California Bestsellers List for the Week Ending October 11, 2026

Among the notable new releases, Nathaniel Philbrick's *The Rush* chronicles the California Gold Rush, detailing the initial gold discoveries, the mass migration West, and the impact on Indigenous communities. Additionally, Josh Silver's satirical novel *Fruit Fly* portrays a writer, Mallory Maddox, attempting to exploit the life of a struggling addict for her next book.

**Southern California Bestsellers**

*Hardcover Fiction*

- *American Hagwon*, Min Jin Lee, Cardinal, $36

- *Threshing Day (Wing and Claw Collection)*, Rebecca Yarros, Red Tower Books, $25

- *The Disappearers*, Marlon James, Riverhead Books, $32

- *Exit Party*, Emily St. John Mandel, Alfred A. Knopf, $32

- *The Calamity Club*, Kathryn Stockett, Spiegel & Grau, $35

*Hardcover Nonfiction*

- *Blockers: Rebels in the Deep State*, Michael Lewis, W. W. Norton & Company, $29.99

- *Roll the Calls: A Memoir*, Ari Emanuel, Alfred A. Knopf, $35

- *The American Way of Killing: The Invention of an Epidemic*, Malcolm Gladwell, Little, Brown and Company, $34

- *Sleeping Beauties: Why Good Ideas Go Dormant and How They Wake Up*, David Byrne, Penguin Press, $36

- *One Helluva Ride*, Michael Douglas, Grand Central Publishing, $35

*Trade Paperback Fiction*

- *East of Eden*, John Steinbeck, Penguin, $25

- *Fruit Fly*, Josh Silver, Crooked Lane Books, $20

- *Theo of Golden*, Allen Levi, Atria Books, $20

- *Dungeon Crawler Carl*, Matt Dinniman, Ace, $20

- *I Who Have Never Known Men*, Jacqueline Harpman (translated by Ros Schwartz), Transit Books, $17

*Trade Paperback Nonfiction*

- *All About Love: New Visions*, bell hooks, William Morrow, $17

- *Mother Mary Comes to Me*, Arundhati Roy, Scribner, $20

- *Bread of Angels: A Memoir*, Patti Smith, Random House Trade Paperbacks, $20

- *The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity*, Julia Cameron, TarcherPerigee, $24

- *Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea: Journeys Through Ancient Literature*, Emily Wilson, Liveright, $20

**Northern California Bestsellers**

*Hardcover Fiction*

- *Threshing Day (Wing and Claw Collection)*, Rebecca Yarros, Red Tower Books, $25

- *American Hagwon*, Min Jin Lee, Cardinal, $36

- *The Calamity Club*, Kathryn Stockett, Spiegel & Grau, $35

- *Hollywood, Ending*, John Green, Dutton Books, $32

- *Whistler*, Ann Patchett, Harper, $30

*Hardcover Nonfiction*

- *Blockers: Rebels in the Deep State*, Michael Lewis, W. W. Norton & Company, $29.99

- *The American Way of Killing: The Invention of an Epidemic*, Malcolm Gladwell, Little, Brown and Company, $34

- *The Rush: California Gold, the Civil War, and the Making of the Modern World*, Nathaniel Philbrick, Viking, $38

- *End Times Fascism: And the Fight for the Living World*, Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $32

- *The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy*, Gil Durán, Avid Reader Press, $30

*Trade Paperback Fiction*

- *Theo of Golden*, Allen Levi, Atria Books, $20

- *Dungeon Crawler Carl*, Matt Dinniman, Ace, $20

- *East of Eden*, John Steinbeck, Penguin, $25

- *May We Feed the King*, Rebecca Perry, Transit Books, $19

- *Wild Dark Shore*, Charlotte McConaghy, Flatiron Books, $19

*Trade Paperback Nonfiction*

- *Mother Mary Comes to Me*, Arundhati Roy, Scribner, $20

- *Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea: Journeys Through Ancient Literature*, Emily Wilson, Liveright, $20

- *Bread of Angels: A Memoir*, Patti Smith, Random House Trade Paperbacks, $20

- *Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It*, Cory Doctorow, Picador, $20

- *All About Love: New Visions*, bell hooks, William Morrow, $17

Source: California Independent Booksellers Alliance

Elizabeth Casillas is an associate editor at Alta Journal. She is a graduate of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and has previously contributed to the Poly Post and Enspire Magazine.