Toronto Star bestsellers for Sept. 11, 2024

Six of the top 10 new non-fiction books sold in Canada last week were written by Canadians, four of them making their first appearance on the list. I can’t recall a previous week when local talent has dominated the list to this extent.
At No. 1 is “At a Loss for Words: Conversation in an Age of Rage,” by Carol Off, the popular former host of CBC’s “As It Happens.” Over six chapters, Off examines six words — among them democracy, freedom and truth — to lament how our divisive political landscape has corrupted the very meaning of language. This is Off’s fifth book.
Military historian Ted Barris ranks No. 5 with his latest, “Battle of Britain: Canadian Airmen in their Finest Hour,” in which he recounts the 113 days in 1940 when the Royal Air Force — supplemented by more than 100 flyers from Canada — defended the country from sustained bombing by Nazis.
“Our Green Heart: The Soul and Science of Forests,” by Diana Beresford-Kroeger, debuts at No. 6. Her background echoes aspects of Robin Wall Kimmerer, whose evergreen “Braiding Sweetgrass,” published in 2015, is this week celebrating its 148th week on the non-fiction list. Both women are botanists.
While Wall Kimmerer has described herself as a Native American ethnobotanist, a publisher’s blurb says: “the last child in Ireland to receive a full Druidic education, Diana Beresford-Kroeger has brought an unusual and ancient holistic attitude to the science of trees, which has led her to many fresh insights into how closely we are tied to one another and to the natural world.”
Finally, at No. 9, the 2025 Canadian edition of “The Old Farmer’s Almanac.” The publisher is American and no writer is credited, but let’s assume that some Canadians, or at least some Canadian research, was pulled together in the development of this edition.
ORIGINAL FICTION
1. Wild Eyes, Elsie Silver, Bloom (1)
2. Daydream, Hannah Grace, Atria (3)
3. The Life Impossible, Matt Haig, Harper Avenue (1)
4. It Ends With Us, Colleen Hoover, Atria (98)
5. The Games Gods Play, Abigail Owen, Red Tower (1)
6. Passions in Death, J.D. Robb, St Martin’s (1)
7. It Starts With Us, Colleen Hoover, Atria (34)
8. What Have You Done?, Shari Lapena, Doubleday Canada (6)
9. The Briar Club, Kate Quinn, William Morrow (10)
10. The Pumpkin Spice Café, Laurie Gilmore, One More Chapter (3)
ORIGINAL NON-FICTION
1. At a Loss for Words, Carol Off, Random House Canada (1)
2. The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt, Penguin Press (24)
3. The Knowing, Tanya Talaga, HarperCollins Canada (3)
4. The Traitor’s Daughter, Roxana Spicer, Viking (2)
5. Battle of Britain, Ted Barris, Sutherland House (1) 
6. Our Green Heart, Diana Beresford-Kroeger, Random House Canada (1)
7. All in the Family, Fred Trump, Gallery (5)
8. Imminent, Luis Elizondo, William Morrow (3)
9. The Old Farmer’s Almanac (2025 Canadian edition), Old Farmer’s Almanac (1)
10. Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions (148)
CANADIAN FICTION
1. Wild Eyes, Elsie Silver, Bloom
2. What Have You Done?, Shari Lapena, Doubleday Canada
3. When the World Fell Silent, Donna Jones Alward, One More Chapter
4. Real Ones, Katherena Vermette, Hamish Hamilton
5. What Time the Sexton’s Spade Doth Rust, Alan Bradley, Doubleday Canada
6. Fall With Me, Becka Mack, Simon & Schuster
7. This Summer Will Be Different, Carley Fortune, Viking
8. Butcher and Blackbird, Brynne Weaver, Zando
9. Consider Me, Becka Mack, Simon & Schuster
10. Unravel Me, Becka Mack, Simon & Schuster
CANADIAN NON-FICTION
1. At a Loss for Words, Carol Off, Random House Canada
2. The Knowing, Tanya Talaga, HarperCollins Canada
3. Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, Matthew Perry, Flatiron
4. The Traitor’s Daughter, Roxana Spicer, Viking
5. Battle of Britain, Ted Barris, Sutherland House
6. Our Green Heart, Diana Beresford-Kroeger, Random House Canada
7. Health for All, Jane Philpott, Signal
8. I Heard There Was a Secret Chord, Daniel J. Levitin, Allen Lane
9. 21 Things You May Not Know about the Indian Act, Bob Joseph, Indigenous Relations
10. Mind the Science, Jonathan N. Stea, Random House Canada
CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULT
1. Bluey: Awesome Advent Book Bundle, Penguin Young Readers
2. Powerless, Lauren Roberts, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
3. The Wild Robot, Peter Brown, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
4. Reckless, Lauren Roberts, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
5. Little Blue Truck’s Halloween, Alice Schertle, Jill McElmurry, Clarion
6. Kristy and the Walking Disaster (Baby-Sitters Club #16), Ann M. Martin, Ellen T. Crenshaw, Graphix
7. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, Holly Jackson, Ember
8. Immortal Dark, Tigest Girma, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
9. Bluey’s Halloween Mix-and-Match, Penguin Young Readers
10. Big Nate: Remain Calm!, Lincoln Peirce, Andrews McMeel
HEALTH & FITNESS
1. The New Menopause, Mary Claire Haver, Potter/Ten Speed/Harmony/Rodale
2. The Body Keeps Score, Bessel van der Kolk, Penguin
3. Outlive, Peter Attia, Bill Gifford, Harmony
4. Estrogen Matters, Avrum Bluming, Carol Tavris, Little Brown
5. Fast Like a Girl, Mindy Pelz, Hay House
6. When the Body Says No, Gabor Maté, Vintage
7. Good Energy, Casey Means, Calley Means, Avery
8. The Myth of Normal, Gabor Maté, Daniel Maté, Knopf Canada
9. Come as You Are (updated edition), Emily Nagoski, Simon & Schuster
10. In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, Gabor Maté, Vintage Canada
* Weeks on list
The bestseller lists are compiled by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited from information provided by BookNet Canada’s national sales tracking service, BNC SalesData.