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The top 10 bestselling Canadian books of 2018

With the help of Bookmanager and data from close to 300 independent bookstores, CBC Books has put together a top 10 countdown of the bestselling Canadian books of 2018.

2018 was a year full of interesting and diversebooks. CBC Books is counting down the top 10 bestselling Canadian titles of 2018,using data from close to 300 independent Canadianbookstores as compiled byBookmanager.

You can listen to the countdown specialhosted by Ali Hassanbelow orkeep scrolling to see which books made the cut!

Top Ten Canadian Books of 2018

10. The Boat People by Sharon Bala

A blue book cover designed to look like illustrated paper art waves.
Sharon Bala is the author of The Boat People. (Peter Power/CBC, McClelland & Stewart)

In this debut novel by SharonBala, a ship carrying 500 Tamil refugees reaches the shores of British Columbia. Mahindanand his six-year-old son have survived a harrowing journey and hope to start a new life in Canada. ButMahindanis immediately taken into detention and left to wait thereas politicians, journalistsand the public debatethe fate of the "boat people." The Boat People was defended by Mozhdah Jamalzadahon Canada Reads 2018.

Jordan Peterson on political polarization & Pepe the Frog

7 years ago
Duration 11:17
Jordan Peterson sits down with the CBCs Wendy Mesley to talk about political polarization, Pepe the Frog and his support from the far right. He has a new book called 12 Rules for Life: an Antidote to Chaos. Peterson sparked controversy in 2016, when he spoke against a federal bill on gender expression and the University of Torontos policy requirement to address students by their gender pronoun of choice

9. The Sun and Her Flowers byRupiKaur

Rupi Kaur is the author of The Sun and Her Flowers. (Simon & Schuster/rupikaur.com)

Instagram poet Rupi Kaur followed up her bestselling debut milk and honey with The Sun and Her Flowers. This poetry collection, divided into five chapters and illustrated byKaur, uses sun and flower imagery to examine themes of wilting, falling, rooting, risingand blooming.

Author Richard Wagamese speaks to The Next Chapter host Shelagh Rogers about his novel Indian Horse.

8. milk and honey by Rupi Kaur

Rupi Kaur is the author of Milk and Honey. (rupikaur.com/Simon & Schuster)

After gaining a huge following posting her poetry on Instagram,Rupi Kaurpublished this New York Times bestselling poetry collection. Divided into four chapters and featuring illustrations by Kaur, Milk and Honey explores love, pain, trauma, identity and feminism.

Cherie Dimaline, author of The Marrow Thieves, speaks with Metro Morning host Matt Galloway about her novel and what it means to young Indigenous readers to see themselves represented in literature.

7. Seven Fallen Feathers by Tanya Talaga

Tanya Talaga highlights the lives of seven Indigenous students in Seven Fallen Feathers. (Steve Russell/Toronto Star/House of Anansi)

InSeven Fallen Feathers, award-winning investigative journalist Tanya Talaga travels to Thunder Bay, Ont., to investigate the deaths of seven Indigenous teenagers: Jordan Wabasse, Kyle Morrisseau, Curran Strang, Robyn Harper, Paul Panacheese, Reggie Bushie and Jethro Anderson. Talaga looks at how their lives and untimely deaths can teach us about the injustice faced by Indigenous communities on a daily basis.

6. Women Talking by MiriamToews

Women Talking by Miriam Toews. Illustrated book cover and portrait of white female young author.
Women Talking is Miriam Toews's latest novel. (Carol Loewen, Knopf Canada)

InMiriam Toews's powerful novel, eight Mennonite women come together to talk. Why? They have 48 hours to make a decision that will impact every woman and child in their community.Women Talkingis inspired by the real-life case in the 2000s, when womenin a Bolivian Mennonite community began whispering that they were waking up groggy, in pain, feeling like they had been sexually molested. Women Talking was a finalist for the 2018 Governor General's Literary Aaward for fiction.

5. Forgiveness by Mark Sakamoto

Forgiveness by MArk Sakamoto
Mark Sakamoto is a Canada Reads winner and the author of Forgiveness. (Peter Power/CBC, Harper Perennial)

Mark Sakamoto's memoirForgivenesstells the true story of how his grandparents survived two very different experiences of the war. His paternal grandmother was one of many JapaneseCanadians forced into internment cams during World War II, while his maternal grandfather was a prisoner of war in Japan.These stories of survival and reconciliationshaped him as a Canadian, a man and a father. Forgiveness won Canada Reads 2018, when it was defended by Jeanne Beker.

4. 12 Rules for Life by Jordan B.Peterson

Jordan B. Peterson is the author of 12 Rules for Life. (Random House Canada)

This self-help book by University of Toronto professor and YouTubepersonality Jordan B. Peterson offers age-old advice to those seeking guidance in the modern world.12 Rules for Lifegives Peterson's perspective on discipline, freedom, adventure and responsibility.

3. Warlight by Michael Ondaatje

A book cover of two tiny silhouettes and the ocean. A picture of a white man with a white beard, white hair and blue eyes.
Warlight is a novel by Michael Ondaatje. (McClelland & Stewart, Getty Images)

Michael Ondaatje,author of the acclaimed novelThe English Patient,is once again writing about the Second World War.Set in London in 1945, the novel tells the taleof two young siblings who have been separated from their parents in the aftermath of Nazi bombings.

2. Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese

The book cover is divided into four unequally sized boxes, two boxes wide and two on top. The bottom right box is yellow with the image of six black silhouetted people running down a hill. They are running after one person who is silhouetted to the left in the red box. In the top right, it's a black-and-white image of footsteps in sand. The top left image is of coniferous trees in a line with snow on the ground. That image is coloured a slight blue.
Indian Horse was defended by Carol Huynh on Canada Reads 2013. (Douglas & McIntyre)

This seminal novel byRichard Wagamesetells the story of Saul Indian Horse, a young Ojibway boy who is ripped from his family and forcibly placed inresidential school. Saul, agifted hockey player, is both victim and witness to the dehumanizing abuse of students at the school. As an adult, Saul becomes dependent on alcohol to cope with the trauma of his childhood.IndianHorsewas defended onCanada Reads2013 by Carol Huynh.

1. The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline

A woman with glasses and long brown hair. A blue and purple book cover featuring half the face of a young boy with long brown hair.
Cherie Dimaline is the author of The Marrow Thieves. (Peter Power/CBC, Dancing Cat Books)

In the dystopian world of Cherie Dimaline'saward-winningThe Marrow Thieves, climate change has ravaged the Earth and a continent-wide hunt and slaughter of Indigenous people is underway. Wanted for their bone marrow, which contains the lost ability to dream, a group of Indigenous people seek refuge in the old lands.The Marrow Thieves, which won the Governor General's Literary Award for children's text in 2017 and was defended by Jully Black onCanada Reads 2018,is a captivating, original read.