shawl, holding a small notebook and pen, surrounded by trees and dappled light.

Writer’s Room: Friendship As a Prism

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