Toronto Star bestsellers for Oct. 16, 2024

Five of the 10 new bestselling non-fiction books sold in Canada last week were by Canadians. Given the dominance of American culture, that’s unusually high.
By contrast, check out the bestselling fiction: not a single title on the Original fiction list is by a Canadian. “Proof,” Beverley McLachlin’s latest mystery, is the week’s top-selling book by a Canadian (it would have been #14 on the Original list if we ranked beyond 10).
Those five new non-fiction bestsellers by Canadians are a varied bunch.
There’s the new Malcolm Gladwell, “Revenge of the Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference,” which debuted last week at No. 1. Gladwell, of course, is the New Yorker writer who has lived in the States for decades.
At No. 2 is “Taylor Swift Style: Fashion through the Eras,” by Sarah Chapelle, a Vancouver cultural commentator and Swiftie whose blog and Instagram account @taylorswiftstyled has been documenting the Swiftian metamorphosis for more than a decade.
Next come two musician stories, “This Is Our Life,” the oral history of The Tragically Hip (at No. 6) and “Walking Disaster: My Life Through Heaven and Hell,” by Deryck Whibley, the Scarborough and Ajax-reared founder of Sum 41. The book has been in the news because in it Whibley alleges that former Sum 41 manager Greig Nori sexually abused him, beginning when he was 18. Nori counters that the relationship was consensual. 
Finally, at No. 10, a new memoir by former astronaut, member of Parliament and mystery novelist Marc Garneau, “A Most Extraordinary Ride.” It squeaks onto the Original list at No. 10 and sits comfortably at No. 5 on the Canadian list.
1. The Boyfriend, Freida McFadden, Poisoned Pen (2)
2. Intermezzo, Sally Rooney, Knopf Canada (3)
3. The Stars Are Dying, Chloe C. Peñaranda, Bramble (1)
4. Counting Miracles, Nicholas Sparks, Doubleday Canada (3)
5. The Housemaid, Freida McFadden, Grand Central (11)
6. The Armor of Light, Ken Follett, Penguin (2)
7. Murder Island, James Patterson, Brian Sitts, Grand Central (1)
8. Here One Moment, Liane Moriarty, Doubleday Canada (1)
9. Triangle, Danielle Steel, Delacorte (2)
10. It Starts with Us, Colleen Hoover, Atria (39)
 
1. Revenge of the Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell, Little Brown (2)
2. Taylor Swift Style, Sarah Chapelle, Saint Martin’s Griffin (1)
3. Guinness World Records 2025, Craig Glenday, Guinness World Records (5)
4. Nexus, Yuval Noah Harari, Signal (5)
5. The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt, Penguin Press (29)
6. This Is Our Life, The Tragically Hip, Genesis (2)
7. Walking Disaster, Deryck Whibley, Gallery (1)
8. Be Ready When the Luck Happens, Ina Garten, Crown (2)
9. Ripley’s Believe It or Not, Ripley’s Entertainment (4)
10. A Most Extraordinary Ride, Marc Garneau, Signal (1)
 
1. Proof, Beverley McLachlin Simon & Schuster
2. Wild Eyes, Elsie Silver, Bloom
3. The Last Secret, Maia Caron, Doubleday Canada
4. The Holiday Honeymoon Switch, Julia McKay, Viking
5. When the World Fell Silent, Donna Jones Alward, One More Chapter
6. This Summer Will Be Different, Carley Fortune, Viking
7. The Mistletoe Mystery, Nita Prose, Viking 
8. Paper Boat, Margaret Atwood, McClelland & Stewart
9. The Forgotten Home Child, Genevieve Graham, Simon & Schuster
10. What Have You Done?, Shari Lapena, Doubleday Canada
 
1. Revenge of the Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell, Little Brown
2. Taylor Swift Style, Sarah Chapelle, Saint Martin’s Griffin
3. This Is Our Life, The Tragically Hip, Genesis
4. Walking Disaster, Deryck Whibley, Gallery
5. A Most Extraordinary Ride, Marc Garneau, Signal
6. The Knowing, Tanya Talaga, HarperCollins Canada
7. Heart on My Sleeve, Jeanne Beker, Simon & Schuster
8. Who We Are, Murray Sinclair, Sara Sinclair, Niigaan Sinclair, McClelland & Stewart
9. Hockey Rants and Raves, Steve “Dangle” Glynn, HarperCollins Canada
10. Iron Mike, Mike Keenan, Scott Morrison Random House Canada
1. The Wild Robot, Peter Brown, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
2. Kristy and the Walking Disaster (Baby-Sitters Club #16), Ann M. Martin, Ellen T. Crenshaw, Graphix
3. Ms. Rachel and the Special Surprise, Ms. Rachel, Monique Dong, Random House Books for Young Readers
4. Wrath of the Triple Goddess (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #7), Rick Riordan, Disney-Hyperion
5. Advent Calendar Book Collection, Usborne
6. Class Action (InvestiGators #8), John Patrick Green, First Second
7. Nothing Like the Movies, Lynn Painter, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
8. Métis Like Me, Tasha Hilderman, Risa Hugo, Tundra
9. The Wild Robot Escapes, Peter Brown, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
10. Little Blue Truck’s Halloween, Alice Schertle, Jill McElmurry, Clarion
 
1. The Body Keeps Score, Bessel van der Kolk, Penguin
2. The Complete Anti-Inflammatory Diet for Beginners, Dorothy Calimeris, Lulu Cook, Callisto
3. Good Energy, Casey Means, Calley Means, Avery
4. The New Menopause, Mary Claire Haver, Avery
5. Being Mortal, Atul Gawande, Anchor Canada
6. Outlive, Peter Attia, Bill Gifford, Harmony
7. What to Expect When You’re Expecting, Heidi Murkoff, Workman
8. When the Body Says No, Gabor Maté, Vintage
9. She Comes First, Jan Kerner, William Morrow
10. The Menopause Manifesto, Jen Gunter, Random House Canada
* Weeks on list.