Adults - Books about California

Updated March 21, 2026
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City of Irvine Public Library City of Irvine Public Library
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Adults - Books about California

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The golden gate
Chua, Amy
Paper Book
Amy Chua's debut novel, The Golden Gate, is a sweeping, evocative, and compelling historical thriller that paints a vibrant portrait of a California buffeted by the turbulent crosswinds of a world at war and a society about to undergo massive change. In Berkeley,...
Wild : from lost to found on the Pacific Crest Trail
Strayed, Cheryl
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A powerful, blazingly honest memoir: the story of an eleven-hundred-mile solo hike that broke down a young woman reeling from catastrophe--and built her back up again. A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Century At...
Showtime : Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers dynasty of the 1980s
Pearlman, Jeff.
Paper Book
The New York Times bestselling author of Sweetness delivers the first all-encompassing account of the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers, one of professional sports’ most-revered—and dominant—dynasties.   The Los Angeles Lakers of the 1980s...
Four wheels and a board : the Smithsonian history of skateboarding
Gordon, Betsy
Paper Book
A bold look at the creative, controversial, and vibrant history of skateboarding, and the amazing skaters who continually reinvent it Skateboarding isn't just a recreational activity, but a professional sport, lifestyle, art form, and cultural phenomenon. The striking book...
East of Eden
Steinbeck, John
Paper Book
In his journal, John Steinbeck called East of Eden “the first book,” and indeed it has the primordial power and simplicity of myth. Set in the rich farmland of California’s Salinas Valley, this sprawling and often brutal novel follows the intertwined destinies of two families-the...
Alice Waters & Chez Panisse : the romantic, impractical, often eccentric, ultimately brilliant making of a food revolution
McNamee, Thomas
Paper Book
In an authorized biography-the story of Alice Waters, Chez Panisse, and the San Francisco 1970s counterculture food revolution that invented "American cuisine" Not so long ago it was nearly impossible to find a cappuccino or a croissant in this country, and goat cheese and mesclun lettuce were...
My first summer in the Sierra
Muir, John
Paper Book
John Muir, a young Scottish immigrant, had not yet become a famed conservationist when he first trekked into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, not long after the Civil War. He was so captivated by what he saw that he decided to devote his life to the glorification and preservation of this...
Automatic noodle
Newitz, Annalee
Paper Book
A cozy near-future novella about a crew of leftover robots opening their very own noodle shop, from acclaimed sci-fi author Annalee Newitz. An instant USA Today and indie bestseller! Indie Next pick | Library Reads pick | Best of the Year at...
Disney's land : Walt Disney and the invention of the amusement park that changed the world
Snow, Richard
Paper Book
A propulsive history chronicling the conception and creation of Disneyland, the masterpiece California theme park, as told like never before by popular historian Richard Snow. One day in the early 1950s, Walt Disney stood looking over 240 acres of farmland in Anaheim, California,...
Valley of genius : the uncensored history of Silicon Valley, as told by the hackers, founders, and freaks who made it boom
Fisher, Adam
Paper Book
"This is the most important book on Silicon Valley I've read in two decades. It will take us all back to our roots in the counterculture, and will remind us of the true nature of the innovation process, before we tried to tame it with slogans and buzzwords." -- Po Bronson, #1 New York Times...
AfriCali : recipes from my Jikoni
Moju, Kiano
Paper Book
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times, Bon Appetit, Saveur, Food & Wine, Los Angeles Times, and Food Network Turn readily available ingredients and pantry staples into easy yet flavorful weeknight meals and dinner...
West of Eden : an American place
Stein, Jean
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * An epic, mesmerizing oral history of Hollywood and Los Angeles from the author of the contemporary classic Edie Jean Stein transformed the art of oral history in her groundbreaking book Edie: American Girl, an indelible portrait of...
Daughter of fortune : a novel
Allende, Isabel.
Paper Book
A magnificent sweeping tale from the international bestselling author of 'The House of the Spirits'. Set in Anglophile Chile and goldrush California during the middle years of the nineteenth century, this magnificent romance tells the story of English foundling Eliza Sommers...
The Circle : a novel
Eggers, Dave.
Paper Book
A bestselling dystopian novel that tackles surveillance, privacy and the frightening intrusions of technology in our lives--a "compulsively readable parable for the 21st century" (Vanity Fair).  When Mae Holland is hired to work for the Circle, the world's most...
The Maltese falcon
Hammett, Dashiell
Paper Book
FEATURING THE CHARACTER THAT INSPIRED THE AMC SERIES MONSIEUR SPADE STARRING CLIVE OWEN ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE'S 100 BEST MYSTERY AND THRILLER BOOKS OF ALL TIME Detective Sam Spade is a private eye with his own solitary code of ethics. When his...
The guncle : a novel
Rowley, Steven
Paper Book
Patrick, or Gay Uncle Patrick (GUP, for short), has always loved his niece, Maisie, and nephew, Grant. That is, he loves spending time with them when they come out to Palm Springs for weeklong visits. However, tragedy strikes and Patrick suddenly finds himself taking on the role of primary guardian....
Oil! : a novel
Sinclair, Upton
Paper Book
The classic novel that inspired the Academy award-winning film, There Will Be Blood. Penguin Books is proud to now be the sole publisher of Oil!, the classic 1927 novel by Upton Sinclair. After writing The Jungle, his scathing indictment of the meatpacking industry,...
The Joy Luck Club
Tan, Amy.
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Amy Tan's modern classic that examines the sometimes painful, often tender, and always deep connection between mothers and daughters "For me, [The Joy Luck Club] was one of those once-in-a-lifetime reading experiences that you cherish...
Properties of thirst : a novel
Wiggins, Marianne
Paper Book
A National Bestseller A New Yorker Best Book of 2022 Fifteen years after the publication of Evidence of Things Unseen, National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize finalist Marianne Wiggins returns with a novel destined to be an American classic: a...
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