Here Are Current Bestsellers at Southern California’s Independent Bookstores

Published on May 5, 2025

Here is the SoCal Indie Bestsellers List, brought to you by IndieBound and the California Independent Booksellers Alliance, for the sales week ending Sunday,April 27, 2025. 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. Great Big Beautiful Life – Emily Henry, Berkley, $29, 9780593441299 
  2. James – Percival Everett, Doubleday, $28, 9780385550369 
  3. Wild Dark Shore – Charlotte McConaghy, Flatiron Books, $28.99, 9781250827951 
  4. Audition – Katie Kitamura, Riverhead Books, $28, 9780593852323 
  5. The God of the Woods – Liz Moore, Riverhead Books, $30, 9780593418918 
  6. The Dream Hotel – Laila Lalami, Pantheon, $29, 9780593317600 
  7. Broken Country – Clare Leslie Hall, Simon & Schuster, $28.99, 9781668078181 
  8. Intermezzo – Sally Rooney, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $29, 9780374602635 
  9. The Wedding People – Alison Espach, Henry Holt and Co., $28.99, 9781250899576 
  10. Strangers in Time – David Baldacci, Grand Central Publishing, $30, 9781538742051 
  11. The Antidote – Karen Russell, Knopf, $30, 9780593802250 
  12. All Fours – Miranda July, Riverhead Books, $29, 9780593190265 
  13. Dungeon Crawler Carl – Matt Dinniman, Ace, $30, 9780593820247 
  14. Before the Coffee Gets Cold – Toshikazu Kawaguchi, Hanover Square Press, $19.99, 9781335430991 
  15. Dream Count – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Knopf, $32, 9780593802724

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

  1. Notes to John – Joan Didion, Knopf, $32, 9780593803677 
  2. Abundance – Ezra Klein, Derek Thompson, Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster, $30, 9781668023488 
  3. The Let Them Theory: A Life-Changing Tool That Millions of People Can’t Stop Talking About – Mel Robbins, Sawyer Robbins, Hay House LLC, $29.99, 9781401971366 
  4. Fahrenheit-182: A Memoir – Mark Hoppus, Dan Ozzi, Dey Street Books, $32.50, 9780063318915 
  5. The Creative Act: A Way of Being – Rick Rubin, Penguin Press, $32, 9780593652886 
  6. Everything Is Tuberculosis (Signed Edition): The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection – John Green, Crash Course Books, $28, 9780525426059 
  7. One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This – Omar El Akkad, Knopf, $28, 9780593804148 
  8. When the Going Was Good: An Editor’s Adventures During the Last Golden Age of Magazines – Graydon Carter, Penguin Press, $32, 9780593655900 
  9. Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism – Sarah Wynn-Williams, Flatiron Books, $32.99, 9781250391230 
  10. Raising Hare: A Memoir – Chloe Dalton, Pantheon, $27, 9780593701843 
  11. Who Is Government?: The Untold Story of Public Service – Michael Lewis (Ed.), Riverhead Books, $30, 9798217047802 
  12. Medieval Cats: Claws, Paws, and Kitties of Yore – Catherine Nappington, Ten Speed Press, $15.99, 9780593837504 
  13. The Golden Hour: A Story of Family and Power in Hollywood – Matthew Specktor, Ecco, $32, 9780063008335 
  14. The Book of Alchemy: A Creative Practice for an Inspired Life – Suleika Jaouad, Random House, $30, 9780593734636 
  15. The Tell: A Memoir – Amy Griffin, The Dial Press, $29, 9780593731208

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

  1. Martyr! – Kaveh Akbar, Vintage, $18, 9780593685778 
  2. The Frozen River – Ariel Lawhon, Vintage, $18, 9780593312070 
  3. Orbital – Samantha Harvey, Grove Press, $17, 9780802163622 
  4. Table for Two: Fictions – Amor Towles, Penguin Books, $19, 9780593296394 
  5. The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood, Anchor, $18, 9780525435006 
  6. I Who Have Never Known Men – Jacqueline Harpman, Transit Books, $16.95, 9781945492600 
  7. The Ministry of Time – Kaliane Bradley, Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster, $18.99, 9781668045152 
  8. North Woods – Daniel Mason, Random House Trade Paperbacks, $18, 9780593597040 
  9. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow – Gabrielle Zevin, Vintage, $19, 9780593466490 
  10. The Paris Novel – Ruth Reichl, Random House Trade Paperbacks, $19, 9780812986372 
  11. Project Hail Mary – Andy Weir, Ballantine, $20, 9780593135228 
  12. Funny Story – Emily Henry, Berkley, $19, 9780593441213 
  13. The Vegetarian – Han Kang, Hogarth, $18, 9781101906118 
  14. Tom Lake – Ann Patchett, Harper Perennial, $19, 9780063327535 
  15. Yellowface – R. F. Kuang, William Morrow Paperbacks, $18.99, 9780063250857

