{"id":90785,"date":"2025-12-11T23:39:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T23:39:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/90785\/"},"modified":"2025-12-11T23:39:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T23:39:10","slug":"bestselling-books-in-california-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/90785\/","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 December 7, 2025. <\/p>\n

This week\u2019s list highlights two quiet, haunting stories about men struggling to make sense of their lives. In Flesh by David Szalay, we meet Istv\u00e1n, a teenager whose early traumas leave him scarred and isolated. Over the next decades, he crafts a luxurious life for himself, but after an unexpected tragedy, finds himself lost again. Denis Johnson\u2019s Train Dreams, now a Netflix film (read the Alta review<\/a>), follows Robert Grainer, a railroad laborer, in the American West as he grapples with losing his family while trying to understand a rapidly changing world.<\/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 Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny<\/a>, Kiran Desai, Hogarth, $32The Secret of Secrets<\/a>, Dan Brown, Doubleday, $38The Correspondent<\/a>, Virginia Evans, Crown, $28Heart the Lover<\/a>, Lily King, Grove Press, $28Flesh<\/a>, David Szalay, Scribner, $28.99HARDCOVER NONFICTION\"books,<\/p>\n

Alta<\/p>\n

Bread of Angels: A Memoir<\/a>, Patti Smith, Random House, $30A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck<\/a>, Sophie Elmhirst, Riverhead Books, $28Lessons from Cats for Surviving Fascism<\/a>, Stewart \u201cBrittlestar\u201d Reynolds, Grand Central Publishing, $131929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History\u2014and How It Shattered a Nation<\/a>, Andrew Ross Sorkin, Viking, $35Always Remember: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, the Horse and the Storm<\/a>, Charlie Mackesy, Penguin Life, $27TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION\"books,<\/p>\n

Alta<\/p>\n

Project Hail Mary<\/a>, Andy Weir, Ballantine, $22Hamnet<\/a>, Maggie O\u2019Farrell, Vintage, $19The God of the Woods<\/a>, Liz Moore, Riverhead Books, $19Train Dreams<\/a>, Denis Johnson, Picador, $17The Frozen River<\/a>, Ariel Lawhon, Vintage, $18TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION\"books,<\/p>\n

Alta<\/p>\n

The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession<\/a>, Michael Finkel, Vintage, $18Kingmaker: Pamela Harriman\u2019s Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction, and Intrigue<\/a>, Sonia Purnell, Penguin Books, $22I\u2019m Glad My Mom Died<\/a>, Jennette McCurdy, Simon and Schuster, $19.99The Best American Essays 2025<\/a>, Jia Tolentino and Kim Dana Kupperman, Mariner Books, $18.99Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants<\/a>, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions, $20Northern CaliforniaHARDCOVER FICTION\"books,<\/p>\n

Alta<\/p>\n

The Correspondent<\/a>, Virginia Evans, Crown, $28The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny<\/a>, Kiran Desai, Hogarth, $32Dog Show: Poems<\/a>, Billy Collins and Pamela Sztybel (illustrator), Random House, $20Flesh<\/a>, David Szalay, Scribner, $28.99The Black Wolf<\/a>, Louise Penny, Minotaur Books, $30HARDCOVER NONFICTION\"books,<\/p>\n

Alta<\/p>\n

Good 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, $37.99Bread of Angels: A Memoir<\/a>, Patti Smith, Random House, $30A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck<\/a>, Sophie Elmhirst, Riverhead Books, $281929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History\u2014and How It Shattered a Nation<\/a>, Andrew Ross Sorkin, Viking, $35TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION \"books,<\/p>\n

Alta<\/p>\n

The God of the Woods<\/a>, Liz Moore, Riverhead Books, $19Project Hail Mary<\/a>, Andy Weir, Ballantine, $22Remarkably Bright Creatures<\/a>, Shelby Van Pelt, Ecco, $19.99The City and Its Uncertain Walls<\/a>, Haruki Murakami and Philip Gabriel (translator), Vintage, $19The Frozen River<\/a>, Ariel Lawhon, Vintage, $18TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION\"books,<\/p>\n

Alta<\/p>\n

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder<\/a>, David Grann, Vintage, $21The 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, $20Kingmaker: Pamela Harriman\u2019s Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction, and Intrigue<\/a>, Sonia Purnell, Penguin Books, $22The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession<\/a>, Michael Finkel, Vintage, $18<\/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":90786,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[46733,12788,46735,46736,46742,647,7,46728,46734,9,8,46743,50359,46737,50360,46738,46740,46744,46739,50361,46741],"class_list":{"0":"post-90785","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-california","8":"tag-alta-bestseller-list","9":"tag-alta-journal","10":"tag-bestselling-books","11":"tag-book-recommendations","12":"tag-book-roundup","13":"tag-books","14":"tag-california","15":"tag-california-bestsellers","16":"tag-california-books","17":"tag-california-headlines","18":"tag-california-news","19":"tag-fiction-bestsellers","20":"tag-im-glad-my-mom-died-by-jennette-mccurdy","21":"tag-independent-bookstores","22":"tag-kingmaker-by-sonia-purnell","23":"tag-literary-california","24":"tag-new-book-releases","25":"tag-nonfiction-bestsellers","26":"tag-southern-california-bestsellers","27":"tag-the-black-wolf-by-louise-penny","28":"tag-top-books"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90785","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=90785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90785\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}