Indigo Announces Best Books of 2013

Indigo Book Experts Make Gift Giving Easy This Holiday Season

TORONTO, Oct. 31, 2013 /CNW/ - With the holiday season approaching, Indigo, Canada's leading purveyor of ideas and inspiration (TSX: IDG), is pleased to announce its Top 13 Books of 2013. This year's best books offer something for everyone on your gift list; from the inspiring true story of Malala Yousafzai to The Orenda, a gripping masterpiece by Giller-Prize winning author Joseph Boyden.

"Over the past year the Indigo book buying team has read thousands of titles and pitched, argued, and advocated for what they thought was the best, agreeing on Benediction by Kent Haruf as the top title of 2013," says Bahram Olfati, Senior Vice-President, Print and eReading.  "This year's list represents an expertly curated selection of diverse talent, from a Nobel Prize nominee to the Canadian Commander of the International Space Station."

Indigo's Top 13 Books of 2013

1. Benediction by Kent Haruf
An intimate reflection of family as life ends.  Seldom does a book capture love, loss, happiness and life with such perfection; raw emotions will pour out.

2. The Orenda by Joseph Boyden
From the Scotiabank Giller Prize-Winning author of Through Black Spruce comes a literary masterpiece steeped in the natural beauty and blood-soaked brutality of Canada's formative years.

3. The Son by Philipp Meyer
Part epic of Texas, part classic coming-of-age story, part unflinching portrait of the bloody price of power, The Son is an utterly transporting novel that maps the legacy of violence in the American West through the lives of the McCulloughs, an ambitious family as resilient and dangerous as the land they claim.

4. The Spark by Kristine Barnett
The extraordinary memoir of a mother's love, commitment and nurturing, which allowed her son, originally diagnosed with severe autism, to flourish into a universally recognized genius - and how any parent can help their child find their spark. This book is also a Heather's Pick.

5. An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth by Chris Hadfield
As Commander of the International Space Station, Chris Hadfield captivated the world with stunning photos and commentary from space. Now, in his first book, he offers readers extraordinary stories from his life as an astronaut, and shows how to make the impossible a reality. This book is also a Heather's Pick.

6. I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai
When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education. On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, when she was fifteen, she almost paid the ultimate price. She was shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school. Malala's miraculous recovery has taken her on an extraordinary journey. At sixteen, she has become a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest nominee ever for the Nobel Peace Prize. This book is also a Heather's Pick.

7. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
From the bestselling author of Eleanor & Park comes a coming-of-age tale of fan fiction, family and first love.

8. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
A novel of shocking narrative energy and power, The Goldfinch combines unforgettably vivid characters, mesmerizing language, and breathtaking suspense, while plumbing with a philosopher's calm the deepest mysteries of love, identity, and art.

9. Thank You For Your Service by David Finkel
More than a work of journalism, Thank You for Your Service is an act of understanding -- shocking but always riveting, unflinching but deeply humane, it takes us inside the heads of those who must live the rest of their lives with the realities of war.

10. Five Days At Memorial by Sheri Fink
Pulitzer Prize winner Sheri Fink's landmark investigation of patient deaths at a New Orleans hospital ravaged by Hurricane Katrina - and her suspenseful portrayal of the quest for truth and justice.

11. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
The feel-good hit of 2013, The Rosie Project is a classic screwball romance about a handsome but awkward genetics professor and the woman who is totally wrong for him.

12. The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida
A story never before told and a memoir to help change our understanding of the world around us, 13-year-old Naoki Higashida''s astonishing, empathetic book takes us into the mind of a boy with severe autism.

13. The Dinner by Herman Koch
An internationally bestselling phenomenon: the darkly suspenseful, highly controversial tale of two families struggling to make the hardest decision of their lives - all over the course of one meal.

For the full list please visit: http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/best-of-2013/

About Indigo Books & Music Inc.
With books always at our heart and soul at Indigo we are about telling stories and creating experiences. Indigo is Canada's largest purveyor of ideas and inspiration to enrich your life, with books, specialty toys, gifts and lifestyle enhancing products that affordably offer intrinsic quality, beauty and timeless design. As the largest book and specialty retailer in Canada, Indigo operates in all provinces under different banners including Indigo Books & Music; Indigo Books, Gifts, Kids; IndigoSpirit, Chapters, The World's Biggest Bookstore, and Coles and online at www.indigo.ca.

Indigo Books & Music Inc. founded the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation in 2004 to address the underfunding of public schools, their libraries and the resulting literacy crisis.  Every year the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation commits $1.5 million to high-needs elementary schools so they can rebuild their libraries with the purchase of new books and education resources.  The annual Adopt a School program brings Canadian communities together to raise additional funds putting thousands more books into the hands of children at hundreds more elementary schools annually. To date the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation has committed more than $13.5 million to more than 150 schools nationally.

SOURCE: Indigo Books & Music Inc.

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Alex Thomson
Manager, Public Relations
Indigo Books & Music
O: 416-263-5152