Here Are Current Bestsellers at Southern California’s Independent Bookstores

Published on Sep 7, 2026

Here is the SoCal Indie Bestsellers List, brought to you by IndieBound and the California Independent Booksellers Alliance, for the sales week ending Sunday,August 30, 2026. This list is based on reporting from the independent booksellers of Southern California, the California Independent Booksellers Alliance, and IndieBound. For an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound.org.

HARDCOVER FICTION

  1. The Calamity Club — Kathryn Stockett (Spiegel & Grau, $35)
  2. Yesteryear — Caro Claire Burke (Knopf, $30)
  3. Whistler — Ann Patchett (Harper, $30)
  4. Big Little Truths — Liane Moriarty (Crown, $34)
  5. The Correspondent — Virginia Evans (Crown, $28)
  6. Daggerbound — T. Kingfisher (Bramble, $30)
  7. Land — Maggie O’Farrell (Knopf, $32)
  8. The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook — Matt Dinniman (Ace, $30)
  9. The Gate of the Feral Gods — Matt Dinniman (Ace, $30)
  10. Mad Mabel — Sally Hepworth (St. Martin’s Press, $29)
  11. The Things We Never Say — Elizabeth Strout (Random House, $29)
  12. Cool Machine — Colson Whitehead (Doubleday, $30)
  13. Life of M — Rachel Cusk (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $27)
  14. The Butcher’s Masquerade — Matt Dinniman (Ace, $35)
  15. Under the Falls — Richard Russo (Knopf, $30)

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

  1. Regime Change — Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan (Simon & Schuster, $34)
  2. The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State — Jill Lepore (Liveright, $30)
  3. The Land and Its People — David Sedaris (Little, Brown and Company, $30)
  4. Strangers — Belle Burden (Dial Press, $30)
  5. London Falling — Patrick Radden Keefe (Doubleday, $35)
  6. The Nerd Reich — Gil Durán (Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster, $30)
  7. The Serviceberry — Robin Wall Kimmerer; illustrated by John Burgoyne (Scribner, $20)
  8. Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About — Isabel Klee (William Morrow, $28)
  9. What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking — Caroline Chambers (Union Square & Co., $35)
  10. Everything Is Tuberculosis — John Green (Crash Course Books, $28)
  11. Lessons from Cats for Surviving Fascism — Stewart Reynolds (Grand Central Publishing, $13)
  12. One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This — Omar El Akkad (Knopf, $28)
  13. Famesick — Lena Dunham (Random House, $32)
  14. The Best Dog in the World — Alice Hoffman, ed. (Scribner, $22)
  15. The Gales of November — John U. Bacon (Liveright, $35)

PAPERBACK FICTION

  1. Theo of Golden — Allen Levi (Atria Books, $20)
  2. Dungeon Crawler Carl — Matt Dinniman (Ace, $20)
  3. Carl’s Doomsday Scenario — Matt Dinniman (Ace, $21)
  4. Project Hail Mary — Andy Weir (Ballantine Books, $22)
  5. The Wedding People — Alison Espach (Holt Paperbacks, $19)
  6. Circe — Madeline Miller (Back Bay, $20)
  7. The Road to Tender Hearts — Annie Hartnett (Ballantine Books, $20)
  8. The Odyssey — Homer; translated by Emily Wilson (Norton, $19)
  9. I Who Have Never Known Men — Jacqueline Harpman (Transit Books, $17)
  10. Atmosphere — Taylor Jenkins Reid (Ballantine Books, $20)
  11. Red Rising — Pierce Brown (Del Rey, $18)
  12. The God of the Woods — Liz Moore (Riverhead Books, $19)
  13. Brain Damage — Freida McFadden (Poisoned Pen Press, $19)
  14. My Friends — Fredrik Backman (Atria Books, $20)
  15. East of Eden — John Steinbeck (Penguin, $25)

