Number One in Hardcover Fiction The Emperor of Gladness:,by Ocean Vuong,
published by Penguin Press.
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 17, 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
- The Emperor of Gladness – Ocean Vuong, Penguin Press, $30, 9780593831878
- Atmosphere – Taylor Jenkins Reid, Ballantine Books, $30, 9780593158715
- James – Percival Everett, Doubleday, $28, 9780385550369
- The Wedding People – Alison Espach, Henry Holt and Co., $28.99, 9781250899576
- My Friends – Fredrik Backman, Atria Books, $29.99, 9781982112820
- Not Quite Dead Yet – Holly Jackson, Bantam, $28, 9780593977057
- Wild Dark Shore – Charlotte McConaghy, Flatiron Books, $28.99, 9781250827951
- The Bewitching – Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Del Rey, $29, 9780593874325
- An Inside Job – Daniel Silva, Harper, $32, 9780063384217
- Culpability – Bruce Holsinger, Spiegel & Grau, $30, 9781954118966
- Automatic Noodle – Annalee Newitz, Tordotcom, $24.99, 9781250357465
- Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil – V. E. Schwab, Tor Books, $29.99, 9781250320520
- The God of the Woods – Liz Moore, Riverhead Books, $30, 9780593418918
- My Name Is Emilia del Valle – Isabel Allende, Ballantine Books, $30, 9780593975091
- The Magician of Tiger Castle – Louis Sachar, Ace, $30, 9780593952306
HARDCOVER NONFICTION
- 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
- Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America – Robert B. Reich, Knopf, $30, 9780593803288
- The Creative Act: A Way of Being – Rick Rubin, Penguin Press, $32, 9780593652886
- Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection – John Green, Crash Course Books, $28, 9780525556572
- A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck – Sophie Elmhirst, Riverhead Books, $28, 9780593854280
- Here Beside the Rising Tide: Jerry Garcia, the Grateful Dead, and an American Awakening – Jim Newton, Random House, $32, 9780593447055
- King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution: A Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation – Scott Anderson, Doubleday, $35, 9780385548076
- Tonight in Jungleland: The Making of Born to Run – Peter Ames Carlin, Doubleday, $30, 9780385551533
- Ready for My Close-Up: The Making of Sunset Boulevard and the Dark Side of the Hollywood Dream – David M. Lubin, Grand Central Publishing, $30, 9781538739297
- I Regret Almost Everything: A Memoir – Keith McNally, Gallery Books, $29.99, 9781668017647
- Me, My Customer, and AI: The New Rules of Entrepreneurship – Henrik Werdelin, Nicholas Thorne, Lasega Books, $26, 9781637634547
- The Multiply Method: Simple Systems for Building a Solid, Sustainable Network Marketing Team – Sarah Robbins, Mission Driven Press, $26, 9781637634509
- Abundance – Ezra Klein, Derek Thompson, Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster, $30, 9781668023488
- Raising Hare: A Memoir – Chloe Dalton, Pantheon, $27, 9780593701843
- It’s Only Drowning: A True Story of Learning to Surf and the Search for Common Ground – David Litt, Gallery Books, $29.99, 9781668035351
TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION
- Martyr! – Kaveh Akbar, Vintage, $18, 9780593685778
- Project Hail Mary – Andy Weir, Ballantine, $22, 9780593135228
- Remarkably Bright Creatures – Shelby Van Pelt, Ecco, $19.99, 9780063204164
- The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho, HarperOne, $17.99, 9780062315007
- I Who Have Never Known Men – Jacqueline Harpman, Transit Books, $16.95, 9781945492600
- The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store – James McBride, Riverhead Books, $19, 9780593422953
- Tell Me Everything – Elizabeth Strout, Random House Trade Paperbacks, $18, 9780593446119
- The Lion Women of Tehran – Marjan Kamali, Gallery Books, $18.99, 9781668036594
- All Fours – Miranda July, Riverhead Books, $19, 9780593190272
- The Thursday Murder Club – Richard Osman, Penguin, $18, 9781984880987
- All the Colors of the Dark – Chris Whitaker, Crown, $19, 9780593798898
- Alchemy and a Cup of Tea – Rebecca Thorne, Bramble, $19.99, 9781250333278
- The Safekeep – Yael van der Wouden, Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster, $18.99, 9781668034354
- The Paris Novel – Ruth Reichl, Random House Trade Paperbacks, $19, 9780812986372
- Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology – Shane Hawk (Ed.), Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. (Ed.), Vintage, $17, 9780593468463
