What Canadian books are popular right now? Check out this week's bestsellers

Here are the bestselling Canadian fiction, nonfiction and children's books from Jan. 25-Feb. 1, 2025. 

This week, all five contending Canada Reads 2025 books are among this week's titles.

• Meet the Canada Reads 2025 contenders

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

Canadian fiction

Dandelion by Jamie Chai Yun Liew is the #1 Canadian fiction book this week.

Dandelion is a novel about family secrets, migration, isolation, motherhood and mental illness. When Lily was a child, her mother, Swee Hua, walked away from the family and was never heard from again. After becoming a new mother herself, Lily is obsessed with discovering what happened to Swee Hua.

She recalls growing up in a British Columbia mining town where there were only a handful of Asian families and how Swee Hua longed to return to Brunei. Eventually, a clue leads Lily to southeast Asia to find out the truth about her mother.

Dandelion will be championed by pastry chef Saïd M'Dahoma on Canada Reads 2025.

• Jamie Chai Yun Liew's debut novel Dandelion is a moving portrait of motherhood and migration

See the full Canadian fiction list below.

1. Dandelion by Jamie Chai Yun Liew
2. Watch Out for Her by Samantha M. Bailey
3. The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus by Emma Knight
4. Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper
5. The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny
6. We Could Be Rats by Emily Austin
7. Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice
8. The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters
9. Held by Anne Michaels
10. In Winter I Get Up at Night by Jane Urquhart

Canadian nonfiction

All the Little Monsters by David A. Robertson is the #1 Canadian nonfiction book this week.

In All the Little Monsters, Robertson opens up about his experiences with anxiety as a way to accept and heal. He writes about the tools he uses to help cope like community, therapy, medication and asking himself if it's possible that everything will actually be okay. 

• David A. Robertson shares his intimate experiences with anxiety in his new memoir — read an excerpt here

See the full Canadian nonfiction list below.

1. All the Little Monsters by David A. Robertson
2. Jennie's Boy by Wayne Johnston
3. At a Loss for Words by Carol Off
4. Revenge of the Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
5. A Two-Spirit Journey by Ma-Nee Chacaby, with Mary Louise Plummer
6. The Certainty Illusion by Timothy Caulfield
7. Fire Weather by John Vaillant
8. Who We Are by Murray Sinclair, with Sara Sinclair and Niigaan Sinclair
9. For the Love of a Son by Scott Oake
10. Chrystia by Catherine Tsalikis

Canadian kids

Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao is the #1 Canadian kids book this week. 

In the follow up to the New York Times bestselling YA novel Iron Widow, Zetian finds herself on the seat of power in Huaxia after enduring devastating loss and making drastic decisions.

When revelations about an enemy who holds the fate of her loved ones in their hands come to light, Zetian must team up with a dangerous man and work together to depose their common enemy and stoke a revolution against the dark forces that plague their world.

• 23 Canadian comics to check out in fall 2024

See the full kids list below.

1. Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao
2. Paws: Hazel Has Her Hands Full by Nathan Fairbairn, illustrated by Michele Assarasakorn
3. The New Girl by Cassandra Calin
4. The Squad by Christina Soontornvat, illustrated by Joanna Cacao
5. The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
6. The Barren Grounds by David A. Robertson
7. The Animal People Choose a Leader by Richard Wagamese, illustrated by Bridget George
8. Carson Crosses Canada by Linda Bailey, illustrated by Kass Reich
9. I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen
10. Tegan and Sara: Crush by Tegan Quin and Sara Quin, illustrated by Tillie Walden
11. The Baby-Sitters Club: Claudia and the Bad Joke by Ann M. Martin, illustrated by Arley Nopra