The Hamilton Review of Books' Independently Published Bestsellers List: November 2023
Take a look at which independently published books Canadians are purchasing from independent bookstores.
December 13, 2023
Fiction
Chrysalis by Anuja Varghese, House of Anansi Press
The Librarianist by Patrick deWitt, House of Anansi Press
The House by the Poppy Field by Marjorie Bowen, Biblioasis
The Captain of the Polestar by Arthur Conan Doyle, Biblioasis
Semi-Detached by Elizabeth Ruth, Cormorant Press
Reuniting with Strangers: A Novel by Jennilee Austria-Bonifacio, Douglas & McIntyre
The Economy of Sparrows by Trevor Herriot, Thistledown Press
Yara by Tamara Faith Berger, Coach House Books
No Town Called We by Nikki Reimer, Talonbooks
Where the Pavement Turns to Sand by Sheldon Birnie, Malarkey Books
Nonfiction
On Community by Casey Plett, Biblioasis
The Age of Insecurity: Coming Together as Things Fall Apart by Astra Taylor, House of Anansi Press
Are You Willing to Die for the Cause: Revolution in 1960s Quebec by Chris Oliveros, Drawn & Quarterly
All the Years Combine: The Grateful Dead in Fifty Shows by Ray Robertson, Biblioasis
Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton, Drawn & Quarterly
Cheated: The Laurier Liberals and the Theft of First Nations Reserve Land by Bill Waiser (Author), Jennie Hansen (Author), ECW Press
On The Road to Abandoned Manitoba: Taking the scenic route through historic places by Gordon Goldsborough, Great Plains Press
Pictures on the Wall: Building a Canadian Art Collection by Michael Audain, Douglas & McIntyre
Manipulating the Message: How Powerful Forces Shape the News by Cecil Rosner, Dundurn Press
Truth and Reconciliation Through Education: Stories of Decolonizing Practices by Yvonne Poitras Pratt, PhD (Editor), Sulyn Bodnaresko (Editor), Brush Education
Kids
Maggie Lou, Firefox by Arnolda Dufour Bowes (Author), Karlene Harvey (Illustrator), Groundwood Books
Skating Wild on an Inland Sea by Jean E. Pendziwol (Author), Todd Stewart (Illustrator), Groundwood Books
The Haunting of Adrian Yates by Markus Harwood-Jones, Metonymy Press
Salma Writes a Book by Danny Ramadan (Author), Anna Bron (Illustrator), Annick Press
Fluffy and the Stars by T’áncháy Redvers (Author), Roza Nozari (Illustrator), Orca Book Publishers
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 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 what happens when there is no one book that’s picked up multiple award wins among the independent publisher’s fall titles. We have a much wider range of titles coming and going from the list than in the previous year.
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