To celebrate National Cookbook Month this October, let's take a look at which cookbooks are topping the charts.
We looked at sales throughout 2017 for books with a Cooking BISAC subject code as reported to BNC SalesData (which tracks print sales in the Canadian English-language trade market).
But before you go looking at those bestsellers, best grab a snack so you don't get hungry.
2017's 10 bestselling cookbooks
Yum and Yummer by Greta Podleski 🇨🇦 (One Spoon Media, 9781775047001)
Oh She Glows Every Day by Angela Liddon 🇨🇦 (Penguin Canada, 9780143196518)
5 Ingredients - Quick and Easy Food by Jamie Oliver (HarperCollins Canada, 9781443455060)
The Oh She Glows Cookbook by Angela Liddon 🇨🇦 (Penguin Canada, 9780143187226)
The Keto Diet by Leanne Vogel (Victory Belt Publishing, 9781628600162)
Thug Kitchen by Thug Kitchen Staff (House of Anansi Press, 9781770894655)
The Instant Pot® Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook by Laurel Randolph (Callisto Media, 9781623156121)
Earls the Cookbook by Jim Sutherland 🇨🇦 (Appetite by Random House, 9780147530073)
Thug Kitchen 101 by Thug Kitchen Staff (HarperCollins Publishers, 9781443445658)
Food, Health, and Happiness by Oprah Winfrey (Flatiron Books, 9781250126535)
The list of top 10 adult cookbooks is evenly split between hardcover and paperback books. Four of the top 10 are by Canadians (Canadians, represent!) and two of those are by Angela Liddon. We found that the top sellers were backlist-heavy: Four titles were published in 2017, four were published in 2016, and the remaining two were published in 2014. The average list price was $35, with prices ranging between $20 and $47. Six titles were published between September and November, coinciding with #NationalCookbookMonth, and three were published in March or April. Oprah Winfrey's was published in January. The majority of cookbooks in the top 10 are about vegetarian eating or quick 'n' easy recipes.
Find more information on all these books in our Top 10 Cooking Bestsellers 2017 catalogue.
What about books for younger people? Supervise as necessary with these bestselling Juvenile and Young Adult titles with a Cooking & Food BISAC subject code.
2017's 10 bestselling Juvenile and Young Adult cookbooks
The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook by Dinah Bucholz (Adams Media, 9781440503252)
Children's Cookbook by DK Staff (DK, 9781553631040)
Eat Up! by Paula Ayer (Annick Press, 9781554518838)
La Cuisine des Petits Gourmands by Maude-Iris Hamelin-Ouellette (Editions Goelette, 9782897680602)
A World of Cookies for Santa by M. E. Furman (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 9780544226203)
Weird But True Food by National Geographic Kids Staff (National Geographic Society, 9781426318719)
Cook It by DK Staff (DK, 9781465402547)
My Favorite Recipes by Annabel Karmel (DK, 9780756671952)
Baking Class by Deanna F. Cook (Storey Publishing, 9781612128559)
Complete Children's Cookbook by DK Staff (DK, 9781465435460)
The #1 Juvenile cookbook is Harry Potter-related: Dinah Bucholz's The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook. Only one title in the top 10 is a Young Adult book, while the rest are categorized as Juvenile. Six are hardcover books, one is spiral bound, and the rest are paperbacks. The average list price is $23, with titles ranging in price between $12 and $32.
Find more information on these books in our Top 10 Cooking & Food Juvenile & YA Bestsellers 2017.
Do you love cookbooks? Taste Canada is asking people to share their love of Canadian cookbooks by posting photos and videos of their favourite books, authors, and recipes. Find new recipes to try by using the Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook hashtags #LoveCookbooks and #MoreThanRecipes. You can also find recent Taste Canada nominees in our Taste Canada 2018 catalogue.
Happy cooking!
Highlights from The State of Publishing in Canada 2023.