The Hamilton Review of Books' Independently Published Bestsellers List: May 2022
Take a look at which independently published books Canadians are purchasing from independent bookstores.
Fiction
Scarborough by Catherine Hernandez, Arsenal Pulp Press
This is How We Love by Lisa Moore, House of Anansi
Buffalo is the New Buffalo by Chelsea Vowel, Arsenal Pulp Press
Shelterbelts by Jonathan Dyck, Conundrum Press
Fifty-Four Pigs: A Doctor Bannerman Vet Mystery by Phillip Schott, ECW
Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century by Kim Fu, Coach House Books
Going to Beautiful by Anthony Bidulka, Stonehouse Originals
Flyway by Sarah Ens, Turnstone Press
CanalWatch by Ken Rivard, Mosaic Press
You Still Look the Same by Farzana Doctor, Freehand Books
Nonfiction
Cobalt: Cradle of the Demon Metals, Birth of a Mining Super Power by Charlie Angus, House of Anansi
Disarm, Defund, Dismantle: Police Abolition in Canada edited by Shiri Pasternak, Kevin Walby and Abby Stadnyk, Between the Lines Press
Woman, Watching: Louise de Kiriline Lawrence and the Songbirds of Pimisi Bay by Merilyn Simonds, ECW
Forest Walking: Discovering the Trees and Woodlands of North America by Peter Wohlleben, Jane Billinghurst, Greystone Books
White Benevolence: Racism and Colonial Violence in the Helping Professions edited by Amanda Gebhard, Sheelah McLean and Verna St. Denis, Fernwood Publishing
Only in Saskatchewan: Recipes and Stories from the Province’s Best-Loved Eateries by Naomi Hansen and Garrett Kendal, TouchWood Editions
In Our Backyard: Keeyask and the Legacy of Hydroelectric Development by edited Aimée Craft and Jill Blakley, University of Manitoba Press
Women Winning Office: An Activist’s Guide to Getting Elected by Peggy Nash, Between the Lines
From the Corner of Bad and Ass: True Stories by Carrie Schiffler, Durville Publications
Through a Changing Landscape: Photographing Place and Community in Waterloo Region by Philippe Elsworthy and Adam Crerar, Wilfrid Laurier University Press
Kids
The Little Book: Story Reader for a Free Ukraine by Mykola Matwijczuk and Lorene Shyba, Magda Stroinska, Durville Publications
Be A Good Ancestor by Leona Prince, Gabrielle Prince, Carla Joseph, Orca Publishing
Lost on the Prairie by MaryLou Dreidger, Wandering Fox
Boys and Girls Screaming by Kern Carter, Dancing Cat Books
The Wind and the Trees by Todd Stewart, Owl Kids
How I Built This List:
I am very grateful for all the bookstores who generously shared their sales data with me. The information used to create this list was drawn from the April sales of Another Story Bookshop in Toronto, Biblioasis Bookshop in Windsor, The City and the City Books in Hamilton, Epic Books in Hamilton, McNally Robinson Booksellers (both the Grant Park and the Forks Locations in Winnipeg), McNally Robinson Saskatoon, Shelf Life Books in Calgary and Wordsworth Books in Waterloo. We’re covering a fair amount of Canada, but I hope to add more stores over time to the process and create a more wide-ranging list. If you are a bookstore who would like to contribute to the list please get in touch with us, we’d love to have more information.
Many of the authors on this list will be new to readers, but what I’ve done here is create a bestseller list drawn only from those books published by Canadian-owned independent presses. Most of the books in the top half of both the fiction and the nonfiction bestseller lists sold well in several of the stores on the list and many of the other titles are books that sold well in only one or two stores who shared information. Sometimes these were strongly regional titles. This month I was delighted to see books by presses that hadn’t appeared on the list before.
I acknowledge that this list is not at all perfect. It is only a small sampling of the data out there, but it is a fascinating look at what independently published books Canadians are purchasing from independent bookstores across a reasonable amount of Canada.
My deep thanks to the Hamilton Review of Books for publishing this Independent Bestseller List. I’m looking forward to seeing the data for our June list, as the spring books continue to fill our bookstore shelves. Please, if you’re looking for something wonderful to read this spring and summer, visit your nearest independent bookstore and ask them what they suggest. The people who work in these stores know an amazing amount about books and will find you your next best possible read.
Noelle Allen