{"id":82009,"date":"2025-12-04T23:59:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T23:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/82009\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T23:59:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T23:59:11","slug":"bestselling-books-in-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/82009\/","title":{"rendered":"Bestselling Books in California"},"content":{"rendered":"

With reporting from the California Independent Booksellers Alliance, Alta Journal brings you a list of the bestselling titles at independent bookstores across Northern and Southern California for the week ending November 30, 2025. <\/p>\n

This week\u2019s bestsellers list features two new gripping novels. Shadow Ticket by Thomas Pynchon follows private investigator Hicks McTaggart as a simple missing-heiress case spirals into a tangle of Nazis, British spies, and paranormal practitioners. In The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai, two acquaintances are reunited by chance. Set-up long ago by their grandparents, Sonia and Sunny now pursue a relationship on their own terms, while navigating family pressures, social expectations, and a looming curse.<\/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

The Correspondent<\/a>, Virginia Evans, Crown, $28Heart the Lover<\/a>, Lily King, Grove Press, $28What We Can Know<\/a>, Ian McEwan, Knopf, $30Shadow Ticket<\/a>, Thomas Pynchon, Penguin Press, $30. Read the Alta review<\/a>. Dog Show: Poems<\/a>, Billy Collins and Pamela Sztybel (illustrator), Random House, $20HARDCOVER NONFICTION\"books,<\/p>\n

Alta<\/p>\n

Bread of Angels: A Memoir<\/a>, Patti Smith, Random House, $301929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History\u2014and How It Shattered a Nation<\/a>, Andrew Ross Sorkin, Viking, $35One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This<\/a>, Omar El Akkad, Knopf, $28The Let Them Theory: A Life-Changing Tool That Millions of People Can\u2019t Stop Talking About<\/a>, Mel Robbins and Sawyer Robbins, Hay House, $29.99Lessons from Cats for Surviving Fascism<\/a>, Stewart \u201cBrittlestar\u201d Reynolds, Grand Central Publishing, $13 TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION\"books,<\/p>\n

Alta<\/p>\n

Martyr!<\/a>, Kaveh Akbar, Vintage, $18. Watch the author speak at a California Book Club event<\/a>.Project Hail Mary<\/a>, Andy Weir, Ballantine, $22The Lion Women of Tehran<\/a>, Marjan Kamali, Gallery Books, $18.99The God of the Woods<\/a>, Liz Moore, Riverhead Books, $19Hamnet<\/a>, Maggie O\u2019Farrell, Vintage, $19TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION\"books,<\/p>\n

Alta<\/p>\n

Slouching Towards Bethlehem<\/a>, Joan Didion, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $18How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen<\/a>, David Brooks, Random House Trade Paperbacks, $20The Best American Essays 2025<\/a>, Jia Tolentino and Kim Dana Kupperman, Mariner Books, $18.99The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession<\/a>, Michael Finkel, Vintage, $18All About Love: New Visions<\/a>, bell hooks, William Morrow, $16.99Northern CaliforniaHARDCOVER FICTION\"books,<\/p>\n

Alta<\/p>\n

The Correspondent<\/a>, Virginia Evans, Crown, $28Dog Show: Poems<\/a>, Billy Collins and Pamela Sztybel (illustrator), Random House, $20Heart the Lover<\/a>, Lily King, Grove Press, $28What We Can Know<\/a>, Ian McEwan, Knopf, $30The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny<\/a>, Kiran Desai, Hogarth, $32HARDCOVER NONFICTION\"books,<\/p>\n

Alta<\/p>\n

1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History\u2014and How It Shattered a Nation<\/a>, Andrew Ross Sorkin, Viking, $35Bread of Angels: A Memoir<\/a>, Patti Smith, Random House, $30Nobody\u2019s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice<\/a>, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, Knopf, $35Good Things: Recipes and Rituals to Share with People You Love<\/a>, Samin Nosrat, Random House, $45Something from Nothing: A Cookbook<\/a>, Alison Roman, Clarkson Potter, $37.99TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION \"books,<\/p>\n

Alta<\/p>\n

The God of the Woods<\/a>, Liz Moore, Riverhead Books, $19Remarkably Bright Creatures<\/a>, Shelby Van Pelt, Ecco, $19.99Project Hail Mary<\/a>, Andy Weir, Ballantine, $22Playground<\/a>, Richard Powers, W.W. Norton & Company, $19.99Tell Me Everything<\/a>, Elizabeth Strout, Random House Trade Paperbacks, $18TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION\"books,<\/p>\n

Alta<\/p>\n

The 2026 Old Farmer’s Almanac<\/a>, Old Farmer’s Almanac, $10.95The Backyard Bird Chronicles<\/a>, Amy Tan, Knopf, $36. Watch a recap of the California Book Club<\/a> event. How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen<\/a>, David Brooks, Random House Trade Paperbacks, $20Fight Oligarchy<\/a>, Bernie Sanders, Crown, $14.99Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants<\/a>, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions, $20<\/p>\n

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

Related Stories\"Headshot<\/p>\n

Elizabeth Casillas is an assistant 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 brings you a list of the bestselling titles…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":82010,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[46733,12788,46735,46736,46742,647,7,46728,46734,9,8,46730,46743,46731,46737,46738,46740,46744,46729,46739,46732,46741],"class_list":["post-82009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-alta-bestseller-list","tag-alta-journal","tag-bestselling-books","tag-book-recommendations","tag-book-roundup","tag-books","tag-california","tag-california-bestsellers","tag-california-books","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-everyone-will-have-always-been-against-this-by-omar-el-akkad","tag-fiction-bestsellers","tag-how-to-know-a-person-by-david-brooks","tag-independent-bookstores","tag-literary-california","tag-new-book-releases","tag-nonfiction-bestsellers","tag-one-day","tag-southern-california-bestsellers","tag-the-best-american-essays-2025-by-jia-tolentino-and-kim-dana-kupperman","tag-top-books"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82009","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=82009"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82009\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}