The BC Bestseller List is compiled using sales data from more than 80 independent bookstores in BC, which is provided to the ABPBC by TBM BookManager. The list represents sales of BC-published books released within the calendar year. View eligibility criteria.
No. 1
Buffy Sainte-Marie: The Authorized Biography
by Andrea Warner
Greystone Books | 9781771643580
A powerful, intimate look at the life and music of a beloved folk icon and activist.
BC Bestseller for 5 consecutive weeks
No. 2
Whitewater Cooks: More Beautiful Food
by Shelley Adams
Alicon Holdings Ltd | 9780981142432
Whitewater Cooks: More Beautiful Food is full of new recipes to inspire fans and once again turn home cooks into culinary rock stars, a hallmark of Shelley’s earlier books. Shelley’s innate flair for creating and developing recipes will not disappoint.
BC Bestseller for 46 consecutive weeks
No. 3
The Hidden Life of Trees: Illustrated Edition
by Peter Wohlleben
Greystone Books | 9781771643481
In his international bestseller The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben opened readers’ eyes to the amazing processes at work in forests every day. This new, breathtakingly illustrated edition is a visually stunning journey into the diversity and wonders of forests.
BC Bestseller for 10 consecutive weeks
No. 4
by Lindsay Wong
Arsenal Pulp Press | 9781551527369
The darkly comedic memoir of a young woman coming of age in a dysfunctional Asian family who blame their woes on ghosts and demons when they should really be on anti-psychotic meds.
BC Bestseller for 2 consecutive weeks
No. 5
edited by Lou Allison, with Jane Wilde
Caitlin Press | 9781987915761
After the extraordinary success of Gumboot Girls comes the sequel anthology, Dancing in Gumboots, shining a light on trailblazing women in the Comox Valley in the 1970s.
BC Bestseller for 4 consecutive weeks
No. 6
by Rick James
Harbour Publishing | 9781550178418
Using extensive research, first-hand accounts of rum-runners, and the often-sensational newspaper coverage of the day, maritime historian Rick James sets out to explain what really went down along the West Coast during American Prohibition.
BC Bestseller for 2 consecutive weeks
No. 7
A West Coast Summer
by Caroline Woodward, illustrated by Carol Evans
Harbour Publishing |9781550178432
Pairing two dozen of Carol Evans’s wonderful watercolours with a lilting rhyming story by Caroline Woodward, A West Coast Summer tells of a timeless, idyllic season.
BC Bestseller for 9 consecutive weeks
No. 8
21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act
by Bob Joseph
Page Two Strategies | 9780995266520
Based on a viral article, 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act is the essential guide to understanding the legal document and its repercussion on generations of Indigenous Peoples, written by a leading cultural sensitivity trainer.
BC Bestseller for 29 consecutive weeks
No. 9
One Eagle Soaring
by Roy Henry Vickers & Robert Budd
Harbour Publishing | 9781550178289
The second volume in the First West Coast Books series, One Eagle Soaring explores counting and numbers with the help of West Coast animals with vivid illustrations.
BC Bestseller for 29 consecutive weeks
No. 10
by Eve Lazarus
Arsenal Pulp Press | 9781551527468
The sensational criminal case of a charismatic and handsome Vancouver radio personality who was charged with capital murder for poisoning his wife with arsenic-laced milkshakes.
BC Bestseller for 1 consecutive week
No. 11
A Sorrowful Sanctuary
by Iona Whishaw
TouchWood Editions | 9781771512893
In the fifth book of the series that the Globe and Mail calls “terrific,” Lane Winslow investigates the murder of an unidentified man she found adrift in a boat near King’s Cove.
BC Bestseller for 9 consecutive weeks
No. 12
E.J. Hughes Paints Vancouver Island
by Robert Amos
TouchWood Editions | 9781771512558
A handsome new retrospective on one of BC’s most beloved artists that unveils, for the first time, photographs, sketches, and ephemera from the artist’s estate.
BC Bestseller for 23 consecutive weeks
No. 13
by Jack Knox
Heritage House Publishing | 9781772032666
A captivating collection of Jack Knox’s most memorable, heart-warming, inspiring, and off-beat human-interest stories.
BC Bestseller for 1 consecutive week
No. 14
by Pirjo Raits, photographs by Michele Ramberg & Dale Roth
Heritage House Publishing | 9781772032604
A breathtaking art book profiling 26 wood carvers, sculptors, and artisans who draw inspiration from the natural beauty of the Salish Sea.
BC Bestseller for 1 consecutive week
No. 15
The Inner Life of Animals: Love, Grief, and Compassion – Surprising Observations of a Hidden World
by Peter Wohlleben
Greystone Books | 9781771643016
Through vivid stories of devoted pigs, two-timing magpies, and scheming roosters, The Inner Life of Animals weaves the latest scientific research into how animals interact with the world with Peter Wohlleben’s personal experiences in forests and fields. Published in partnership with the David Suzuki Institute.
BC Bestseller for 51 consecutive weeks