The Hamilton Review of Books' Independently Published Bestsellers List: May 2025
Take a look at which independently published books Canadians are purchasing from independent bookstores.
June 24, 2025
Fiction
The Fun Times Brigade by Lindsay Zier-Vogel, Book*hug Press
The Cost of a Hostage: A Lane Winslow Mystery by Iona Whishaw, Touchwood Editions
Who By Water: A Dame Polara Mystery by Greg Rhyno, Cormorant Books
She’s A Lamb! by Meredith Hambrock, ECW Press
I Cut My Tongue on a Broken Country by Kyo Lee, Arsenal Pulp Press
The World So Wide by Zilla Jones, Cormorant Press
Catch You on the Flipside by Lee Kvern, Enfield & Wizenty
Walking Upstream by Lloyd Ratzlaff, Thistledown Press
a body more tolerable by jaye simpson, Arsenal Pulp Press
Origins of Desire in Orchid Fens by Lynn Hutchinson Lee, Stelliform Press
Nonfiction
Soft as Bones: A Memoir by Chyana Marie Sage, House of Anansi Press
Corporate Control: Canada in Decline Book Two by Norah Loreto, Dundurn Press
Restaurant Kid: A Memoir of Family and Belonging by Rachel Phan, Douglas & McIntyre
Grandfather of the Treaties: Finding Our Future Through the Wampum Covenant by Daniel Coleman, Wolsak & Wynn
Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton, Drawn & Quarterly
REDress: Art, Action, and the Power of Presence by Jaime Black-Morsette (editor), KC Adams (Contributor), Mackenzie Anderson Linklater (Contributor), Christi Belcourt (Contributor), & 16 more, Highwater Press
You'll Pay For This: How We Can Afford a Great City for Everyone, Forever by Michel Durand-Wood (Author, Series Editor), Emma Durand-Wood (Series Editor), Great Plains Press
Dangerous Memory: Coming of Age in the Decade of Greed by Charlie Angus, House of Anansi Press
Building Bridges: A Big City Mayor Reflects on Leadership by Donald Atchison, Wood Dragon Books
Rough & Messy Justice: A Train Heist, Murder & Misdeeds by W. Keith Regular, Durvile Publications Ltd.
Kids
A Drop in the Ocean by Lea Taranto, Arsenal Pulp Press
Maya Plays the Part by Calyssa Erb, Annick Press
Awâsis and the World-Famous Bannock by Dallas Hunt (Author), Amanda Strong (Illustrator), HighWater Press
Lost at Windy River: A True Story of Survival by Trina Rathgeber (Author), Jillian Dolan (Colorist), Alina Pete (Illustrator), Orca Book Publishers
The Keeper of the Stars by Jennifer Harris (Author), Dorothy Leung (Illustrator), Owlkids
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. We’re starting to see the summer books creep in now, with mysteries taking many of the fiction spots while big nonfiction titles for spring are being released.
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