{"id":336593,"date":"2026-05-28T22:35:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T22:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/336593\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T22:35:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T22:35:14","slug":"californias-bestselling-books-at-indie-stores","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/336593\/","title":{"rendered":"California’s Bestselling Books at Indie Stores"},"content":{"rendered":"

With reporting from the California Independent Booksellers Alliance<\/a>, Alta Journal highlights the bestselling books at independent bookstores across Northern and Southern California for the week ending May 24, 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\u2019s literary scene.<\/p>\n

This month\u2019s bestsellers list highlights two new May releases. In Michael Connelly\u2019s Ironwood, Detective Sergeant Stilwell, who is stationed on Catalina Island, is drawn into a dangerous drug operation when a late-night sting goes violently sideways. In Peter Wohlleben\u2019s The Hidden Life of Trees, the author argues that trees are social beings: communicating with their offspring and sharing nutrients with neighboring trees that are struggling.<\/p>\n

For a full list of titles and categories, visit the California Independent Booksellers Alliance<\/a>.\u2022<\/p>\n

Southern CaliforniaHARDCOVER FICTION\"books,<\/p>\n

Alta<\/p>\n

Yesteryear<\/a>, Caro Claire Burke, Alfred A. Knopf, $30The Correspondent<\/a>, Virginia Evans, Crown, $28John of John<\/a>, Douglas Stuart, Grove Press, $28The Things We Never Say<\/a>, Elizabeth Strout, Random House, $29Ironwood<\/a>, Michael Connelly, Little, Brown and Company, $32. Watch the California Book Club event with the author<\/a>. HARDCOVER NONFICTION\"books,<\/p>\n

Alta<\/p>\n

Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage<\/a>, Belle Burden, the Dial Press, $30Famesick: A Memoir<\/a>, Lena Dunham, Random House, $32London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family\u2019s Search for Truth<\/a>, Patrick Radden Keefe, Doubleday, $35Make Believe: On Telling Stories to Children<\/a>, Mac Barnett, Little, Brown and Company, $20One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This<\/a>, Omar El Akkad, Alfred A. Knopf, $28TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION\"books,<\/p>\n

Alta<\/p>\n

Theo of Golden<\/a>, Allen Levi, Atria Books, $20Project Hail Mary (movie tie-in)<\/a>, Andy Weir, Ballantine Books, $22Dungeon Crawler Carl<\/a>, Matt Dinniman, Ace, $20Remarkably Bright Creatures<\/a>, Shelby Van Pelt, Ecco, $19.99Angel Down<\/a>, Daniel Kraus, Atria Books, $18TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION\"books,<\/p>\n

Alta<\/p>\n

Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman\u2019s OpenAI<\/a>, Karen Hao, Penguin Books, $20The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder<\/a>, David Grann, Vintage, $21All About Love: New Visions<\/a>, bell hooks, William Morrow, $17.99On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century<\/a>, Timothy Snyder, Crown, $14Things in Nature Merely Grow<\/a>, Yiyun Li, Picador, $18Northern CaliforniaHARDCOVER FICTION\"books,<\/p>\n

Alta<\/p>\n

Yesteryear<\/a>, Caro Claire Burke, Alfred A. Knopf, $30The Correspondent<\/a>, Virginia Evans, Crown, $28The Things We Never Say<\/a>, Elizabeth Strout, Random House, $29John of John<\/a>, Douglas Stuart, Grove Press, $28The Calamity Club<\/a>, Kathryn Stockett, Spiegel & Grau, $35HARDCOVER NONFICTION\"books,<\/p>\n

Alta<\/p>\n

London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family\u2019s Search for Truth<\/a>, Patrick Radden Keefe, Doubleday, $35Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage<\/a>, Belle Burden, the Dial Press, $30Make Believe: On Telling Stories to Children<\/a>, Mac Barnett, Little, Brown and Company, $20How to Rule the World: An Education in Power at Stanford University<\/a>, Theo Baker, Penguin Press, $32Liar\u2019s Kingdom: How to Stop Trump’s Deceit and Save America<\/a>, Andrew Weissmann, Little, Brown and Company, $29TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION \"books,<\/p>\n

Alta<\/p>\n

Theo of Golden<\/a>, Allen Levi, Atria Books, $20Project Hail Mary (movie tie-in)<\/a>, Andy Weir, Ballantine Books, $22Remarkably Bright Creatures<\/a>, Shelby Van Pelt, Ecco, $19.99Dungeon Crawler Carl<\/a>, Matt Dinniman, Ace, $20James<\/a>, Percival Everett, Vintage, $20. Read Alta\u2019s feature<\/a> on the book and the author. TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION\"books,<\/p>\n

Alta<\/p>\n

Raising Hare: A Memoir<\/a>, Chloe Dalton, Vintage, $21Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman\u2019s OpenAI<\/a>, Karen Hao, Penguin Books, $20All About Love: New Visions<\/a>, bell hooks, William Morrow, $17.99Things in Nature Merely Grow<\/a>, Yiyun Li, Picador, $18

California Independent Booksellers Alliance<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Headshot<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With reporting from the California Independent Booksellers Alliance, Alta Journal highlights the bestselling books at independent bookstores across…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":336594,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[138986,105378,46735,46736,647,7,46728,9,128513,8,138984,138968,138969,138978,138979,46737,138970,138971,138983,138982,138540,46740,138972,266,138973,138974,138975,1009,138976,138977,138985,138980,138981],"class_list":["post-336593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-alta-journal-books","tag-andy-weir","tag-bestselling-books","tag-book-recommendations","tag-books","tag-california","tag-california-bestsellers","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-indie-bookstores","tag-california-news","tag-california-reading-list","tag-douglas-stuart","tag-elizabeth-strout","tag-hardcover-ficiton","tag-hardcover-nonficiton","tag-independent-bookstores","tag-karen-hao","tag-liars-kingdom-by-andrew-weissmann","tag-literary-fiction","tag-may-2026-books","tag-michael-connelly","tag-new-book-releases","tag-norcal-books","tag-northern-california","tag-patrick-radden-keefe","tag-peter-wohlleben","tag-socal-books","tag-southern-california","tag-the-calamity-club-by-kathryn-stockett","tag-things-in-nature-merely-grow-by-yiyun-li","tag-trade-paperback-bestsellers","tag-trade-paperback-fiction","tag-trade-paperback-nonfiction"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=336593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336593\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/336594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=336593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=336593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=336593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}