Toronto Star bestsellers: A Canadian-born Booker Prize winner and a memoir by the late Robbie Robertson make the lists

Szalay hasn’t lived in Canada since he was one year old, and now splits him time between Austria and Hungary, but Canadians are reliably quick to claim a former citizen made good.

Speaking of remarkable Canadians, there are quite a few of them populating the Canadian non-fiction list this week.

Beloved actors Michael J. Fox and John Candy continue to be represented, with a memoir by the former at No. 7 and a biography of the late Candy at No. 9. Revered author Margaret Atwood is still holding onto No. 1 with her memoir of sorts, “Book of Lives,” while musician Alan Doyle has climbed to No. 2 with his love letter to his native Newfoundland, “The Smiling Land.”

Their ranks are joined this week at No. 6 by the late, great Canadian musician Robbie Robertson, with the posthumous memoir “Insomnia.”

It’s about the 20 months Robertson spent living with filmmaker Martin Scorsese following the 1976 farewell performance of the Band, which Scorsese turned into the documentary “The Last Waltz.” That kicked off a decades-long friendship and professional collaboration between the pair, with Robertson scoring legendary Scorsese movies like “Raging Bull,” “The Wolf of Wall Street” and “Killers of the Flower Moon.” 

“Buffeted on either side by temptation and paranoia, veering closer to self-destruction than either wanted to admit, together they had devoted themselves to a partnership defined by equal parts admiration and ambition,” Penguin Random House says about “Insomnia.”

Another notable entry in Canadian non-fiction involves a man whose name most wouldn’t know but whose story is significant nonetheless. “Till We Meet Again” by Brandon Marriott recounts the experiences of Lester Harper, a British Columbia farmer who volunteered in the First World War. It’s no. 10 on the list.

“Not since Timothy Findley’s ‘The Wars,’ Tim Cook’s magisterial works about the First World War, or Erich Maria Remarque’s ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ has a book about a soldier’s life at the sharp end been told with such humour, gravitas, and in a heart-pounding narrative that drops you behind enemy lines,” says Simon & Schuster.

Finally, there’s “The Finest Hotel in Kabul” at No. 8, a memoir by Canadian Lyse Doucet, the BBC’s chief international correspondent. She uses the story of the Inter-Continental Kabul, the first luxury hotel in Afghanistan, opened in 1969, to convey the history of the country itself, told through the people who populate the hotel.

ORIGINAL FICTION

1. The Strength of the Few, James Islington, SAGA (1)*

2. The Black Wolf, Louise Penny, Minotaur (4)

3. The Secret of Secrets, Dan Brown, Doubleday (10)

4. The Widow, John Grisham, Doubleday (4)

5. Exit Strategy, Lee Child, Andrew Child, Delacorte (1)

6. Always Remember, Charlie Mackesy, Penguin (5)

7. Nash Falls, David Baldacci, Grand Central (1)

8. Final Orbit, Chris Hadfield, Random House Canada (5)

9. Alchemised, SenLinYu, Del Ray (8)

10. Wild Dark Shore, Charlotte McConaghy, Flatiron (2)

ORIGINAL NON-FICTION

1. Nobody’s Girl, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, Knopf (4)

2. Book of Lives, Margaret Atwood, McClelland & Stewart (2)

3. Guinness World Records 2026, Craig Glenday, Guinness World Records (8)

4. The Smiling Land, Alan Doyle, Doubleday Canada (2)

5. Certified Beauties, James Duthie, Collins (4)

6. Vanished Beyond the Map, Adam Shoalts, Allen Lane (6)

7. 1929, Andrew Ross Sorkin, Viking (4)

8. We Breed Lions, Rick Westhead, Random House Canada (2)

9. Last Rites, Ozzy Osbourne, Grand Central (5)

10. Finding My Way, Malala Yousafzai, Atria (3)

CANADIAN FICTION

1. The Black Wolf, Louise Penny, Minotaur

2. Final Orbit, Chris Hadfield, Random House Canada

3. Flesh, David Szalay, McClelland & Stewart

4. Breathe With Me, Becka Mack, Simon & Schuster 

5. Queen Esther, John Irving, Knopf Canada

6. Finding Flora, Elinor Florence, Simon & Schuster

7. The Spirit of Scatarie, Lesley Crewe, Vagrant

8. The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood, McClelland & Stewart

9. The Bond That Burns (deluxe limited edition), Briar Boleyn, MIRA

10. The Paris Express, Emma Donoghue, Harper Perennial

CANADIAN NON-FICTION

1. Book of Lives, Margaret Atwood, McClelland & Stewart 

2. The Smiling Land, Alan Doyle, Doubleday Canada

3. Certified Beauties, James Duthie, Collins

4. Vanished Beyond the Map, Adam Shoalts, Allen Lane

5. We Breed Lions, Rick Westhead, Random House Canada

6. Insomnia, Robbie Robertson, Knopf Canada

7. Future Boy, Michael J. Fox, Nelle Fortenberry, Flatiron

8. The Finest Hotel in Kabul, Lyse Doucet, Allen Lane

9. John Candy, Paul Myers, House of Anansi

10. Till We Meet Again, Brandon Marriott, Simon & Schuster

CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULT

1. Big Jim Believes (Dog Man #14), Dav Pilkey, Graphix

2. Partypooper (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #20), Jeff Kinney, Amulet

3. Darkstalker: A Graphic Novel (Wings of Fire), Tui T. Sutherland, Jake Parker, Graphix

4. The Humble Pie, Jory John, Pete Oswald, HarperCollins

5. A Heart for Christmas, Sophie Jomain, Manon Bucciarelli, Éditions et Diffusions Auzou

6. Secret Santa, Sophie Jomain, Manon Bucciarelli, Éditions et Diffusions Auzou

7. The Never Girls Collection #1, Kiki Thorpe, RH Disney, RH/Disney

8. Jessi Ramsey, Pet-Sitter (Baby-sitters Club #18), Ellen T. Crenshaw, Ann M. Martin, Graphix

9. Big Jim Begins (Dog Man #13), Dav Pilkey, Graphix

10. How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (full colour edition), Dr. Seuss, Random House Books for Young Readers

HEALTH AND FITNESS

1. The Body Keeps the Score, Bessel van der Kolk, Penguin

2. The Myth of Normal, Gabor Maté, Daniel Maté, Vintage Canada

3. When the Body Says No, Gabor Maté, Vintage Canada

4. What to Expect When You’re Expecting, Heidi Murkoff, Workman

5. Unbreakable, Vonda Wright, Rodale

6. Smartphone Nation, Kaitlyn Regehr, Knopf Canada

7. Outlive, Peter Attia, Bill Gifford, Harmony

8. Come As You Are (updated), Emily Nagoski, Simon & Schuster

9. What to Eat Now, Marion Nestle, Farrar, Straus & Giroux

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.