The candidates vying to represent Californians in various statewide offices this year are diverse. And so it’s probably not surprising that their favorite books vary widely as well.
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We asked the statewide candidates to tell us about the best book they’ve read this year, and why they’ve found it compelling.
One candidate prefers cookbooks, harkening back to his days in the restaurant business. Another admits his recent reading includes “Llama Llama Red Pajama,” as the parent of two smaller kids. Other candidates chose memoirs, “The Art of War,” or science fiction.
Take a look below at what they had to say.
Attorney General
Rob Bonta: A recent favorite is “How to Stand Up to a Dictator: The Fight for Our Future” by Maria Ressa, the Filipina journalist who won the Nobel Peace Prize for defending press freedom. The book hits close to home for me. Ressa chronicles the Philippines under authoritarian rule – the same political climate my mother and father fled when they brought our family to California – and shows how disinformation and attacks on the press can resurrect a dictatorship a generation later. Reading it, I couldn’t help but think of our own political moment: a president who attacks judges and journalists, defies court orders, and treats the law as a mere speed bump on the way to advancing his agenda. California is on the front lines of that fight, and Ressa’s lesson sticks with me: democracy dies quietly, through a thousand small surrenders, and the time to stand up and fight is now – while we still can.
Michael Gates: The best book I read this year was “Team of Rivals” by Doris Kearns Goodwin. What stayed with me was Lincoln’s willingness to surround himself with capable people who challenged him, including people who had opposed him politically. That takes confidence and humility. It reminded me that leadership requires listening carefully, testing your assumptions and putting the public’s interests ahead of personal pride. Those are qualities I believe matter enormously in an attorney general.
Controller
Malia Cohen: The last book I read was “Raising Good Humans” by Hunter Clarke-Fields. As a mother of a 6-year-old girl, my hope was to learn lessons that could apply to my parenting. What I did not expect was to learn lessons that could also apply to leadership. The author shows that in order to raise good humans, we must start with modeling one. This means being mindful of how we respond under pressure, listening rather than being reactive, and understanding that our children are watching and learning. The same is true of leadership. We are responsible for setting the tone for those around us. I think of when I was a young professional, watching and learning from the people who supervised me and those who supervised them. Whether they realized it or not, their leadership helped mold mine. Those who lead with empathy, listen, continue to learn from others, and uplift their team members often make a lasting impact — not just in the communities they serve, but among the people they lead. “Raising Good Humans” reminded me that leadership starts at home and that the lessons continue well beyond those walls.
Herb Morgan: I have not sat down with a book this year in the way that question expects. I wish I had the hours. Campaigning to fix California’s books does not leave much of them. I learn by working problems. I use AI tools to gather facts, pressure-test them against other models and primary sources, and keep what survives. That is how I read budgets, audit findings, and statutes now: interrogate the claim, check the citation, discard the residue. Someday, when this work is done, and I am no longer on the trail, I intend to recover the pleasure of a long book again. Until then, the text that matters is the one the public cannot yet follow — the dollar after it leaves Sacramento.
Governor
Xavier Becerra: The candidate declined to answer this question.
Steve Hilton: I enjoy reading books that give me a break from politics, and have always loved cookbooks and books about food: I used to run a couple of restaurants and generally have done most of the cooking in our house. I recently read a wonderful book that combined local recipes with a travel guide featuring some of our great National Park lodges. It was such a delight. One of the great joys we’ve had as a family since moving to California in 2012 has been exploring our beautiful and magnificent National Parks, and this book brought so much that I love together in one place!
Insurance Commissioner
Ben Allen: This campaign experience has definitely cramped my reading style, as I have had less leisure and reading time, as has having two little ones! So in addition to the amusing, well-written poetry of “Llama Llama Red Pajama,” my best book experience of this year that I will highlight is Kim Stanley Robinson’s “The High Sierra: A Love Story” that I popped open during a conference I attended with the family in Yosemite. I found the section on John Muir particularly compelling as it went through how he ended up in Yosemite and his famous jaunt with Theodore Roosevelt, escaping the cameras to get out into nature with the sitting president of the United States — Robinson’s love for the Sierra and Muir’s love for Yosemite is contagious and very understandable when you’re up in the mountains. I definitely look forward to spending some more time in California’s incredible wildlands after this campaign is over. I have always been inspired by Muir’s doggedness, his spirituality, and how he focused on politics because he thought it necessary to protect the special places that he loved even as it’s clear that he would’ve rather been focusing on connecting and communing with nature.
