The Hamilton Review of Books' Independently Published Bestsellers List: April 2023
Take a look at which independently published books Canadians are purchasing from independent bookstores.
May 15, 2023
Fiction
Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton, Drawn & Quarterly
The Marigold by Andrew F. Sullivan, ECW Press
Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr, Coach House Books
Instructions for the Drowning by Steven Heighton, Biblioasis
Chrysalis by Anuja Varghese, House of Anansi Press
Hotline by Dimitri Nasrallah, Véhicule Press
We Meant Well by Erum Shazia Hasan, ECW Press
Tilling the Darkness by Susan Braley, Caitlin Press
Xanax Cowboy: Poems by Hannah Green, House of Anansi Press
Coq by Ali Bryan, Freehand Books
Nonfiction
On Writing and Failure: Or, On the Peculiar Perseverance Required to Endure the Life of a Writer by Stephen Marche, Biblioasis
We Go Where They Go: The Story of Anti-Racist Action by Shannon Clay, Kristin Schwartz, Michael Staudenmaier and Lady, University of Regina Press
The Prairie Gardener’s Go-To Guide for Perennials by Janet Melrose and Sheryl Normandeau, Touchwood Editions
Ordinary Wonder Tales by Emily Urquhart, Biblioasis
On Class by Deborah Dundas, Biblioasis
The Tenant Class by Ricardo Tranjan, Between the Lines
Embers: One Ojibway’s Meditations by Richard Wagamese, Douglas & McIntyre
Reclaiming Anishinaabe Law: Kinamaadiwin Inaakonigewin and the Treaty Right to Education by Leo Baskatawang, University of Manitoba Press
The End of This World: Climate Justice in So-Called Canada by Angele Alook, Emily Eaton, David Gray-Donald, Joël Laforest, Crystal Lameman and Bronwen Tucker, Between the Lines
All Things Move: Learning to Look in the Sistine Chapel by Jeannie Marshall, Biblioasis
Kids
Sometimes I Feel Like a River by Danielle Daniel (author), Josée Bisaillon (illustrator), Groundwood Books
Serge, the Snail Without a Shell by Harriet Alida Lye (author), Rosa Rankin-Gee (author), Andrea Blinick (illustrator), Nimbus Publishing
Sixties Girl by MaryLou Driedger, Wandering Fox (Heritage House)
Gordie’s Skate by Bill Waiser (author), Leanne Franson (illustrator), Thistledown Press
Still This Love Goes On by Buffy Sainte-Marie (author), Julie Flett (illustrator) Greystone 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 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 we’re seeing some new titles, even as the last years bestsellers hold onto their top spots, but there is a lot of change from month to month, particularly in the non-fiction list.
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. Please, if you’re looking for something wonderful to read, 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