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 May 3, 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 list features a new noir and a retelling of a classic. In Jordan Harper’s latest release A Violent Masterpiece, a street lawyer, a nightcrawler, and a concierge to the rich come together to unravel a tangled crime against the backdrop of a volatile Los Angeles. In James, Percival Everett reimagines Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, retelling the classic story from the perspective of the enslaved Jim.
For a full list of titles and categories, visit the California Independent Booksellers Alliance.•
Southern CaliforniaHARDCOVER FICTION
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The Correspondent, Virginia Evans, Crown, $28Yesteryear, Caro Claire Burke, Alfred A. Knopf, $30Go Gentle, Maria Semple, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, $30Transcription, Ben Lerner, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $25A Violent Masterpiece, Jordan Harper, Mulholland Books, $29. Read the Alta review. HARDCOVER NONFICTION
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Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage, Belle Burden, the Dial Press, $30London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth, Patrick Radden Keefe, Doubleday, $35Famesick: A Memoir, Lena Dunham, Random House, $32A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness, Michael Pollan, Penguin Press, $32Start With Yourself: A New Vision for Work & Life, Emma Grede, Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster, $30TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION
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Project Hail Mary (movie tie-in), Andy Weir, Ballantine Books, $22Theo of Golden, Allen Levi, Atria Books, $20The Lion Women of Tehran, Marjan Kamali, Gallery Books, $18.99Dungeon Crawler Carl, Matt Dinniman, Ace, $20Remarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby Van Pelt, Ecco, $19.99TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION
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Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent, Judi Dench and Brendan O’Hea, St. Martin’s Griffin, $20All About Love: New Visions, bell hooks, William Morrow, $16.99The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, Julia Cameron, TarcherPerigee, $24. Read Alta’s feature on the book and the author. Raising Hare: A Memoir, Chloe Dalton, Vintage, $21The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession, Michael Finkel, Vintage, $18Northern CaliforniaHARDCOVER FICTION
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Yesteryear, Caro Claire Burke, Alfred A. Knopf, $30The Correspondent, Virginia Evans, Crown, $28The Keeper, Tana French, Viking, $32Go Gentle, Maria Semple, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, $30Transcription, Ben Lerner, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $25HARDCOVER NONFICTION
Alta
Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage, Belle Burden, the Dial Press, $30A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness, Michael Pollan, Penguin Press, $32London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth, Patrick Radden Keefe, Doubleday, $35Famesick: A Memoir, Lena Dunham, Random House, $32Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About: A Memoir, Isabel Klee, William Morrow, $28TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION 
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Theo of Golden, Allen Levi, Atria Books, $20Project Hail Mary (movie tie-in), Andy Weir, Ballantine Books, $22Remarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby Van Pelt, Ecco, $19.99Dungeon Crawler Carl, Matt Dinniman, Ace, $20James, Percival Everett, Vintage, $20. Read Alta’s feature on the book and the author. TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION
Alta
Raising Hare: A Memoir, Chloe Dalton, Vintage, $21The Backyard Bird Chronicles, Amy Tan, Alfred A. Knopf, $36. Read a recap of the California Book Club event. The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War, Erik Larson, Crown, $22The Beginning Comes After the End: Notes on a World of Change, Rebecca Solnit, Haymarket Books, $16.95. Watch the California Book Club event with the author. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions, $22
Source: California Independent Booksellers Alliance
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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.