The week’s bestselling books, Oct. 6

By The California Independent Booksellers Alliance

Oct. 2, 2024 6 AM PT

Hardcover fiction

1. Intermezzo by Sally Rooney (Farrar, Straus & Giroux: $29) Two grieving brothers come to terms with their history and the people they love.

2. James by Percival Everett (Doubleday: $28) An action-packed reimagining of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”

3. Playground by Richard Powers (W. W. Norton & Co.: $30) The Pacific Ocean-set novel explores one of the last wild places we have yet to colonize.

4. The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk, Antonia Lloyd-Jones (Transl.) (Riverhead Books: $30) The Nobel Prize winner sets her latest novel in a sanitarium on the eve of World War I.

5. Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout (Random House: $30) A return to the town of Crosby, Maine, and its colorful cast of characters.

6. All Fours by Miranda July (Riverhead Books: $29) A woman upends her domestic life in this irreverent and tender novel.

7. Colored Television by Danzy Senna (Riverhead Books: $29) A novelist in L.A. gets the opportunity to cash in on her biracial background in this sharply funny Hollywood takedown.

8. Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner (Scribner: $30) A seductive and cunning American woman infiltrates an anarchist collective in France.

9. The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (Riverhead Books: $30) Two worlds collide when a teenager vanishes from her Adirondacks summer camp.

10. Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune (Tor Books: $29) The sequel to the author’s beloved fantasy novel “The House in the Cerulean Sea.”

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Hardcover nonfiction

1. Nexus by Yuval Noah Harari (Random House: $35) How the flow of information has shaped us and our world across the centuries.

2. A Return to Common Sense by Leigh McGowan (Atria/One Signal Publishers: $30) A guide to how America works from the creator of PoliticsGirl.

3. On Freedom by Timothy Snyder (Crown: $32) An exploration of freedom by the Yale historian and author.

4. Something Lost, Something Gained by Hillary Rodham Clinton (Simon & Schuster: $30) A candid reflection on life, love and politics from the former first lady, secretary of State and presidential candidate.

5. The Creative Act by Rick Rubin (Penguin Press: $32) The music producer’s guidance on how to be a creative person.

6. Lucky Loser by Russ Buettner, Susanne Craig (Penguin Press: $35) Inside the history of former President Trump’s wealth, from the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters.

7. Kingmaker by Sonia Purnell (Viking: $35) A reexamination of Pamela Churchill Harriman, one of the 20th century’s greatest unsung power players.

8. Connie by Connie Chung (Grand Central Publishing: $33) A behind-the-scenes look at the legendary journalist’s pioneering rise in TV news.

9. The Art of Power by Nancy Pelosi (Simon & Schuster: $30) The most powerful woman in U.S. political history tells her story.

10. Does This Taste Funny? by Stephen Colbert, Evie McGee Colbert (Celadon Books: $35) The late-night host and his wife share their favorite recipes from family and friends.

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