Chart Toppers in Canadian Literature

A Look at the Top 50 Canadian Bestsellers for December 2008

Jan 6, 2009

BookNet Canada recently released the Top 50 Canadian Bestsellers on the market. From Gladwell to Munsch, from satire to spirituality, discover which books made the cut.

To mark the beginning of a new year, BookNet Canada has released the Top 50 Canadian Bestsellers for December 2008. We’ve got fiction, we’ve got satire, we’ve got spiritual guidance, we’ve got biographies, we’ve got kid-lit and we’ve got hockey, hockey and more hockey.

So which books caught the eye and captured hearts last year? Which books touched the soul and made eyes water with laughter?

The Canadian Heavyweights

Malcolm Gladwell topped the list with his latest, Outliers. The Tipping Point and Blink, also by Gladwell, came in at numbers19 and 20, respectively. Writer-in-residence Joseph Boyden’s Through Black Spruce was number four on the list and his Three Day Road was number 12.

Margaret Atwood’s Payback made its debut at number seven and Governor General Winner Miriam Toew’s The Flying Troutman took out number 16. Alice Munro’s collection, Alice Munro’s Best, made its way into the 44th spot.

The Hockey Heroes

Canadians definitely love their hockey! Eight different books on hockey made the Bestsellers List, the highest selling genre for Canadian consumers.

Titles include Don Cherry’s Hockey Stories and Stuff by renowned announcer Don Cherry at number four and Xtreme Hockey by Stephan Cole at number 22. Hockey Night in Canada and By the Numbers, both by Scott Morrison, shot in at numbers 18 and 27.

The Hobbyists

Daniel J Levitan ranks in at number 43 with his This is your Brain on Music, a book that contains everything you wanted to know about music and the human brain.

Cookbooks The Complete Best of Bridge Cookbook, edited by Robert Rose and Eat, Shrink and Be Merry, written by Janet and Greta Podleskiboth made the list at numbers 28 and 37.

Animal lovers rejoiced with Water for Elephants, a historical novel by esteemed animal enthusiast, Sara Gruen.

Religion and Ridicule

Eckhart Tolle made his mark with three of his non-fiction books coming in at number 8, number 14 and number 25. A New Earth, The Power of Now and Oneness with All Life all provide a spiritual enlightening and a new outlook on life that proves to be motivating and inspiring for many.

Joining Tolle’s quest for spirituality is William P Young’s The Shack, a fictional chart topper that soared into the number two position.

The Ferguson brothers enter the ranks with How to Be A Canadian, tumbling in at number 45. Joining the satiric genre is Christian Lander’s Stuff White People Like, at number 21. Both of these non-fiction classics will have any Canadian laughing out loud.

For the Kiddies

It appears that both children and adults received books from Santa this year with Robert Munsch and his team of illustrators making the most appearances on the Top 50 list.

The five chart toppers include: Just One Goal scoring in at number 15; Love You Forever winning our hearts at number 17; The Paper Bag Princess taking out number 36; Much More Munsch coming in at number 42; and Smelly Socks sneaking in at number 48.

To view BookNet Canada’s complete list of the Top 50 Canadian Bestsellers, check out the Quill and Quire.

The copyright of the article Chart Toppers in Canadian Literature in Canadian Fiction is owned by Jenna Galley. Permission to republish Chart Toppers in Canadian Literature in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.