Adults - Books about California

Updated March 21, 2026
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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
NATIONAL BEST SELLER * Oprah's Book Club 2.0 selection. * 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...
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...
East of Eden: (Penguin Orange Collection)
Steinbeck, John
Paper Book
The masterpiece of Steinbeck's later years--at once a family saga and a modern retelling of the Book of Genesis Part of the Penguin Orange Collection, Winner of the 2016 AIGA + Design Observer 50 Books | 50 Covers competition and a limited-run series of American classics designed...
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,...
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...
Daughter of fortune : a novel
Allende, Isabel.
Paper Book
An Oprah Book Club slection! "Allende has created a masterpiece of historical fiction that is passionate, adventurous, and brilliantly insightful. . . . suspenseful and surprising." --Denver Post From the revered New York Times bestselling author of The...
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 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....
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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