Happy 150th, Canada! You don't look a day over 4 billion.
To celebrate the sesquicentennial, we stayed true to our book-reading, data-loving selves and pulled together a list of 150 Canadian-authored (English language) bestsellers from the last 10 years.*
Which Canadian-authored books sold the most in Canada?
Take a look at our pretty poster, and click on any of the book covers for more information. Or, if you'd like a copy for your own use, you can download the poster, print it out, and display it proudly. (If you do end up displaying it, please take a picture and send it to us!)
We assume that every author has a Google alert set up for their name, but just in case we're wrong: if you see your favourite authors on the list, send them a tweet or Facebook message to let them know!
And, if you want to figure out just how many of these 150 books you've read, you can take the quiz right here!
“Find out which Canadian-authored books sold the most in Canada over the last decade. ”
By Lawrence Hill
By Chris Hadfield
By Sara Gruen
By Neil Pasricha
By Emma Donoghue
By Angela Liddon
By Yann Martel
By Shilpi Somaya Gowda
By Amanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett
By Patricia Green and Carolyn Hemming
By Theo Fleury
By Joseph Boyden
By Ami McKay
By Chris Hadfield
By Elizabeth Hay
By Will Ferguson
By Joseph Boyden
By Wayne Gretzky
By Linden MacIntyre
By Lawrence Hill
By Gail Vaz-Oxlade
By Michael Ondaatje
By Joseph Boyden
By Patrick deWitt
By Heather O'Neill
By Neil Young
By Esi Edugyan
By Thomas King
By Vincent Lam
By Angela Liddon
By Gordie Howe
By Margaret Atwood
By André Alexis
By Michael Ondaatje
By Don Cherry
By Johanna Skibsrud
By Steven Galloway
By Alice Munro
By Lawrence Hill
By Naomi Klein
By Shari Lapena
By Rick Mercer
By Marina Nemat
By Sally Vaughan-Johnston
By Ron MacLean
By Mike Holmes
By Alan Bradley
By Natasha Turner
By Michael Smith
By Miriam Toews
By Rupi Kaur
By Kelley Armstrong
By Robin Sharma
By Terry Fallis
By Nancy Richler
By Andrew Davidson
By Kelley Armstrong
By Robert Herjavec
By Bob Probert
By Roberta Rich
By Margaret MacMillan
By L. M. Montgomery
By A. S. A. Harrison
By Miriam Toews
By Eleanor Catton
By Kevin O'Leary
By Neil Pasricha
Written by Robert Munsch
Illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes, Michael Martchenko, Alan Daniel, and Lea Daniel
By Arlene Dickinson
By Rick Hillier
By Justin Trudeau
By Cathy Marie Buchanan
By Madeleine Thien
By Jeff Rubin
By Margaret Atwood
By Anne Murray
By Rick Mercer
By Gordon Korman
By Stuart McLean
Written by Robert Munsch
Illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes, Michael Martchenko, Alan Daniel, and Lea Daniel
By Alice Munro
By Margaret Trudeau
By Jack Whyte
By Pat Crocker
By Kim Thuy
Written by Robert Munsch and Michael Kusugak
Illustrated by Michael Martchenko, Hélène Desputeaux, and Vladyana Krykora
By Eric Walters
By Kelley Armstrong
By Miriam Toews
By Michael Smith
By Stephen J. Harper
By Patrick Taylor
By Gabor Maté
By Calgary Herald
By Margaret Atwood
By Shilpi Somaya Gowda
By Ron MacLean
By L. Marie Adeline
By Ami McKay
By Les Stroud
By Gail Vaz-Oxlade
By John Vaillant
By Alice Munro
By Margaret Atwood
By Stuart McLean
By Henry K. Ripplinger
By Sally Vaughan-Johnston
Interesting facts about this list
Robert Munsch appears on this list the most times of any author. He's written 35 of the titles on the list! That means 23% of the top Canadian books are Munsch titles. He's one prolific and beloved author.
Margaret Atwood is second-most frequent author. She has four titles that made the list: The Year of the Flood, The Handmaid's Tale, Oryx and Crake, and her Massey lecture, Payback.
Kelley Armstrong, Joseph Boyden, Chris Hadfield, Lawrence Hill, Alice Munro, and Miriam Toews all have three titles each.
The subject breakdown is a pretty even split, all things considered, with 54 Fiction titles, 49 Non-Fiction titles, and 49 Juvenile titles (of those, 47 are Fiction and two are Non-Fiction). Biography & Autobiography is the largest category of Non-Fiction titles, followed closely by Cooking.
How did we get these titles?
The bestselling books in this list were determined by calculating the total units sold in Canada over the last 10 years according to BNC SalesData, the national sales tracking service for the English-language print trade market.