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

  1. On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century – Timothy Snyder, Crown, $12, 9780804190114 
  2. The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder – David Grann, Vintage, $21, 9780307742490 
  3. Sociopath: A Memoir – Patric Gagne, Ph.D., Simon & Schuster, $19.99, 9781668003190 
  4. All About Love: New Visions – bell hooks, Morrow, $16.99, 9780060959470 
  5. Grief Is for People – Sloane Crosley, Picador, $18, 9781250371782 
  6. The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession – Michael Finkel, Vintage, $18, 9781984898456 
  7. The Year of Magical Thinking – Joan Didion, Vintage, $18, 9781400078431 
  8. Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution – Cat Bohannon, Vintage, $20, 9780345806208 
  9. There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension – Hanif Abdurraqib, Random House Trade Paperbacks, $20, 9780593448809 
  10. The Backyard Bird Chronicles – Amy Tan, Knopf, $36, 9780593536131 
  11. Slouching Towards Bethlehem: Essays – Joan Didion, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $18, 9780374531386 
  12. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants – Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions, $22, 9781571313560 
  13. The Artist’s Way: 30th Anniversary Edition – Julia Cameron, TarcherPerigee, $20, 9780143129257 
  14. Just Kids – Patti Smith, Ecco, $18.99, 9780060936228 
  15. Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity: 10th Anniversary Edition – David Lynch, Tarcher,

MASS MARKET

  1. Mistborn: The Final Empire – Brandon Sanderson, Tor, $10.99, 9781250318541

  2. The Way of Kings – Brandon Sanderson, Tor, $12.99, 9780765365279

  3. 1984 – George Orwell, Signet, $10.99, 9780451524935

  4. Animal Farm – George Orwell, Signet, $9.99, 9780451526342

  5. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings – Maya Angelou, Ballantine, $8.99, 9780345514400

  6. The Well of Ascension – Brandon Sanderson, Tor, $11.99, 9781250318572

  7. The Wise Man’s Fear – Patrick Rothfuss, DAW, $11.99, 9780756407919

  8. Words of Radiance – Brandon Sanderson, Tor, $12.99, 9780765365286

  9. Small Gods – Terry Pratchett, Harper, $9.99, 9780062237378

  10. Carrie – Stephen King, Vintage, $9.99, 9780307743664

CHILDREN'S ILLUSTRATED

  1. Goodnight Moon – Margaret Wise Brown, Clement Hurd (Illus.), Harper, $10.99, 9780694003617

  2. Little Blue Truck and Racer Red – Alice Schertle, Jill McElmurry (Illus.), Clarion Books, $19.99, 9780063387843

  3. Don’t Trust Fish – Neil Sharpson, Dan Santat (Illus.), Dial Books, $18.99, 9780593616673

  4. The Very Hungry Caterpillar – Eric Carle, World of Eric Carle, $10.99, 9780399226908

  5. Rosemary Long Ears – Susie Ghahremani, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, $18.99, 9780316573320

  6. Dragons Love Tacos – Adam Rubin, Daniel Salmieri (Illus.), Dial Books, $18.99, 9780803736801

  7. I Am Glinda (Little Golden Book) – Mary Man-Kong, Elsa Chang (Illus.), Golden Books, $5.99, 9780593896884

  8. Grumpy Monkey Mom for a Day – Suzanne Lang, Max Lang (Illus.), Random House Studio, $12.99, 9780593709313

  9. Pat the Bunny – Dorothy Kunhardt, Golden Books, $9.99, 9780307120007

  10. I Am Elphaba (Little Golden Book) – Mary Man-Kong, Elsa Chang (Illus.), Golden Books, $5.99, 9780593896860

CHILDREN'S INTEREST

  1. The Cartoonists Club: A Graphic Novel – Raina Telgemeier, Scott McCloud, Graphix, $14.99, 9781338777215

  2. Outsider Kids: A Parachute Kids Graphic Novel – Betty C. Tang, Graphix, $14.99, 9781338832716

  3. Game On! (Cloud Puppy #2) – Kelly Leigh Miller, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, $12.99, 9781665932158

  4. A Song for You and I: A Graphic Novel – K. O’Neill, Random House Graphic, $13.99, 9780593182307

  5. The Eyes and the Impossible – Dave Eggers, Shawn Harris (Illus.), Yearling, $14.99, 9781524764234

  6. Smile: A Graphic Novel – Raina Telgemeier, Graphix, $12.99, 9781338740264

  7. Wings of Starlight – Allison Saft, Disney Press, $18.99, 9781368098458

  8. Impossible Creatures – Katherine Rundell, Ashley Mackenzie (Illus.), Knopf Books for Young Readers, $19.99, 9780593809860

  9. All Better Now – Neal Shusterman, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, $21.99, 9781534432758

  10. The Outsiders – S. E. Hinton, Viking Books for Young Readers, $14.99, 9780142407332

CHILDREN'S SERIES

  1. The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins, Scholastic Press

  2. Dog Man – Dav Pilkey, Graphix

  3. I Survived – Lauren Tarshis, Karen De la Vega (Illus.), Scholastic

  4. Percy Jackson and the Olympians – Rick Riordan, Hyperion

  5. Wings of Fire – Tui T. Sutherland, Mike Holmes (Illus.), Scholastic

  6. Diary of a Wimpy Kid – Jeff Kinney, Harry N. Abrams

  7. Baby-Sitters Club Graphix – Ann M. Martin, Arley Nopra (Illus.), Graphix

  8. The Wild Robot – Peter Brown, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

  9. Warriors Graphic Novels – Erin Hunter, Natalie Riess (Illus.), Sara Goetter (Illus.), HarperAlley

  10. Magic Tree House – Mary Pope Osborne, Sal Murdocca (Illus.), Random House Books for Young Readers

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