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 11, 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.
It’s a small world. I can recall driving to Ms. Goto’s family mushroom farm near Nanton sometime during my years as the Calgary Herald’s agriculture reporter. I’m sure the unmemorable report I wrote about mushroom farming in Alberta resides somewhere in a newspaper database. Ms. Goto studied English and creative writing at the University of Calgary, earning a B.A. in 1989. Shadow Life, the graphic novel at the top of this week’s fiction bestseller list, was illustrated by Ann Xu.
ALBERTA FICTION BESTSELLERS
1. Shadow Life – Hiromi Goto (First Second Books)
2. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse – Charlie Mackesy (HarperCollins)
3. The Rose Code – Kate Quinn (William Morrow)
4. The Midnight Bargain – C.L. Polk (Erewhon Books) *
5. The Midnight Library – Matt Haig (HarperCollins)
6. Jonny Appleseed – Joshua Whitehead (Arsenal Pulp Press) *
7. Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand – Helen Simonson (Anchor Canada)
8. Return of the Trickster – Eden Robinson (Knopf Canada)
9. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue – V. E. Schwab (Tor Books)
10. Where the Crawdads Sing – Delia Owens (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
ALBERTA NON-FICTION BESTSELLERS
1. My Own Blood – Ashley Bristowe (Random House Canada)
2. Wild Roses Are Worth It – Kevin Van Tighem (Rocky Mountain Books) * +
3. Values – Mark Carney (McClelland & Stewart)
4. The Bushman’s Lair – Paul McKendrick (Harbour Publishing) *
5. The Light of Days – Judy Batalion (HarperCollins)
6. Coconut – Nisha Patel (NeWest Press) * +
7. Lookout – Trina Moyles (Random House Canada) *
8. Rescuing the Planet – Tony Hiss (Knopf)
9. The Bedside Book of Birds – Graeme Gibson (Doubleday Canada)
10. The Bad Wife – Micheline Maylor (University of Alberta Press) * +
* 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