PAPERBACK NONFICTION

  1. Braiding Sweetgrass — Robin Wall Kimmerer (Milkweed Editions, $22)
  2. A Marriage at Sea — Sophie Elmhirst (Riverhead Books, $20)
  3. All About Love — bell hooks (William Morrow Paperbacks, $18)
  4. Kitchen Confidential — Anthony Bourdain (Ecco, $19)
  5. The Art Thief — Michael Finkel (Vintage, $18)
  6. Communion — bell hooks (William Morrow Paperbacks, $18)
  7. Raising Hare — Chloe Dalton (Vintage, $21)
  8. The Wager — David Grann (Vintage, $21)
  9. The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI — Cory Doctorow (MCD, $18)
  10. Say Nothing — Patrick Radden Keefe (Vintage, $23)
  11. The Demon of Unrest — Erik Larson (Crown, $22)
  12. Empire of AI — Karen Hao (Penguin Books, $20)
  13. Ordinary People, Extraordinary Times — Skye Perryman (Ten Speed Press, $17)
  14. The Body Keeps the Score — Bessel van der Kolk, M.D. (Penguin Books, $19)
  15. Is a River Alive? — Robert Macfarlane (W. W. Norton & Company, $20)

MASS MARKET PAPERBACK

  1. 1984 — George Orwell (Signet, $12)
  2. Animal Farm — George Orwell (Signet, $12)
  3. Lord of the Flies — William Golding (Penguin, $13)
  4. Mistborn — Brandon Sanderson (Tor, $11)
  5. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy — Douglas Adams (Del Rey, $10)
  6. The Diary of a Young Girl — Anne Frank (Bantam, $10)
  7. Hyperion — Dan Simmons (Spectra, $11)
  8. Slaughterhouse-Five — Kurt Vonnegut (Dell, $11)
  9. The Catcher in the Rye — J.D. Salinger (Little, Brown, $10)
  10. The Left Hand of Darkness — Ursula K. Le Guin (Ace, $11)
  11. The Way of Kings — Brandon Sanderson (Tor, $13)
  12. Dune — Frank Herbert (Ace, $11)
  13. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings — Maya Angelou (Ballantine, $10)
  14. The Hobbit — J.R.R. Tolkien (Del Rey, $9)
  15. Dune Messiah — Frank Herbert (Ace, $10)

EARLY & MIDDLE GRADE

  1. Rowley Jefferson’s Awesome Friendly Spooky Stories 2 — Jeff Kinney (Harry N. Abrams, $16)
  2. The New Girl — Cassandra Calin (Graphix, $15)
  3. The New Girl — Cassandra Calin (Graphix, $13)
  4. Impossible Creatures — Katherine Rundell; illustrated by Ashley Mackenzie (Yearling, $12)
  5. Odder — Katherine Applegate; illustrated by Charles Santoso (Square Fish, $9)
  6. Hatchet — Gary Paulsen (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, $10)
  7. Charlotte’s Web — E.B. White (HarperCollins, $11)
  8. The One and Only Bob — Katherine Applegate; illustrated by Patricia Castelao (Storytide, $11)
  9. Super Duper Extra Deluxe Essential Handbook — Scholastic (Scholastic, $17)
  10. A Wrinkle in Time — Madeleine L’Engle (Square Fish, $9)
  11. The Baby-sitters Club Fan Edition — Ann M. Martin, et al. (Scholastic Inc., $15)
  12. Wombat Waiting — Katherine Applegate (Storytide, $20)
  13. A Wolf Called Fire — Rosanne Parry; illustrated by Mónica Armiño (Greenwillow Books, $10)
  14. Howl’s Moving Castle Deluxe Limited Edition — Diana Wynne Jones (Greenwillow Books, $25)
  15. Smile — Raina Telgemeier (Graphix, $13)

YOUNG ADULT

  1. Better Than the Movies — Lynn Painter (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, $13)
  2. The Odyssey — Gareth Hinds (Candlewick, $20)
  3. Barbie — Alex Aster (Mattel, $23)
  4. The Faraway Inn — Sarah Beth Durst (Delacorte Press, $15)
  5. Betting on You — Lynn Painter (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, $13)
  6. Nothing Like the Movies — Lynn Painter (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, $14)
  7. Pride and Prejudice — Jane Austen; illustrated by Anna Bond (Puffin Books, $21)
  8. The Iliad — Gareth Hinds (Candlewick, $20)
  9. The Summer of Second Chances — K.L. Walther (Sourcebooks Fire, $15)
  10. The Outsiders — S. E. Hinton (Viking Books for Young Readers, $15)
  11. The Book Thief — Markus Zusak (Knopf Books for Young Readers, $17)
  12. A Prince Among Pirates — Katie Abdou (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, $22)
  13. The Gilded Blade — Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, $22)
  14. Wuthering Heights — Emily Bronte; illustrated by Anna Bond (Puffin Books, $19)
  15. The Giver — Lois Lowry (Clarion Books, $12)

