The Hamilton Review of Books' Independently Published Bestsellers List: May 2024
Take a look at which independently published books Canadians are purchasing from independent bookstores.
June 17, 2024
Fiction
The Future by Catherine Leroux (Author), Susan Ouriou (Translator), Biblioasis
Who By Fire by Greg Rhyno, Cormorant Books
Chrysalis: Stories by Anuja Varghese, House of Anansi Press
Shut Up You’re Pretty by Téa Mutonji, Arsenal Pulp Press
An Ordinary Violence by Adriana Chartrand, Spiderline, House of Anansi Press
Lightning Strikes the Silence: A Lane Winslow Mystery by Iona Whishaw, Touchwood Editions
Indian Winter by Kazim Ali, Coach House Books
Lucid by Jenna Boholij, Dreamsphere Books
Up Front: Flash Fiction by Ken Rivard, Mosaic Press
A Simple Carpenter by Dave Margoshes, Radiant Press
Nonfiction
40 Days & 40 Hikes: Loving the Bruce Trail One Loop at a Time by Nicola Ross, ECW Press
The Good Walk: Creating New Paths on Traditional Prairie Trails by Matthew R Anderson, University of Regina Press
The Age of Insecurity: Coming Together as Things Fall Apart by Astra Taylor, House of Anansi
The Medicine Chest: A Physician's Journey Towards Reconciliation by Jarol Boan, University of Regina Press
On Community by Casey Plett, Biblioasis
Around the Kitchen Table: Métis Aunties' Scholarship by Laura Forsythe (Editor), Jennifer Markides (Editor), University of Manitoba Press
Going to Seed: Essays on Idleness, Nature, and Sustainable Work by Kate Neville, University of Regina Press
Beneath the Surface of Things: New & Selected Essays by Wade Davis, Greystone Books
Streams of Consequence: Dispatches from the Conservation World by Lorne Fitch, Rocky Mountain Books
Counting Bones: Anatomy of Love Lost and Found by Ellen Anderson Penno, NeWest Press
Kids
Let’s Go by Julie Flett, Greystone Kids
Let’s Get Creative: Art for a Healthy Planet by Jessica Rose (Author), Jarett Sitter (Illustrator), Orca Book Publishers
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
This is a Tiny Fragile Snake by Nicholas Ruddock (Author), Ashley Barron (Illustrator), Groundwood Books
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, 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 starting to see a switch to summer reading, with many nature-focused titles in the nonfiction 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