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The authors of two runaway bestselling titles have new non-fiction books out this week.
Each has a distinctive world view, each found a reading public keen to explore these authors’ ideas.
The first is Robin Wall Kimmerer, an American ethno-botanist and member of the Oklahoma-based Citizen Potawatomi Nation. “Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants” was published in 2013 and has been selling briskly ever since, though it really rocketed after 2020. It was the No. 1 bestseller in Canada in 2021.
Her new book, “The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World,” debuts this week at No. 5. The serviceberry tree, says the publisher’s blurb, “distributes its wealth – its abundance of sweet, juicy berries – to meet the needs of its natural community,” thus insuring its own survival. She believes it offers lessons for nature’s human component.
The second is Jordan B. Peterson, the Toronto-based psychologist and author, most famously, of 2018’s “12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos,” which, like “Braiding Sweetgrass,” spent several years at or near the top of Canadian non-fiction lists.
His new book sounds quite different than the bracing rules embodied in “12 Rules” (make your bed, stand straight and keep your shoulders back, etc.). “We Who Wrestle With God: Perceptions of the Divine” is Peterson’s study, according to his publisher, of “the ancient, foundational stories of the Western world. In riveting detail, he analyzes the biblical accounts of rebellion, sacrifice, suffering and triumph that stabilize, inspire and unite us culturally and psychologically.” It joins the list of new non-fiction at No. 9.
ORIGINAL FICTION
1. The Grey Wolf, Louise Penny, Minotaur (3)*
2. To Die For, David Baldacci, Grand Central (1)
3. The Christmas Tree Farm, Laurie Gilmore, One More Chapter (4)
4. Here One Moment, Liane Moriarty, Doubleday Canada (5)
5. In Too Deep, Lee Child, Andrew Child, Delacorte (4)
6. Intermezzo, Sally Rooney, Knopf Canada (8)
7. The Housemaid, Freida McFadden, Grand Central (16)
8. The Waiting, Michael Connelly, Little, Brown (5)
9. The Striker, Ana Huang, Bloom (4)
10. The Boyfriend, Freida McFadden, Poisoned Pen (5)
ORIGINAL NON-FICTION
1. Revenge of the Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell, Little, Brown (7)
2. Guinness World Records 2025, Craig Glenday, Guinness World Records (9)
3. Home and Away, Mats Sundin, Amy Stuart, Simon & Schuster (4)
4. Framed, John Grisham, Jim McCloskey, Doubleday (4)
5. The Serviceberry, Robin Wall Kimmerer, John Burgoyne, Scribner (1)
6. Nexus, Yuval Noah Harari, Signal (9)
7. From Here to the Great Unknown, Lisa Marie Presley, Riley Keough, Random House (4)
8. Taylor Swift Style, Sarah Chapelle, Saint Martin’s Griffin (5)
9. We Who Wrestle With God, Jordan B. Peterson, Portfolio (1)
10. Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Dare to Discover, Ripley Entertainment (5)
CANADIAN FICTION
1. The Grey Wolf, Louise Penny, Minotaur
2. The Traitor Queen, Danielle L. Jensen, Del Rey
3. The Mistletoe Mystery, Nita Prose, Viking
4. When the World Fell Silent, Donna Jones Alward, One More Chapter
5. The Apollo Murders, Chris Hadfield, Seal
6. The Holiday Honeymoon Switch, Julia McKay, Viking
7. Butcher and Blackbird, Brynne Weaver, Zando
8. The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood, McClelland & Stewart
9. Looking for Jane, Heather Marshall, Simon & Schuster
10. The Bridge Kingdom, Danielle L. Jensen, Del Rey
CANADIAN NON-FICTION
1. Revenge of the Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell, Little, Brown
2. Home and Away, Mats Sundin, Amy Stuart, Simon & Schuster
3. Taylor Swift Style, Sarah Chapelle, Saint Martin’s Griffin
4. We Who Wrestle With God, Jordan B. Peterson, Portfolio
5. Who We Are, Murray Sinclair, Sara Sinclair, Niigaan Sinclair, McClelland & Stewart
6. Dreamer, Nazem Kadri, Viking
7. This Is Our Life, The Tragically Hip, Genesis
8. Hockey Rants and Raves, Steve “Dangle” Glynn, HarperCollins Canada
9. Reconciling History, Jody Wilson-Raybould, Roshan Danesh, McClelland & Stewart
10. The War We Won Apart, Nahlah Ayed, Viking
CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULT
1. Hot Mess (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #19), Jeff Kinney, Abrams
2. The Bad Guys in One Last Thing (#20), Aaron Blabey, Scholastic
3. Games Untold, Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
4. Little Blue Truck’s Christmas, Alice Schertle, Jill McElmurry, Clarion
5. Skyshade (The Lightlark Saga #3), Alex Aster, Abrams
6. The Wild Robot, Peter Brown, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
7. Christmas at Hogwarts, J.K. Rowling, Ziyi Gao, Bloomsbury Children’s
8. The Wild Robot Escapes, Peter Brown, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
9. The Scarlet Shredder (Dog Man #12), Dav Pilkey, Graphix
10. A Heart for Christmas, Sophie Jomain, Manon Bucciarelli, Éditions et Diffusions Auzou
HEALTH & FITNESS
1. The Body Keeps Score, Bessel van der Kolk, Penguin
2. Good Energy, Casey Means, Calley Means, Avery
3. The New Menopause, Mary Claire Haver, Avery
4. What to Expect When You’re Expecting, Heidi Murkoff, Workman
5. When the Body Says No, Gabor Maté, Vintage
6. Fast Like a Girl, Mindy Pelz, Hay House
7. Gray’s Anatomy, Henry Gray, Henry Vandyke, Shane Tubbs, Canterbury Classics
8. Outlive, Peter Attia, Bill Gifford, Harmony
9. The Myth of Normal, Gabor Maté, Daniel Maté, Knopf Canada
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.
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