LOCAL BESTSELLERS

FICTION 1 A Gentleman in Moscow

Amor Towles. An unrepentant aristocrat is sentenced to house arrest in a luxury hotel.

2 Elmet

Fiona Mozley. A lyrical commentary on one family’s place in society and an exploration of the deep bond between father and child.

3 Frankenstein in Baghdad

Ahmeed Saadawi. Horror and black humour in contemporary Iraq.

4 The Bell Jar

Sylvia Plath. Part fiction, part memoir — a portrait of 1950s society.

5 Racing the Devil

Charles Todd. An Ian Rutledge mystery of life in England between the wars, from the perspective of a police officer suffering from shell shock.

6 Swing Time

Zadie Smith. A story of how we are shaped by friendship and stubborn roots, and how we can survive.

7 The Word for World is Forest

When inhabitants of a peaceful world are conquered by the bloodthirsty humans, their existence is irrevocably altered.

8 Dunbar

Edward St Aubyn. A devastating family story examining power, money and the value of forgiveness.

9 Woman in the Window

A. J. Finn. An agoraphobic woman sees a crime in a neighbour’s home — or did she?

10 This Could Hurt

Jillian Medoff. Five HR colleagues try to balance ambition, hope, and fear as their small company is buffeted by economic forces that threaten to up end them.

NON-FICTION 1 Trumpocracy

David Frum. Former White House speech writer examines the changes of the Trump administration.

2 The Unravelling

Clem Martini and Olivier Martini. A family’s journey through mental illness, dementia and the health-care system.

3 Better Now

Danielle Martin. How deficiencies in the health-care system adversely affect patients and Martin’s suggestions on how to close those gaps.

4 Fire and Fury

Michael Wolff. Expose of the inner workings of the Trump White House.

5 Sapiens

Yuval Harari. Bold, wide-ranging and provocative, Sapiens challenges everything we thought we knew about being human: our thoughts, our actions, our power ... and our future.

6 At the Existentialist Cafe

Sarah Bakewell. Inside the lives and spirited debates of Sartre, de Beauvoir, Camus, Heidegger and other postwar thinkers.

7 The Comeback: How Aboriginals Are Reclaiming Power and Influence

John Ralston Saul. A powerful portrait of modern Indigenous life in Canada.

8 Duchess Bake Shop

Giselle Courteau. Frenchinspired recipes from the Edmonton patisserie.

9 12 Rules for Life

Jordan Peterson. Rules to shatter modern commonplace science, faith and human nature, while transforming the mind and spirit of readers.

10 To Hell and Back

Joe Calendino and Gary Little. A former Hells Angel’s story of recovery and redemption.