Here are the lists of the top 10 fiction and non-fiction titles sold by independent booksellers in Alberta during the week ended Sunday, April 18, 2021.
The lists are compiled by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta, and include sales at Audreys Books in Edmonton and Glass Bookshop in Edmonton.
One of the charms of a bestseller list based on the sales of independent bookstores is that it is not slavishly tied to what is being pushed by major publishers. So Indigenous Canadian author Eden Robinson’s first novel, Monkey Beach, leads the independent Alberta bookshops’ fiction bestseller list this week. It was published just over two decades ago. It’s probably on a list like this, though, because readers liked Ms. Robinson’s Return of the Trickster, published last month, captivated a lot of new readers who are now digging into her previous works. Return of the Trickster, readers will note, is No. 9 on the same list.
ALBERTA FICTION BESTSELLERS
1. Monkey Beach – Eden Robinson (Knopf Canada)
2. Klara and the Sun – Kazuo Ishiguro (Knopf Canada)
3. The Midnight Library – Matt Haig (HarperCollins)
4. First Person Singular – Haruki Murakami (Doubleday Canada)
5. The Rose Code – Kate Quinn (William Morrow)
6. Jonny Appleseed – Joshua Whitehead (Arsenal Pulp Press) *
7. The Song of Achilles – Madeline Miller (Ecco)
8. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue – V. E. Schwab (Tor Books)
9. Return of the Trickster – Eden Robinson (Knopf Canada)
10. A Lethal Lesson – Iona Whishaw (TouchWood Editions)
ALBERTA NON-FICTION BESTSELLERS
1. Think Like a Monk – Jay Shetty (Simon & Schuster)
2. When Breath Becomes Air – Paul Kalanithi (Random House)
3. The Biggest Bluff – Maria Konnikova (Penguin Books)
4. My Own Blood – Ashley Bristowe (Random House Canada) *
5. The Bushman’s Lair – Paul McKendrick (Harbour Publishing) *
6. Coconut – Nisha Patel (NeWest Press) * +
7. 111 Places in Calgary That You Must Not Miss – Jennifer Bain (Emons)
8. Take Me Outside – Colin Harris (Rocky Mountain Books) * +
9. The Hill We Climb – Amanda Gorman (Viking Books)
10. Values – Mark Carney (McClelland & Stewart)
* Alberta Author + Alberta Publisher
The independent bookstores contributing to this weekly list are:
Audreys Books, Edmonton
Cafe Books, Canmore
Drawn to Books, Edmonton
Glass Bookshop, Edmonton
Monkeyshines Books, Calgary
Owl’s Nest Books, Calgary
Pages on Kensington, Calgary
Shelf Life Books, Calgary
The Next Page, Calgary
Three Hills Books, Three Hills