What books did Canadian library patrons love in 2022? In this blog post, we share lists of the most circulated books in the Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Juvenile & Young Adult subject categories, both overall and from Canadian contributors.
The following lists were created based on data from January 3, 2022, to December 4, 2022, using LibraryData, BookNet’s national library collection and circulation analysis tool.
A quick note about the Juvenile and Young Adult lists: LibraryData uses ISBN clusters to track circulation, holds, etc. in the system. This differs from SalesData, which reports data at a per-ISBN level. We do this because of how libraries report their collection data to us — their data is broken out by their Catalog ID or record. Each record can contain multiple ISBNs, often all of the editions of a single work. When you use the library, you put a hold on a copy of Pride and Prejudice, for example, and you usually don't mind which particular edition or ISBN you receive — just that you get the first available copy! Some clusters may contain ISBNs for different but related works. For example, occasionally all of the titles in a series or set may be clustered as a single work.
Top 10 most circulated Fiction books of 2022
The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
The Maid by Nita Prose 🍁
The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny 🍁
The Judge's List by John Grisham
Five Little Indians by Michelle Good 🍁
State of Terror by Louise Penny 🍁 and Hillary Rodham Clinton
The Dark Hours by Michael Connelly
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
You can see all of these titles in this CataList catalogue: Most Circulated Titles in Canada in 2022 – Fiction
Similar to what we saw last year, most of the books present on this list fall into the Fiction / Women, Fiction / Thrillers, and Fiction / Mystery & Detective subject categories. Interestingly, only one of these books, Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, is also part of the top 10 bestselling Fiction books.
Top 10 most circulated Canadian Fiction books of 2022
The Maid by Nita Prose 🍁
The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny 🍁
Five Little Indians by Michelle Good 🍁
State of Terror by Louise Penny 🍁 and Hillary Rodham Clinton
What Strange Paradise by Omar El Akkad 🍁
Not a Happy Family by Shari Lapena 🍁
Fight Night by Miriam Toews 🍁
The Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield 🍁
A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson 🍁
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel 🍁
You can see all of these titles in this CataList catalogue: Most Circulated Titles in Canada in 2022 – Canadian Fiction
Michelle Good, Louise Penny, Mary Lawson, and Emily St. John Mandel are back. Four of the most circulated Canadian Fiction titles were also in the top 10 bestselling list: The Maid by Nita Prose, Five Little Indians by Michelle Good, State of Terror by Louise Penny and Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel.
Top 10 most circulated Non-Fiction books of 2022
National Geographic Backyard Guide to the Night Sky, 2nd Edition by Andrew Fazekas and Howard Schneider
Indian in the Cabinet by Jody Wilson-Raybould 🍁
Atomic Habits by James Clear
Talking to Canadians by Rick Mercer 🍁
Freezing Order by Bill Browder
Untamed by Glennon Doyle
Run Towards the Danger by Sarah Polley 🍁
Atlas of the Heart by Brené Brown
Breath by James Nestor
From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle 🍁
You can see all of these titles in this CataList catalogue: Most Circulated Titles in Canada in 2022 – Non-Fiction
Six titles from this list are part of the Biography & Autobiography BISAC category. Glennon Doyle, Jesse Thistle, and James Clear are repeated authors that were also present in last year’s top 10. Only two of these books were also present in the bestselling Non-Fiction list: Atomic Habits by James Clear and Atlas of the Heart by Brené Brown.
Top 10 most circulated Canadian Non-Fiction books of 2022
Indian in the Cabinet by Jody Wilson-Raybould 🍁
Talking to Canadians by Rick Mercer 🍁
Run Towards the Danger by Sarah Polley 🍁
From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle 🍁
Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard 🍁
Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell 🍁
The Betrayal of Anne Frank by Rosemary Sullivan 🍁
12 Rules for Life by Jordan B. Peterson 🍁
The Bomber Mafia by Malcolm Gladwell 🍁
Life in the City of Dirty Water by Clayton Thomas-Muller 🍁
You can see all of these titles in this CataList catalogue: Most Circulated Titles in Canada in 2022 – Canadian Non-Fiction
Five of the 10 books in this list are Biography & Autobiography titles. Jesse Thistle, Malcolm Gladwell, and Jordan B. Peterson are back with the same books as in 2021. Two of these books were also on the bestselling list: 12 Rules for Life by Jordan B. Peterson and The Betrayal of Anne Frank by Rosemary Sullivan.
Top 10 most circulated Juvenile and Young Adult books of 2022
Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney
The Baby-Sitters Club series by Ann M. Martin
Bad Guys series by Aaron Blabey
Wings of Fire series by Tui T. Sutherland
Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey
Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
Raina Telgemeier collection
Plants vs. Zombies series
Cat Kid Comic Club series by Dav Pilkey
Amulet series by Kazu Kibuishi
You can see all of these titles in this CataList catalogue: Most Circulated Titles in Canada in 2022 – Juvenile and Young Adult
This year, nine out of the 10 titles on this list are Juvenile Fiction books. No Young Adult titles made it on this list. Interestingly, the top three series were also the most circulated Juvenile & Young Adult series in 2021. The Cat Kid Comic Club series by Dav Pilkey is the only new series present in this list compared to last year’s top 10.
Top 10 most circulated Canadian Juvenile and Young Adult books of 2022
Guinness World Records collection
Robert Munsch collection 🍁
Jon le Bon series by Alex A. 🍁
The Lunch Club series by Dom Pelletier 🍁
Whatever After series by Sarah Mlynowski 🍁
Arlo and Pips series by Elise Gravel 🍁
I Can Fix It! by Robert Munsch 🍁 and Michael Martchenko 🍁
Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery 🍁
Think Big! by Robert Munsch 🍁 and Dave Whamond 🍁
School Rules! Robert Munsch 🍁 and Dave Whamond 🍁
You can see all of these titles in this CataList catalogue: Most Circulated Titles in Canada in 2022 – Canadian Juvenile and Young Adult
Similar to what we saw last year, Juvenile titles and books by Robert Munsch continue to be the stars of this top 10.
Are you a library staffer or publisher who wants to see more data like this? Check out LibraryData, BookNet’s national library collection and circulation analysis tool. Do you have questions about any of our products, services or this list? Contact us!
A deep dive into book prices in Canada from our upcoming Canadian Book Consumer Study 2023.