The Hamilton Review of Books' Independently Published Bestsellers List: September 2023
Take a look at which independently published books Canadians are purchasing from independent bookstores.
October 17, 2023
Fiction
The Librarianist by Patrick De Witt, House of Anansi
In Search of April Raintree: 40th Anniversary edition by Beatrice Mosionier (Author), Katherena Vermette (Foreword) by Dr. Raven Sinclair PhD (Afterword), HighWater Press
Roaming by Jillian Tamaki (Author) and Mariko Tamaki (Author), Drawn & Quarterly
Semi-Detached by Elizabeth Ruth, Cormorant Press
Breaking and Entering by Don Gillmor, Biblioasis
The Marigold by Andrew F. Sullivan, ECW Press
the berry takes the shape of the bloom by andrea bennett, Talon Books
Away from the Dead by David Bergen, Goose Lane Editions
Kink Bands by David Martin, NeWest Press,
The Economy of Sparrows by Trevor Herriot, Thistledown Press
Nonfiction
The Age of Insecurity: Coming Together as Things Fall Apart by Astra Taylor, House of Anansi
The Tenant Class by Ricardo Tranjan, Between the Lines
It's All about the Land: Collected Talks and Interviews on Indigenous Resurgence by Taiaiake Alfred (Author), Pamela Palmater (Foreword), Ann Rogers (Editor), Aevo (University of Toronto Press)
Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton, Drawn & Quarterly
The Compassionate Imagination: How the Arts Are Central to a Functioning Democracy by Max Wyman, Cormorant Books
On Writing and Failure: Or, On the Peculiar Perseverance Required to Endure the Life of a Writer by Stephen Marche, Biblioasis
On Class by Deborah Dundas, Biblioasis
Crash Harrison - Tales of a Bomber Pilot Who Defied Death by Deana J. Driver, DriverWorks Ink
My Body is Distant: A Memoir by Paige Maylott, ECW Press
Embrace Your Divine Flow: Evolvements for Healing by James R. Parker (Author), Marlene Yellow Horn (Author), Raymond Yakeleya (Author), et al. UpRoute
Kids
Every Child Matters by Phyllis Webstad (Author), Karlene Harvey (Illustrator), Marie-Christine Payette (Translator), Medicine Wheel Publishing
Be a Good Ancestor by Leona Prince (Author), Gabrielle Prince (Author), Carla Joseph (Illustrator), Orca Book Publishers
With Our Orange Hearts by Phyllis Webstad (Author), Emily Kewageshig (Illustrator), Medicine Wheel Education
Still this Love Goes On by Buffy Sainte-Marie (Author), Julie Flett (Illustrator), Greystone Kids
The Cow Said BOO! by Lana Button (Author), Alice Carter (Illustrator), Pajama Press
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 the start of the fall titles, and the impact of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
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