Jane Kim: “Things Become Other Things” by Craig Mod – a heart-achingly beautiful memoir centered around the author’s reflections growing up in a factory town, sparked by his solo walk retracing the Kumano Kodō, the ancient pilgrimage path through Japan’s southern Kii Peninsula. It is a poignant reflection on towns and memories left behind, written in beautifully reflective prose.
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Lieutenant Governor
Fiona Ma: The best book I’ve read this year is “As We Speak: How to Make Your Point and Have It Stick” by Peter Meyers and Shann Nix. I found it compelling because leadership is not only about having good ideas — it is also about communicating them clearly, authentically and memorably. The book offers practical lessons on how to connect with an audience, organize a message and turn complex information into a story people can understand and remember. As someone who regularly speaks with Californians across all 58 counties, I found its focus on listening, preparation and genuine connection especially valuable. Whether addressing students, farmers, small-business owners or elected officials, effective communication begins with understanding the audience and explaining why an issue matters in their daily lives. The book reinforced my belief that public service requires more than talking; it requires listening, building trust and inspiring people to act together.
Gloria Romero: Each year I read the Bible anew, but this year I challenged myself to read it chronologically. Two books within the Bible especially spoke to me: Esther and Ecclesiastes. Esther’s story resonated deeply because it is about finding the courage to answer a call you did not necessarily seek. The words “for such a time as this” took on deep meaning for me. I had stepped away from elected office and did not expect to return. But watching California struggle — from failing schools and the affordability crisis to public safety and declining trust in government — I came to believe that sometimes we are called to step forward rather than remain on the sidelines. That lesson helped shape my approach to running for lieutenant governor. Ecclesiastes offered the complementary lesson: political titles, recognition, and worldly accomplishments are temporary. What matters is whether we use our time wisely and serve a purpose greater than ourselves. Together, Esther and Ecclesiastes reminded me that leadership is not about seeking a title. It is about recognizing when your experience can be put to service — and having the courage to answer the call.
Secretary of State
Don Wagner: I had a chance this year to re-read Thomas Sowell’s “A Conflict of Visions.” Sowell does a masterful job of analyzing the conflicts in worldviews that drive our competing parties and their respective partisans. In Sowell’s telling, how one understands human nature largely determines where one falls on the political spectrum. It also traces the respectable intellectual heritages of the two predominant worldviews Sowell identifies. While I certainly find myself adhering to one of those two views, Sowell helps explain the thinking of those who disagree with me and share the competing view.
Shirley Weber: Viola Davis’s “Finding Me” is by far the best book I have read this year. She shares how her career launched because somebody “saw her,” just like how a professor saw me when I was in university — the only Black student in my program — changing the trajectory of my life.
Superintendent of Public Instruction
Richard Barrera: I thoroughly enjoyed “Project Hail Mary,” by Andy Weir. At its heart, it is a novel about friendship, but between a human and an alien comprised of rocks. Together, they face the looming extinction of their home planets. They have to overcome their differences to prevent almost certain disaster. The book also highlights the important role of science in solving our planet’s problems, but it is completely accessible to a non-scientist like me. It’s fast-paced, gripping, and – surprisingly for a book about the end of the world – very funny.
Sonja Shaw: “The Art of War.” I found it very relevant to the battle I’ve been in these last few years to fix our schools and protect our kids. Know the terrain, do not fight the last war, and do not confuse noise with strength. That is good advice for a parent who walked into a system that expected her just give up.
Treasurer
Jennifer Hawks: I have to admit, I haven’t read a book since I got into this race — but I’ve probably read enough about how California spends our money to fill a small library! I’ve spent my time digging into the Treasurer’s Office, following the money, and trying to understand where taxpayer dollars actually go. So, no bestsellers lately. My reading list has been billions of dollars, lots of fine print, and more numbers than any grandmother should have to look at!
Eleni Kounalakis: I’m an avid reader, but one book stands out this year: “The Ministry of Time” by Kaliane Bradley. It’s strange, funny, and phenomenal science fiction on the surface, but at its heart it’s about a young woman doing something very ordinary and very hard: helping someone impossibly displaced learn how to live in a new world, day by day, without a map. I recognize that work. I’m the daughter of an immigrant. My father came to California with nothing and worked hard every day to give his children a feeling of belonging and empowerment that we could build from. I’ve spent my career doing exactly that, and I think about the thousands of families across California doing the same thing today: starting over, working hard, and hoping the place they’ve chosen will choose them back. Bradley writes that feeling with so much tenderness, respect, and love. It’s a book about what it means to be an outsider, and the power of community that invites each other in. That brave compassion is easy to overlook in public life, but it’s often the whole job — and it’s the part of my father’s story I hope I’ve honored.
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