The year is almost over and we have one question — where did the time go? It feels like it was yesterday when we were publishing the Bestselling books of 2020 list!
While it’s hard to believe that another year is coming to an end, the silver lining for us at BookNet is that we get to have the opportunity to share lists of the books that sold the most this year in the Canadian market.
Similar to what we’ve done in previous years, we’ve identified the top-selling titles in the Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Juvenile & Young Adult categories, overall and from Canadian contributors.
The following lists are based on print sales volume in Canada from Dec. 27, 2020, to Dec. 5, 2021, according to SalesData, BookNet’s national sales tracking service for the Canadian English-language trade book market.
Top 10 bestselling Fiction books of 2021
The Rose Code by Kate Quinn (9780063060449)
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (9781443455879)
The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave (9781982180522)
State of Terror by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny 🍁 (9781982187590)
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (9780735219106)
The Push by Ashley Audrain 🍁 (9780735239890)
It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover (9781501110368)
Five Little Indians by Michelle Good 🍁 (9781443459181)
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (9780062060624)
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (9781501161933)
You can see all of these titles in this CataList catalogue: Bestselling Titles in Canada in 2021 – Fiction
Back in 2019 and 2020, both overall bestselling Fiction lists featured only one book by a Canadian author each — Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments in 2019 and Louise Penny’s All the Devils Are Here in 2020. This year, Louise Penny is still present in the list with the book she and Hillary Rodham Clinton wrote, State of Terror. But she’s not the only Canadian, Ashley Audrain and Michelle Good also made it to the top 10 Fiction bestselling books. We love to see it!
Interestingly, only half of these 10 titles were published in 2021. And only one was also on the bestselling Fiction lists of 2020 and 2019 — Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.
Top 10 bestselling Canadian Fiction books of 2021
State of Terror by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny 🍁 (9781982187590)
The Push by Ashley Audrain 🍁 (9780735239890)
Five Little Indians by Michelle Good 🍁 (9781443459181)
The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny 🍁 (9781250145260)
The Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield 🍁 (9780735282353)
Not a Happy Family by Shari Lapena 🍁 (9780385695046)
Fight Night by Miriam Toews 🍁 (9780735282391)
The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline 🍁 (9781770864863)
The Strangers by Katherena Vermette 🍁 (9780735239616)
Our Darkest Night by Jennifer Robson 🍁 (9780063060432)
You can see all of these titles in this CataList catalogue: Bestselling Titles in Canada in 2021 – Canadian Fiction
Louise Penny is the new dominant force of Canadian Fiction books — sorry Margaret Atwood! Her book State of Terror occupies the number one position on the list and The Madness of Crowds is number four.
Following a similar trend to what we saw last year, the majority of titles are frontlist — 80% of books were published in 2021.
Top 10 bestselling Non-Fiction books of 2021
Atomic Habits by James Clear (9780735211292)
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer (9781571313560)
Guinness World Records 2022 (9781913484101)
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy (9780062976581)
The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk (9780143127741)
Beyond Order by Jordan B. Peterson🍁 and Juliette Fogra (9780735278332)
Untamed by Glennon Doyle (9781984801258)
Keep Sharp by Sanjay Gupta (9781501166730)
A Promised Land by Barack Obama (9781524763169)
Indian in the Cabinet by Jody Wilson-Raybould 🍁 (9781443465366)
You can see all of these titles in this CataList catalogue: Bestselling Titles in Canada in 2021 – Non-Fiction
In the Non-Fiction category, the majority are backlist titles — only 40% of books were published in 2021.
A once politics-driven top three has now a Non-Fiction / Business & Economics book at the top, followed by a Non-Fiction / Nature, and a Non-Fiction / Reference book. Of note, A Promised Land by Barack Obama, the number one book of last year’s bestselling Non-Fiction list, stayed in the list, but this time in the number nine position.
