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100 of the most popular Canadian books of all time

By Kobo • July 01, 2018Recommended Reading

Ah, Canada Day… with the BBQ prepped, the cottage decked out in red and white, it’s time to celebrate our country’s birthday, but also to unwind, relax and read. Why not mark the occasion with Canada’s most beloved books?

Over the years, authors from our very own backyard as well as authors who found inspiration in the Canadian mosaic have been regaling us with stories and enthralling us with ideas fueled by creativity and passion, winning the hearts of bookworms not only here in Canada, but around the world.

To determine which Canadian books Kobo readers loved most, we looked at sales volume, the rate at which readers actually got around to reading these books, and finally we factored in which were read all the way to the end. Here is our list of Kobo fan favourites:

  1. The Book Of Negroes by Lawrence Hill
  2. Still Life by Louise Penny
  3. The Bishop's Man by Linden MacIntyre
  4. The Orenda by Joseph Boyden
  5. The Birth House by Ami McKay
  6. Ru by Kim Thúy
  7. Bone and Bread by Saleema Nawaz
  8. February by Lisa Moore
  9. The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King
  10. A Stranger in the House by Shari Lapena
  11. The Girl Who Was Saturday Night by Heather O'Neill
  12. The Party by Robyn Harding
  13. Annabel by Kathleen Winter
  14. The Lightkeeper's Daughters by Jean E. Pendziwol
  15. The Break by Katherena Vermette
  16. Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
  17. Bellevue Square by Michael Redhill
  18. Parting Shot by Linwood Barclay
  19. Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese
  20. Goodnight from London by Jennifer Robson
  21. A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews
  22. Rituals by Kelley Armstrong
  23. Sweetland by Michael Crummey
  24. Canada by Richard Ford
  25. The Reason You Walk by Wab Kinew
  26. 12 Rules for Life by Jordan B. Peterson
  27. Bride of New France by Suzanne Desrochers
  28. Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie Macdonald
  29. Rush Home Road by Lori Lansens
  30. Crow Lake by Mary Lawson
  31. Birdie by Tracey Lindberg
  32. Heart of the City by Robert Rotenberg
  33. Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay
  34. The Imam of Tawi-Tawi by Ian Hamilton
  35. Immortally Yours by Lynsay Sands
  36. The Complete Anne of Green Gables Collection by L.M. Montgomery
  37. One Brother Shy by Terry Fallis
  38. The Boat People by Sharon Bala
  39. First Snow, Last Light by Wayne Johnston
  40. This Fallen Prey by Kelley Armstrong
  41. Brother by David Chariandy
  42. The Home for Unwanted Girls by Joanna Goodman
  43. The Promise of Canada by Charlotte Gray
  44. Cataract City by Craig Davidson
  45. Find You in the Dark by Nathan Ripley
  46. The Lost Ones by Sheena Kamal
  47. In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje
  48. Warlight by Michael Ondaatje
  49. No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod
  50. Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures by Vincent Lam
  51. Feeding My Mother by Jann Arden
  52. Twice Bitten by Lynsay Sands
  53. The Stone Carvers by Jane Urquhart
  54. Until It Fades by K.A. Tucker
  55. Two Solitudes by Hugh Maclennan
  56. Cockroach by Rawi Hage
  57. Trumpocracy by David Frum
  58. The Way the Crow Flies by Ann-Marie Macdonald
  59. No Is Not Enough by Naomi Klein
  60. A Good House by Bonnie Burnard
  61. A Student of Weather by Elizabeth Hay
  62. All The Way by Jordan Tootoo
  63. Lives of Girls and Women by Alice Munro
  64. The Dutch Wife by Ellen Keith
  65. The Colony Of Unrequited Dreams by Wayne Johnston
  66. Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson
  67. The Outlander by Gil Adamson
  68. Surrender to the Highlander by Lynsay Sands
  69. Love You Forever by Robert Munsch
  70. A Newfoundlander in Canada by Alan Doyle
  71. Seven Fallen Feathers by Tanya Talaga
  72. Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King
  73. Bear by Marian Engel
  74. Clara Callan by Richard B. Wright
  75. The Time in Between by David Bergen
  76. The Englishman's Boy by Guy Vanderhaeghe
  77. Skitter by Ezekiel Boone
  78. Deafening by Frances Itani
  79. The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence, Adele Wiseman
  80. The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
  81. River Thieves by Michael Crummy
  82. Offside by Sean Avery, Michael McKinley
  83. Lightfoot by Nicholas Jennings
  84. Lost in the Barrens by Farley Mowat
  85. I Hear She's a Real Bitch by Jen Agg
  86. The Trickster's Lullaby by Barbara Fradkin
  87. Is Canada Even Real? by J.C. Villamere
  88. Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat
  89. The Canadaland Guide to Canada by Jesse Brown, Vicky Mochama, Nick Zarzycki
  90. Wildwood by Elinor Florence
  91. The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by Mordecai Richler
  92. Christmas at the Vinyl Cafe by Stuart McLean
  93. Last Seen by Rick Mofina
  94. The Game: 30th Anniversary Edition by Ken Dryden
  95. Kit's Law by Donna Morrissey
  96. The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore by Kim Fu
  97. Beautiful Scars by Tom Wilson
  98. Reckless Daughter by David Yaffe
  99. Game Change by Ken Dryden
  100. Fifth Business by Robertson Davies

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