Toronto Star bestsellers for Aug. 28, 2024

The ranking of non-fiction bestsellers is always a good measure of our national preoccupations. In recent weeks, that has meant books lamenting the addiction to screens among our current crop of young people (“The Anxious Generation”) and U.S. politics (“All in the Family” and “What This Comedian Said Will Shock You”).
This week, our attention has shifted to that perennial favourite, UFOs, and whether alien life-forms have visited Earth.
“Imminent: Inside the Pentagon’s Hunt for UFOs” debuts this week at No. 1. The author is Luis Elizondo, the former head of the U.S. agency tasked with monitoring and compiling everything the U.S. government knows about visitations from beyond or UAPs (unidentified anomalous phenomena) as we are apparently now calling undocumented aliens from space.
The other significant newcomer to this week’s list is “The Knowing,” a reconstruction of Canadian history through the eyes of First Nations People. Author Tanya Talaga, the journalist who wrote 2017’s well-regarded “Seven Fallen Feathers,” is of Anishinaabe and Polish descent. “The Knowing” joins the main non-fiction list at No. 7 and at No. 2 on the Canadian list.
ORIGINAL FICTION
1. It Ends With Us, Colleen Hoover, Atria (96)
2. It Starts With Us, Colleen Hoover, Atria (32)
3. By Any Other Name, Jodi Picoult, Random House Canada (1)
4. Daydream, Hannah Grace, Atria (1)
5. What Have You Done?, Shari Lapena, Doubleday Canada (4)
6. The Briar Club, Kate Quinn, William Morrow (8)
7. When the World Fell Silent, Donna Jones Alward, One More Chapter (2)
8. The Pumpkin Spice Café, Laurie Gilmore, One More Chapter (1)
9. The Housemaid, Freida McFadden, Grand Central (9)
10. This Is Why We Lied, Karin Slaughter, William Morrow (1)
ORIGINAL NON-FICTION
1. Imminent, Luis Elizondo, William Morrow (1)
2. The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt, Penguin Press (22)
3. Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions (146)
4. What’s Next, Melissa Fitzgerald, Mary McCormack, Dutton (1)
5. All in the Family, Fred C. Trump III, Gallery (4)
6. What This Comedian Said Will Shock You, Bill Maher, Simon & Schuster (14)
7. The Knowing, Tanya Talaga, HarperCollins Canada (1)
8. Love Triangle, Matt Parker, Riverhead (1)
9. The War We Won Apart, Nahlah Ayed, Viking (13)
10. On the Edge, Nate Silver, Penguin Press (1)
CANADIAN FICTION
1. What Have You Done?, Shari Lapena, Doubleday Canada
2. When the World Fell Silent, Donna Jones Alward, One More Chapter
3. This Summer Will Be Different, Carley Fortune, Viking
4. Till Death Do Us Part, Laurie Elizabeth Flynn, Simon & Schuster
5. Fall With Me, Becka Mack, Simon & Schuster
6. Butcher and Blackbird, Brynne Weaver, Zando
7. Avatar: The Last Airbender, Faith Erin Hicks, Peter Wartman, Dark Horse
8. Leather and Lark, Brynne Weaver, Zando
9. Meet Me at the Lake, Carley Fortune, Viking
10. Body Check, Elle Kennedy, Harlequin
CANADIAN NON-FICTION
1. Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, Matthew Perry, Flatiron
2. The Knowing, Tanya Talaga, HarperCollins Canada
3. The War We Won Apart, Nahlah Ayed, Viking
4. Fire Weather, John Vaillant, Vintage Canada
5. The Widow’s Guide to Dead Bastards, Jessica Waite, Simon & Schuster
6. Health for All, Jane Philpott, Signal
7. 21 Things You May Not Know about the Indian Act, Bob Joseph, Indigenous Relations
8. Outsider, Brett Popplewell, Collins
9. Truth Telling, Michelle Good, Harper Perennial
10. A History of Canada in Ten Maps, Adam Shoalts, Penguin Canada
CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULT
1. Wisteria, Adalyn Grace, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
2. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, Holly Jackson, Ember
3. The New Girl (#1), Cassandra Calin, Graphix
4. Bluey: Grannies and Other Stories, Penguin Young Readers
5. Powerless, Lauren Roberts, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
6. The Wild Robot, Peter Brown, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
7. Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder (#12), Dav Pilkey, Graphix 
8. Reckless, Lauren Roberts, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
9. The Grandest Game, Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
10. Good Girl, Bad Blood, Holly Jackson, Ember
BUSINESS AND PERSONAL FINANCE
1. The 5AM Club, Robin Sharma, HarperCollins Canada
2. Traction, Gino Wickman, BenBella
3. Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert T. Kiyosaki, Plata
4. Surrounded by Idiots, Thomas Erikson, St. Martin’s Essentials
5. Dare to Lead, Brené Brown, Random House
6. Leaders Eat Last, Simon Sinek, Portfolio
7. Think Again, Adam Grant, Penguin
8. The First 90 Days (Expanded), Michael Watkins, Harvard Business Review
9. I Will Teach You to Be Rich, Ramit Sethi, Workman
10. Influence (Expanded), Robert B. Cialdini, Harper Business
* 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.