The bestselling Canadian books of the week

Here are the bestselling Canadian books for Nov. 20-26 2022.

Bestseller lists are compiled by Bookmanager using weekly sales stats from over 260 Canadian independent stores.

Canadian fiction | Canadian nonfiction | Canadian kids

Canadian fiction

The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr is the #1 Canadian fiction book this week.

The Sleeping Car Porter tells the story of Baxter, a Black man in 1929 who works as a sleeping car porter on a train that travels across the country. He smiles and tries to be invisible to the passengers, but what he really wants is to save up and go to dentistry school. On one particular trip out west, the train is stalled and Baxter finds a naughty postcard of two gay men. The postcard reawakens his memories and longings and puts his job in jeopardy. 

• Suzette Mayr's novel The Sleeping Car Porter uses magic realism to highlight Black Canadian history

See the full Canadian fiction list below.

1. The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr
2. Fayne by Ann-Marie MacDonald
3. Five Little Indians by Michelle Good
4. The Last Chairlift by John Irving
5. We Measure the Earth With Our Bodies by Tsering Yangzom Lama
6. All the Quiet Places by Brian Thomas Isaac
7. If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English by Noor Naga
8. A Minor Chorus by Billy-Ray Belcourt
9. The Theory of Crows by David A. Robertson
10. Some Hellish by Nicholas Herring

Canadian nonfiction

The Myth of Normal by Dr. Gabor Maté with Daniel Maté is the #1 Canadian nonfiction book this week.

The Myth of Normal examines why chronic illness and general health problems are on the rise in Western countries with good healthcare systems. Maté explains how Western medicine, while technologically advanced, fails to treat the whole person and ignores cultural stressors. With his son Daniel, Maté untangles common myths about what makes us sick and offers a guide on health and healing.

• Treating addiction requires both science and compassion, says Dr. Gabor Maté

 See the full Canadian nonfiction list below.

1. The Myth of Normal by Dr. Gabor Maté with Daniel Maté
2. True Reconciliation by Jody Wilson-Raybould
3. Ducks by Kate Beaton
4.  Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry
5. Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard
6. Healing Through Words by Rupi Kaur
7. Battle of the Atlantic by Ted Barris
8. Playing the Long Game by Christine Sinclair, with Stephen Brunt
9. Permanent Astonishment by Tomson Highway
10. All Roads Home by Bryan Trottier, with Stephen Brunt

Canadian kids

The Barren Grounds by David A. Robertson is the #1 Canadian kids book this week.

The Barren Grounds is the first book of Robertson's new middle-grade series. It is set in Winnipeg where two Indigenous kids, Morgan and Eli, are placed in a new foster home. The pair feel out of place and disconnected in their new surroundings — until they uncover a secret portal in the attic that opens up to a magical reality. The frozen barren grounds they find set the pair on a mission of survival and self-determination.

• How David A. Robertson manages to write as much as he does

See the full Canadian kids book list below.

1. The Barren Grounds by David A. Robertson
2. Still This Love Goes On by Buffy Sainte-Marie, illustrated by Julie Flett
3. Enemies by Svetlana Chmakova
4. The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
5. Sharon, Lois and Bram's Skinnamarink by Sharon Hampson, Lois Lilienstein & Bram Morrison with Randi Hampson, illustrated by Qin Leng
6. The Stone Child by David A. Robertson
7. Paws: Mindy Makes Some Space by Nathan Fairbairn, illustrated by Michele Assarasakorn
8.  Anne: An Adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (Sort Of) by Kathleen Gros
9. The Tryout by Christina Soontornvat, illustrated by Joanna Cacao 
10. Ride On by Faith Erin Hicks