The top 10 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!

CBC Books53:59Top Ten Canadian Books of 2018

Top Ten Canadian Books of 2018

10. The Boat People by Sharon Bala

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.

• Why Sharon Bala wrote about a refugee trying to make Canada their home

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

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.

• How Rupi Kaur pushed through writer's block to create her second collection of poems

18:19Richard Wagamese on the Next Chapter

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

8. milk and honey by Rupi Kaur

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.

• Rupi Kaur and Shelagh Rogers share some of their favourite books of poetry

Metro Morning6:24Cherie Dimaline on Metro Morning

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

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.

• Why Tanya Talaga wrote a book about the lives and deaths of 7 Indigenous students in Thunder Bay

6. Women Talking by MiriamToews

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.

• The real-life 'ghost rapes' that inspired Miriam Toews's new novel, Women Talking

5. Forgiveness by Mark Sakamoto

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.

• How Mark Sakamoto's grandparents taught him the true meaning of forgiveness

4. 12 Rules for Life by Jordan B.Peterson

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.

• What Antanas Sileikalearned from Jordan B. Peterson's self-help book

3. Warlight by Michael Ondaatje

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.

• In Warlight, Michael Ondaatje explores family secrets and betrayal

2. Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese

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.

• How Dennis Foon wrote the screenplay adaptation of Richard Wagamese's novel Indian Horse

1. The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline

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.

• The message YA novelist Cherie Dimaline has for young Indigenous readers