In its most recent consumer survey series update, BookNet Canada examined book prices, including how much Canadian book buyers are willing to pay, how they are spending their money, and the value they attribute to books.
Most customers paid full price in 2025, with 51% (down from 53% in 2024) of those who bought new titles spending between C$1 (about US$0.70) and C$49 (about US$35.50) on books in a given month. While 91% of Canadian consumers looked for sales, promotions, and coupons when they shop for books, most of them paid full price for the books they purchased in 2025 (60%, same as in 2024).
Since 2020, the average price paid by these Canadian book buyers increased 11% for hardcovers, 11% for paperbacks, 3% for e-books, and decreased 5% for audiobooks, BookNet noted, adding that year-over-year survey results from 2024 to 2025 showed that average prices paid jumped 13% for hardcovers, 5% for paperbacks, and 2% for audiobooks, and decreased 13% for audiobooks year over year.
The majority of Canadians who bought new books compared book prices before making a purchase at least sometimes in 2025 (83%), with 19% comparing the price in multiple places, a percentage that is the same as in 2023 and 2024. BookNet noted that overall, 68% of Canadians who bought a new book participated in book-related rewards or loyalty programs last year.
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Legendary Paris bookshop Shakespeare and Company has partnered with publisher Faber on a new podcast, Editions: A Shakespeare and Company x Faber Production, the Bookseller reported. Each episode will celebrate and discuss a title on the Faber Editions list, which is "dedicated to rediscovering radical literary voices."
The podcast will feature a conversation between Shakespeare and Company's literary director Adam Biles; Ella Griffiths, Faber's head of classics and heritage; and a guest speaker. The first episode is scheduled to be released May 28 to mark the 20th title on the Faber Editions list: Henry Van Dyke's Ladies of the Rachmaninoff Eyes (1965), and will feature Taíno Mendez as guest. The second episode focuses on Ruth Rehmann's Illusions (1959), with Megan Nolan.
"For booksellers, Faber Editions is a dream--subversive, overlooked voices, unearthed and beautifully republished," said Biles. "I'm so excited to get the chance to discuss these books with Ella and our guests, and to invite listeners into this radical little reading group."
Griffiths added: "Faber and Shakespeare and Company--one of the world's most beloved bookshops--have always shared a vibrant spirit of independence and experimental creativity: so this chance to resurrect lost gems from history together on our new podcast is a true pleasure."
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Kirsty Bradbury has been named the new children's managing director at Simon & Schuster UK, effective later this year, the Bookseller reported. Currently publishing strategy director at HarperCollins, Bradbury will assume her new position this fall, reporting to Simon & Schuster UK and International CEO Perminder Mann.
Bradbury has 25 years of industry experience. Prior to joining HarperCollins in 2019, she worked at publishing companies Carlton, Parragon and Penguin Random House, as well as at kids' entertainment brand Nickelodeon.