By The California Independent Booksellers Alliance / April 7, 2021
SoCal Bestsellers
Hardcover Fiction
1. The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman (Viking: $16) A special edition of the poem delivered at the Biden inauguration.
2. Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro (Knopf: $28) A view of a technologically advanced society from the perspective of a child’s artificial friend.
3. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (Viking: $26) A reader in an infinite library is torn between versions of the life she is leading and the life she could be leading.
4. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab (Tor: $27) In 1714 France, a desperate young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever but is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.
5. The Consequences of Fear by Jacqueline Winspear (Harper: $28) A Maisie Dobbs murder mystery set in 1941 London.
6. The Committed by Viet Thanh Nguyen (Grove: $27) In Paris of the 1980s two Vietnamese refugees struggle to assimilate, in a sequel to “The Sympathizer.”
7. The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah (St. Martin’s: $29) A woman must choose whether to migrate to California or stay in the 1930s Texas Dust Bowl.
8. Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell (Knopf: $27) An Elizabethan tale of love and grief in 16th century Stratford-Upon-Avon.
9. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett (Riverhead: $27) Identical twin sisters run away from their small Black community in the South and live very different lives.
10. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Del Rey: $27) A woman is summoned to a mysterious home in rural Mexico to rescue her newlywed cousin.
Hardcover Nonfiction
1. The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson (Simon & Schuster: $35) An exploration of how Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna helped launched the gene editing revolution.
2. Caste by Isabel Wilkerson (Random House: $32) America’s hidden caste system influences the lives of Americans.
3. The Beauty of Living Twice by Sharon Stone (Knopf: $28) The A-list actor recalls the journey to rebuild her life after suffering a subarachnoid hemorrhage in 2001.
4. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy (HarperOne: $23) A modern fable explores life’s universal lessons through four archetypes.
5. How to Avoid a Climate Disaster by Bill Gates (Knopf: $27) The philanthropist offers his perspective on global warming.
6. Untamed by Glennon Doyle (Dial: $28) The activist explores the peace that comes when we stop striving to meet the world’s expectations.
7. Vibrant by Stacie Stephenson (BenBella: $30) A practical guide to improving health from the lifestyle doctor.
8. Mike Nichols: A Life by Mark Harris (Penguin: $35) A biography of the Oscar-winning director, from his childhood in 1930s Germany to fame and fortune in Hollywood.
9. A Little Devil in America by Hanif Abdurraqib (Random House: $27) A collection of essays, poems and short works revealing the role of Black performances in American History.
10. Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey (Crown: $30) A memoir from the Oscar-winning actor.
Paperback Fiction
1. Circe by Madeline Miller (Back Bay: $17)
2. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (Ecco: $17)
3. Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu (Vintage: $16)
4. Deacon King Kong by James McBride (Riverhead: $17)
5. The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen (Grove: $17)
6. Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart (Grove: $17)
7. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (Putnam: $18)
8. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (HarperOne: $17)
9. The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (Tor: $19)
10. The Dutch House by Ann Patchett (Harper: $17)
Paperback Nonfiction
1. The Body by Bill Bryson (Anchor: $17)
2. Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer (Milkweed: $18)
3. Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong (One World: $18)
4. Becoming by Michelle Obama (Crown: $19)
5. Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall (Penguin: $16)
6. Dirt by Bill Buford (Vintage: $17)
7. All About Love by bell hooks (Morrow: $16)
8. The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk (Penguin: $19)
9. The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz (Amber-Allen: $13)
10. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (Penguin: $11)