CHILDREN'S ILLUSTRATED

  1. Little Blue Truck Lost and Found — Alice Schertle; illustrated by Jill McElmurry (Clarion Books, $20)
  2. Goodnight Moon — Margaret Wise Brown; illustrated by Clement Hurd (Harper, $11)
  3. The Skeleton and the Cat — Brandon James Scott (HarperCollins, $20)
  4. The Very Hungry Caterpillar — Eric Carle (World of Eric Carle, $11)
  5. Room on the Broom — Julia Donaldson; illustrated by Axel Scheffler (Dial Books, $10)
  6. This Book Is Seriously Silly! — Ben Clanton (Tundra Books, $20)
  7. Where the Wild Things Are — Maurice Sendak (Harper, $22)
  8. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? — Bill Martin Jr.; illustrated by Eric Carle (Henry Holt and Co. BYR, $11)
  9. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom — Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault; illustrated by Lois Ehlert (Little Simon, $8)
  10. Jamberry — Bruce Degen (HarperCollins, $10)
  11. Frog and Toad Storybook Favorites — Arnold Lobel (HarperCollins, $17)
  12. Don’t Trust Fish — Neil Sharpson; illustrated by Dan Santat (Dial Books, $19)
  13. Moo, Baa, La La La! — Sandra Boynton (Boynton Bookworks, $7)
  14. Good Night, Gorilla — Peggy Rathmann (G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, $10)
  15. Good Night, Little Blue Truck — Alice Schertle; illustrated by Jill McElmurry (Clarion Books, $11)

CHILDREN'S SERIES

  1. The Hunger Games — Suzanne Collins; illustrated by Nico Delort (Scholastic Press)
  2. Dog Man — Dav Pilkey (Graphix)
  3. Wings of Fire — Tui T. Sutherland; illustrated by Mike Holmes (Scholastic)
  4. Diary of a Wimpy Kid — Jeff Kinney (Harry N. Abrams)
  5. InvestiGators — John Patrick Green and Christopher Hastings; illustrated by Pat Lewis (First Second)
  6. Warriors Graphic Novels — Erin Hunter and Gibson Twist; illustrated by Sammy Savos (HarperAlley)
  7. I Survived — Lauren Tarshis; illustrated by Brian Churilla (Scholastic)
  8. Baby-Sitters Club Graphix — Ann M. Martin; illustrated by Ellen T. Crenshaw (Scholastic)
  9. Magic Tree House — Mary Pope Osborne; illustrated by Sal Murdocca (Random House Books for Young Readers)
  10. Percy Jackson and the Olympians — Rick Riordan (Hyperion)
  11. Dragon Masters — Tracey West; illustrated by Matt Loveridge (Scholastic)
  12. Elephant & Piggie — Mo Willems (Hyperion)
  13. The Princess in Black — Shannon Hale and Dean Hale; illustrated by LeUyen Pham (Candlewick)
  14. Little Golden Book — Billy Wrecks; illustrated by Shane Clester (Random House)
  15. Heartstopper — Alice Oseman (Graphix)

CHILDREN'S INTEREST

  1. Rowley Jefferson’s Awesome Friendly Spooky Stories 2 — Jeff Kinney (Harry N. Abrams, $16)
  2. The New Girl — Cassandra Calin (Graphix, $15)
  3. The Odyssey — Gareth Hinds (Candlewick, $20)
  4. Better Than the Movies — Lynn Painter (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, $13)
  5. The New Girl — Cassandra Calin (Graphix, $13)
  6. Impossible Creatures — Katherine Rundell; illustrated by Ashley Mackenzie (Yearling, $12)
  7. Odder — Katherine Applegate; illustrated by Charles Santoso (Square Fish, $9)
  8. The Outsiders — S. E. Hinton (Viking Books for Young Readers, $15)
  9. But I Hate Him — Page Powars (Roaring Brook Press, $21)
  10. Hatchet — Gary Paulsen (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, $10)
  11. Charlotte’s Web — E.B. White (HarperCollins, $11)
  12. The One and Only Bob — Katherine Applegate; illustrated by Patricia Castelao (Storytide, $11)
  13. The Perks of Being a Wallflower — Stephen Chbosky (Simon Pulse, $16)
  14. Barbie — Alex Aster (Mattel, $23)
  15. Super Duper Extra Deluxe Essential Handbook — Scholastic (Scholastic, $17)

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