Staff report
The Homer Bookstore has released its best seller list for books sold in 2016. Local authors wrote seven of the top-10 books, including the number-1 book, “Homestead Kitchen: Stores and Recipes from Our Hearth to Yours,” by Eve and Eivin Kilcher. The memoir and cookbook by the “Alaska: The Last Frontier” reality-TV show stars also set the all-time best-seller record for the Homer Bookstore, selling almost 1,000 copies.
The Kilchers broke the record of total books sold set by Homer writer Tom Kizzia for his nonfiction book, “Pilgrim’s Wilderness,” appearing on the 2016, 2015 and 2014 lists. The previous all-time best seller was J.K. Rowling’s “Order of the Phoenix.” Of the 27 books (including several books tying for places), local authors wrote 12 of the books, with another four Alaskans also on the list.
Fredrik Backman wrote the top book for 2016 by a non-Alaskan, “A Man Called Ove,” number 3 on the 2015 list. Other books that have made the best seller list in previous years include “Beachcomber’s ABCs,” by Molly Montgomery; “Kachemak Bay Communities,” by Janet Klein; “Find the Good,” by Heather Lende, and (in previous editions), “The Milepost,” by Kris Valencia.
Homer Bookstore Best Sellers 2016
1) Homestead Kitchen: Stories and Recipes from Our Hearth to Yours, by Eve and Eivin Kilcher*
2) A Man Called Ove, by Fredrik Backman
3) Becoming Earth, by Eva Saulitis*
4) The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness, by Sy Montgomery
5) Mary’s Gift: Alaska’s Remarkable Mary Epperson, by Dorothy Roberts Cline*
6) Beachcomber’s ABC’s, by Molly Montgomery*
7) Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts 1 and 2, by J. K. Rowling, John Tiffany and Jack Thorne
8) Kachemak Bay Alaska, by The Homer Foundation*
9) Truck Stop Earth, by Michael Armstrong*
10) Made of Salmon: Alaska Stories from the Salmon Project, edited by Nancy Lord*
11) Arsenal of Democracy: FDR, Detroit, and an Epic Quest to Arm an America at War, by A. J. Baime
12) Alaskan Laundry, by Brendan Jones**
Alaska’s Mushrooms: A Wide-Ranging Guide, by Gary A. Laursen and Neil McArthur*
13) Liar’s Code, by Richard Chiappone*
14) Kachemak Bay Communities: Their Histories, Their Mysteries, by Janet Klein*
Octopus in the Outhouse, by Stacy Studebaker
15) My Coyote Nose and Ptarmigan Toes, by Erin McKittrick*
16) My Old Dog: Rescued Pets with Remarkable Second Acts, by Laura T. Coffey
17) To the Bright Edge of the World, by Eowyn Ivey**
18) Astoria: Astor and Jefferson’s Lost Pacific Empire: A Tale of Ambition and Survival on the Early American Frontier, by Peter Stark
19) Find the Good, by Heather Lende**
20) The Milepost 2016, by Kris Valencia**
21) Too Close to Home? Living with “drill, baby” on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula, by McKibben Jackinsky*
22) Pilgrim’s Wilderness: A True Story of Faith and Madness on the Alaska Frontier, by Tom Kizzia*
23) Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Little Golden Book, by Diane Muldrow
24) Discovering Wild Plants, by Janice Schofield (former Alaska author)
25) Peterson Reference Guides: Birding by Impression, by Kevin T. Karlson and Dale Rosselet
26) My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, by Fredrik Backman
* Homer or lower Kenai Peninsula author
** Alaska author
