With over 40 weeks of the year behind us, we’re well on our way into the final quarter of 2026 — aka holiday shopping season! Which also means we’re equipped with three full quarters of sales data to help us identify which subjects have performed exceptionally well over the last nine months, and may continue being big sellers in the busy, book buying weeks ahead. By looking at data collected from a controlled group of comparable retailers, we’ve compared year-to-date sales (from January to the end of September 2026) to sales from the same period last year and found that in some categories sales are far exceeding what we’d expect based on data from last-year-to-date. In this post, we’ll dive into the data for a few of these star subjects and look at the books driving those sales.
Dark and cozy
Long, dark nights set the perfect, cozy conditions for reading, and the data shows that Fantasy sales are still going strong. While sales in the Fantasy / Romance category make up 38% of total Fantasy sales so far this year, sales are actually down 4% compared to last-year-to-date. Dark Fantasy, on the other hand, has seen steady growth over the last three years, and sales are 67% higher than they were compared to this time last year — the largest sales increase of all the Fantasy subjects.
Top selling Fiction / Fantasy / Dark Fantasy titles
- Alchemised by SenLinYu
- To Bleed a Crystal Bloom by Sarah A. Parker
- The Knave and the Moon by Rachel Gillig
- One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig
- The Poet Empress by Shen Tao 🍁
Sales in the Fantasy / Cozy category have also increased, but not in giant leaps like in previous years — sales are 10% higher than they were this time last year. The “Cozy” BISAC codes were initially introduced to further categorize Mystery & Detective titles (and now extend to both Fiction and Fantasy) and while Cozy Mysteries make up 14% of total Mystery & Detective sales year-to-date, sales have declined for the first time since 2023, with sales down 27% from last year.
Perhaps Dark is the new Cozy in 2026? Similar to the spike in Dark Fantasy sales, we’re also seeing increases in the Dark Humour and Dark Romance categories: sales of Dark Humour titles are a whopping 329% higher than they were this time last year, and Dark Romance sales are up 270%.
Top selling Fiction / Humorous / Dark Humour
- Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
- The Wedding People by Alison Espach
- Good Guys by Sharon Bala 🍁
- The Retirement Plan by Sue Hincenbergs 🍁
- I See You’ve Called in Dead by John Kenney
Paranormal (sales) activity
Dark Romance isn’t the only Romance category that’s climbing compared to last year, Romance / Paranormal titles are creeping up there too. After taking a dip in 2025, sales in this category are almost back up to their 2024 level, with sales increasing by 61% over last year. Romance/ Fantasy titles continue to make up a large portion of total Romance sales (just under 15% so far this year), but sales have decreased 30% from last-year-to-date.
Top selling Fiction / Romance / Paranormal
- The Poison Daughter by Sheila Masterson
- Mate by Ali Hazelwood
- The Someday Garden by Ashley Poston
- Grim Tidings by B.K. Borison
- Remain by Nicholas Sparks and M.Night Shyamalan
Could this increased interest in paranormal romance extend to the world of Horror? Horror sales have been increasing over the last four years (sales are up 27% over last year) and we’re seeing strange activity in the Occult & Supernatural category. Though sales over the last four years have been low overall, they have been slowly increasing and 2026 saw the biggest jump yet — an increase of 169%, the highest increase of all the Horror subjects.
Top selling Fiction/Horror /Occult & Supernatural
- Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman
- Wolf Worm by T. Kingfisher
- The Wax Child by Olga Ravn
- Bone of My Bone by Johanna van Veen
- When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy
Queer Canadian fiction
We cannot talk about Canadian publishing in 2026 without talking about Heated Rivalry. This series definitely drove the sales for the Romance / LGBTQ+ / Gay category as seen in the graph below, with sales increasing by 385% over last-year-to-date. But also of note is that outside of Romance, sales of Fiction / LGBTQ+ titles increased as well — up 93% over last year — with a Canadian-authored title driving those sales as well. The following LGBTQ+ Fiction categories also saw significant growth this year:
- Fiction / LGBTQ+ / Gay — increased by 117%
- Fiction / LGBTQ+ / General — increased by 96%
- Fiction / LGBTQ+ / Lesbian — increased by 99%
Top selling Fiction / LGBTQ+
- The Cure for Drowning by Loghan Paylor 🍁
- Fruit Fly by Josh Silver
- Sunburn by Chloe Michelle Howarth
- The Disappearers by Marlon James
- Is This a Cry For Help? by Emily Austen
A year of reading classically
Earlier this year we examined The Odyssey Effect to measure the impact of the film adaptation on sales of the book, sales that are still strong months after the movie’s release. While The Odyssey is driving the 187% increase in the Non-Fiction / Poetry / Ancient & Classical category, we’re also seeing increases in other “Classics” subjects. Based on the top-selling titles in both the Fiction and Young Adult Classics categories, it seems that film and television adaptations may be positively impacting those sales as well; sales of Fiction / Classics are up 50%, while sales in Young Adult / Fiction / Classics are up 54% over last year.
Top selling Fiction / Classics: Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Top selling Young Adult / Fiction / Classics: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Top selling Non-Fiction / Poetry / Ancient & Classical: The Odyssey by Homer
Playing with books
Copies of G.T. Karber’s Murdle may have stuffed many stockings in 2025, but 2026 is all about Canadian Manuel Garand’s Murdoku. Which is to say, logic puzzle books are here to stay for at least one more holiday season. One of the top-selling Non-Fiction titles for the past 20 weeks, Murdoku has catapulted sales in the Logic & Brain Teasers category, which have been growing steadily over the last four years, to new heights culminating in a 415% increase over last year to date. Books in this category currently make up 18% of the Non-Fiction / Games & Activities subject. Colouring Books still make up 36% of sales in this category, but this year saw the first slide in sales (down 36%) for the first time since 2023.
Top selling Non-Fiction / Games & Activities / Logic & Brain Teasers
- Murdoku by Manuel Garand 🍁
- Murdle: Volume 1 by G.T. Karber
- Murdoku: Back in Time by Manuel Garand 🍁
- Murdle: Volume 2 by G.T. Karber
- Puzzling Escapes: Trapped in the Bookstore by Beth Martin
How will these subjects fare in the final quarter of 2026? Will dark reads conquer cozy novels? What weird romance subgenre can we look forward to in 2027? For further insights into subject trends and sales activity, be sure to bookmark this blog and sign up for the research newsletter or our weekly eNews to be the first to know about our upcoming research studies and book news.