Top 10 bestselling Canadian Non-Fiction books of 2021
Beyond Order by Jordan B. Peterson 🍁 and Juliette Fogra (9780735278332)
Indian in the Cabinet by Jody Wilson-Raybould 🍁 (9781443465366)
The Bomber Mafia by Malcolm Gladwell 🍁 (9780316296618)
Home Body by Rupi Kaur 🍁 (9781501175305)
Crossroads by Kaleb Dahlgren 🍁 (9781443462877)
21 Things You May Not Know about the Indian Act by Bob Joseph 🍁 (9780995266520)
Talking to Canadians by Rick Mercer 🍁 (9780385696234)
Mandy's Gourmet Salads by Mandy Wolfe, Rebecca Wolfe, and Meredith Erickson 🍁 (9780525610472)
From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle 🍁 (9781982101213)
No One Wins Alone by Mark Messier and Jimmy Roberts 🍁 (9781982158149)
You can see all of these titles in this CataList catalogue: Bestselling Titles in Canada in 2021 – Canadian Non-Fiction
From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle and Home Body by Rupi Kaur are the only books that stayed on the list compared to last year. Two other authors, Jordan B. Peterson and Malcolm Gladwell, made a re-appearance, but this time with different titles.
In terms of subjects, four of the 10 titles are in the Non-Fiction / Biography & Autobiography BISAC category — Canadians chose to read about Canadians this year.
Top 10 bestselling Juvenile and Young Adult books of 2021
Dog Man Mothering Heights by Dav Pilkey (9781338680454)
They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera (9780062457806)
Rowley Jefferson's Awesome Friendly Spooky Stories by Jeff Kinney (9781419756979)
Big Shot (Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book 16) by Jeff Kinney (9781419749155)
Cat Kid Comic Club by Dav Pilkey (9781338712766)
Claudia and the New Girl (the Baby-Sitters Club Graphic Novel #9) by Ann M. Martin and Gabriela Epstein (9781338304572)
I Love You to the Moon and Back by Amelia Hepworth and Tim Warnes (9781589255517)
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart (9780385741279)
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (9781250027436)
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (9780399226908)
You can see all of these titles in this CataList catalogue: Bestselling Titles in Canada in 2021 – Juvenile & YA
In this list, only four out of the 10 titles were published in 2021 and one in 2020. Juvenile is the dominant subject — Young Adult books make up only 30% of the list. Interestingly, this list has the title with the oldest pub date of all the top 10 lists, this edition of The Very Hungry Caterpillar was published in 1994.
Top 10 bestselling Canadian Juvenile and Young Adult books of 2021
Love You Forever by Robert Munsch and Sheila McGraw 🍁 (Paperback)
Love You Forever by Robert Munsch and Sheila McGraw 🍁 (Board book)
The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch and Michael Martchenko 🍁
Be You! by Peter H. Reynolds 🍁
Pax by Sara Pennypacker and Jon Klassen 🍁
My Heart Fills with Happiness by Monique Gray Smith and Julie Flett 🍁
Sweetest Kulu by Celina Kalluk and Alexandria Neonakis 🍁
School Rules! by Robert Munsch and Dave Whamond 🍁
Mortimer by Robert Munsch and Michael Martchenko 🍁
Smelly Socks by Robert Munsch and Michael Martchenko 🍁
You can see all of these titles in this CataList catalogue: Bestselling Titles in Canada in 2021 – Canadian Juvenile & YA
Looking at pub dates, none of the books listed was published in 2021. In fact, only one book was published in 2020, Be You!, and two in 2019, Pax and School Rules!, all the remaining books are from 2018 or older.
Even though Robert Munsch went from having nine books on the top 10 list in 2020 to six this year, it's clear that his books are loved by Canadians. In fact, four of his books from last year’s list made it to the 2021 rankings: Love You Forever — the paperback and board book edition, The Paper Bag Princess, School Rules!, and Smelly Socks.
Will Young Adult books make it to this list next year? We’ll have to wait to find out!
Are you a publisher, retailer, or librarian who wants to see more data like this? Check out SalesData, the sales tracking service for the Canadian English-language trade book market. Do you have questions about any of our products, services or this list? Contact us!
What did BookNet read in 2024? We’re sharing some tidbits of data about our team’s reading habits this year.