The Hamilton Review of Books' Independently Published Bestsellers List: March 2024
Take a look at which independently published books Canadians are purchasing from independent bookstores.
April 15, 2024
Fiction
The Future by Catherine Leroux (Author), Susan Ouriou (Translator), Biblioasis
Denison Avenue by Christina Wong (Author), Daniel Innes (Illustrator), ECW Press
Shut Up You’re Pretty by Téa Mutonji, Arsenal Pulp Press
Bury the Lead: A Quill & Packet Mystery by Kate Hilton (Author), Elizabeth Renzetti (Author), Spiderline (House of Anansi Press)
Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice, ECW Press
Chrysalis: Stories by Anuja Varghese, House of Anansi Press
Scientific Marvel: Poems by Chimwemwe Undi, House of Anansi Press
We Meant Well by Erum Shazia Hasan, ECW Press
The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr, Coach House Press
Unthinkable by Brent Van Staalduinen, At Bay Press
Nonfiction
The Age of Insecurity: Coming Together as Things Fall Apart by Astra Taylor, House of Anansi
Suing for Silence: Sexual Violence and Defamation Law by Mandi Gray, UBC Press
Embers: One Ojibway's Meditations by Richard Wagamese, Douglas & McIntyre
The Prairie Gardener’s Go-To for Herbs by Janet Melrose (Author), Sheryl Normandeau (Author), Touchwood Editions
Squandered: Canada's Potash Legacy by Eric Cline, University of Regina Press
We Go Where They Go: The Story of Anti-Racist Action by Shannon Clay (Author), Kristin Schwartz (Author), Michael Staudenmaier (Author), Lady (Author) and Gord Hill (Author), University of Regina Press
Manitoba Women in Design by Marieke Gruwel, Winnipeg Architectural Foundation
Big Mall: Shopping for Meaning by Kate Black, Coach House Books
Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton, Drawn & Quarterly
Reasonable Cause to Suspect: A Mother's Ordeal to Save Her Son from a Kurdish Prison by Sally Lane, Dundurn Press
Kids
Sometimes I Feel Like an Oak by Danielle Daniel (Author), Jackie Traverse (Illustrator), Groundwood Books
We Need Everyone by Michael Redhead Champagne (Author), Tiff Bartel (Illustrator), Highwater Press
The Headmasters by Mark Morton, Shadowpaw Press
Boys and Girls Screaming by Kern Carter, DCB (Cormorant Books)
Treaty Words: For As Long As the Rivers Flow by Aimée Craft (Author), Luke Swinson (Illustrator), Annick 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 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 continuing to see the impact of Canada Reads, with some new releases showing up and some older, beloved titles, reappearing. Also, we have a particularly strong showing from the University presses in nonfiction.
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