California fiction
Explore the best California fiction books with our curated list. Discover gripping novels set in the Golden State, from classic tales to modern masterpieces. Perfect for book lovers!
Book
The Grapes of Wrath
by John Steinbeck
The saga of a family in 1939 that struggles through the Great Depression by laboring as Dust Bowl migrants.
Book
East of Eden
by John Steinbeck
This sprawling and often brutal novel, set in the rich farmlands of California's Salinas Valley, follows the intertwined destinies of two families--the Trasks' and the …
Book
Roughing it
by Mark Twain
Describes the author's experiences during the six years he spent in California, Nevada, and Hawaii
Book
The Life and Adventures of Joaquín Murieta, the Celebrated California Bandit
by John Rollin Ridge
A fictionalized biography of Joaquin Murieta, a nineteenth-century Mexican bandit who organized an outlaw company numbering more than two thousand who terrorized gold-rush Californians.
Book
Bret Harte's Gold Rush
by Bret Harte
These fifteen stories bring the California Gold Rush to life with their boisterous assemblage of rough-clad miners, pistol-packing preachers, iron-willed women, and philosophical gamblers. Theirs …
Book
The Octopus
by Frank Norris
Like the tentacles of an octopus, the tracks of the railroad reached out across California, as if to grasp everything of value in the state …
Book
The Joy Luck Club
by Amy Tan
Encompassing two generations and a rich blend of Chinese and American history, the story of four struggling, strong women also reveals their daughters' memories and …
Book
Miss Lonelyhearts & The Day of the Locust
by Nathanael West
Two classic short stories, one about a male reporter who writes an advice column, and the other, about people who have migrated to California in …
Book
The Big Sleep
by Raymond Chandler
The renowned novel from the crime fiction master, with the "quintessential urban private eye" (Los Angeles Times), Philip Marlowe. • Featuring the iconic character that …
Book
Slouching Towards Bethlehem
by Joan Didion
A RICH DISPLAY OF SOME OF THE BEST PROSE WRITTEN TODAY IN THE USA.