The list of all the bestsellers by Canadian authors
And, if you would prefer a list to a clickable infographic, here it is. All 150 titles from the poster above in alphabetical order by author:
S. E. C. R. E. T. by L. Marie Adeline
Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis
The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong
Bitten by Kelley Armstrong
The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
Payback by Margaret Atwood
The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
A Porcupine in a Pine Tree written by Helaine Becker, illustrated by Werner Zimmermann
ABC of Canada written by Kim Bellefontaine, illustrated by Per-Henrik Gürth
Canada 123 written by Kim Bellefontaine, illustrated by Per-Henrik Gürth
The Orenda by Joseph Boyden
Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden
Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan
The Hockey Sweater written by Roch Carrier, illustrated by Sheldon Cohen
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
Don Cherry's Hockey Stories and Stuff by Don Cherry
The Juicing Bible by Pat Crocker
The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt
Persuasion by Arlene Dickinson
Room by Emma Donoghue
Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan
The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis
419 by Will Ferguson
Playing with Fire by Theo Fleury
The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
Something from Nothing written and illustrated by Phoebe Gilman
The Golden Sun by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
Quinoa 365 by Patricia Green and Carolyn Hemming
99 by Wayne Gretzky
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield
The Darkest Dark written by Chris Hadfield, illustrated by Eric Fan and Terry Fan
You Are Here by Chris Hadfield
A Great Game by Stephen J. Harper
The Silent Wife by A. S. A. Harrison
Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay
The Flood Of 2013 by Calgary Herald
Driven by Robert Herjavec
Any Known Blood by Lawrence Hill
The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill
The Illegal by Lawrence Hill
A Soldier First by Rick Hillier
Make It Right by Mike Holmes
Mr. Hockey by Gordie Howe
Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur
The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King
The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein
One False Note by Gordon Korman
Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures by Vincent Lam
The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena
The Oh She Glows Cookbook by Angela Liddon
Oh She Glows Every Day by Angela Liddon
A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett
The Bishop's Man by Linden MacIntyre
Cornered by Ron MacLean
Hockey Towns by Ron MacLean
The War That Ended Peace by Margaret MacMillan
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts by Gabor Maté
The Birth House by Ami McKay
The Virgin Cure by Ami McKay
Extreme Vinyl Cafe by Stuart McLean
The Vinyl Cafe Notebooks by Stuart McLean
A Nation Worth Ranting About by Rick Mercer
Rick Mercer Report by Rick Mercer
Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
Dear Life by Alice Munro
My Best Stories by Alice Munro
Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro
50 Below Zero written by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko
Alligator Baby written by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko
Andrew's Loose Tooth written by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko
Boo! written by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko
Class Clown written by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko
David's Father written by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko
The Fire Station written by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko
Give Me Back My Dad! written by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko
I Have to Go! written by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko
Just One Goal! written by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko
Look at Me! written by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko
Love You Forever written by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Sheila McGraw
Mad About Munsch! written by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko
Makeup Mess written by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko
Mmm, Cookies! written by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko
Moose! written by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko
Mortimer written by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko
Much More Munsch! written by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes, Michael Martchenko, Alan Daniel, and Lea Daniel
Mud Puddle written by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Sami Suomalainen
Munsch More! written by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes, Michael Martchenko, Alan Daniel, and Lea Daniel
The Munschworks Grand Treasury written by Robert Munsch and Michael Kusugak, illustrated by Michael Martchenko, Hélène Desputeaux, and Vladyana Krykora
Murmel, Murmel, Murmel written by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko
No Clean Clothes written by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko
The Paper Bag Princess written by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko
Pigs written by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko
Purple, Green and Yellow written by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Hélène Desputeaux
Pyjama Day! written by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko
The Sandcastle Contest written by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko
Smelly Socks written by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko
Something Good written by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko
Stephanie's Ponytail written by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko
Swamp Water written by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko
Thomas' Snowsuit written by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko
Too Much Stuff! written by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko
We Share Everything! written by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko
All of Me by Anne Murray
Z is for Zamboni written by Matt Napier, illustrated by Melanie Rose
Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nemat
Cold Hard Truth by Kevin O’Leary
Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill
The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje
Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje
The Book of Awesome by Neil Pasricha
The Book of (Even More) Awesome by Neil Pasricha
Tough Guy by Bob Probert
Sing a Song of Mother Goose written and illustrated by Barbara Reid
The Midwife of Venice by Roberta Rich
The Imposter Bride by Nancy Richler
Pewter Angels, 1956-1957 by Henry K. Ripplinger
Why Your World Is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller by Jeff Rubin
The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma
The Sentimentalists by Johanna Skibsrud
The Best of Chef at Home by Michael Smith
Chef Michael Smith's Kitchen by Michael Smith
Red is Best written by Kathy Stinson, illustrated by Robin Baird Lewis
Survive! by Les Stroud
Grumpy Bird written and illustrated by Jeremy Tankard
An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor
Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien
Ru by Kim Thuy
A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews
All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews
The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews
Common Ground by Justin Trudeau
Changing My Mind by Margaret Trudeau
The Hormone Diet by Natasha Turner
The Tiger by John Vaillant
Best of Bridge Slow Cooker Cookbook by Sally Vaughan-Johnston
Bravo! by Sally Vaughan-Johnston
Debt-Free Forever by Gail Vaz-Oxlade
Money Rules by Gail Vaz-Oxlade
The Rule of Three by Eric Walters
Scaredy Squirrel written and illustrated by Mélanie Watt
Knights of the Black and White by Jack Whyte
Waging Heavy Peace by Neil Young
* We rely on publisher-supplied metadata feeds to identify Canadian titles in our lists, by use of the Canadian contributor marker.
Using SalesData, we’ve identified the top performing titles of 2024.