Indigo is giving away 10,000 free books across Canada this weekend — here’s how to score one

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Canadian Book lovers, rejoice: Indigo’s third annual book giveaway is here to kick off the reading season. Customers can visit participating Indigo, Chapters and Coles stores on Saturday, Sept. 12, to receive one of five hand-selected titles from Heather’s Picks, curated by Indigo founder and CEO Heather Reisman.

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“The giveaway is really an invitation to come into our bookstores,” said Amanda Gauthier, Indigo’s senior director of print.

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Promising to “grab you from the first page,” this year’s giveaway is inspired by the company’s Anchor in Analogue campaign, which encourages Canadians to disconnect from screens and reconnect with hobbies, crafts and reading.

“This year’s books promise that if you get in line, are handed any of these five books, you will be in it and won’t close it until you are finished,” Gauthier said. “There are no obstacles to getting into the story.”

How to score a free book from Indigo

This year’s free book initiative is just one of the many ways Indigo is working to increase accessibility to books for Canadians.

“In a world where algorithms are actively being designed to diminish our focus and ability to disconnect, reading time can slip away,” Heather Reisman said in a press release. “Which is why this year’s giveaway feels especially meaningful — it is our invitation, to anyone who has drifted, to come back to the page.”

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Gauthier said the giveaway is a way of removing barriers to buying books and helping people fall in love with reading.

“It’s not just what’s new,” she said. “There is a right book for everyone.”

10,000 books will be handed out on a first-come, first-served basis while supplies last on Sept. 12, and no purchase is necessary. The five titles are:

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

Junior hockey is the backbone of a declining town where a semifinal win could mean a reversal of fortune. But when allegations of a violent sexual assault involving a key player emerge, loyalties are divided as residents grapple with the aftermath. Beartown is also airing as a series on Crave now. 

Educated by Tara Westover

A unique and moving memoir by Tara Westover, who was born into a family of survivalists in the remote mountains of Idaho. Due to her father’s aversion to education, she went to her first school at seventeen and it transformed her life. 

In Educated, she explores how no matter how far you roam, there is always a way back home.

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The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann

Journalist David Grann is a masterful storyteller, setting historical scenes so vivid, readers feel like they are witnessing them firsthand. This non-fiction book draws on firsthand accounts after British vessel the Wager wrecked off the coast of Patagonia in 1741. 

Grann also wrote Killers of the Flower Moon, which was adapted into an Oscar-winning feature film in 2024. 

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

A thrilling tale set in post-WWII Barcelona, Spain, The Shadow of the Wind is the first in a series of books called Cemetery of Forgotten Books, so if you love it, there are more to read. Daniel is the son of an antique book dealer who surfaces the only copy of the titular The Shadow of the Wind.

Throughout this long, unravelling tale, he finds love, loses it and uncovers a long-buried romance. 

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi

Marjane Satrapi’s autobiographical graphic novel depicts her life in Iran and Europe during and in the aftermath of the Iranian Revolution. Illustrated in black and white comic strip style, Satrapiconfronts themes of exile, loneliness, feminism and war. Itwas adapted into an Oscar-winning film in 2007. 

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