Toronto Star bestsellers: TikTok poet Josie Balka is back on the fiction list with 'Loves of Our Lives'

And considering Christmas isn’t a happy time of year for everyone, that seems fitting too.

The book is at No. 4 on the original fiction list and No. 2 on the Canadian. 

“From the coziness of lifelong friendship to the aching intensity of lost love, ‘Loves of Our Lives’ is a poetic journey through the heartfelt relationships that make us human,” Simon & Schuster says.

Balka, who was born in Toronto and now lives in Calgary, came to prominence on TikTok. She had another bestseller earlier this year with her first book of poetry, “I Hope You Remember,” which hit the original fiction list in May and then lingered on the Canadian one. 

Another Canadian was uppermost in the minds of those who bought children’s book this past week.

Beloved author Robert Munsch, who was born in Pittsburgh and became a Canadian citizen in the 1980s, did a recent CBC interview in which he talked about his dementia diagnosis and said he would eventually have an assisted death.

However, the 80-year-old said his books would continue to be released posthumously at the rate of one per year.

Nonetheless, book buyers snapped up his existing ones, including his 1986 global bestseller “Love You Forever,” 2012’s “Finding Christmas” and 2020’s “Sounds Like Christmas” all making the children’s and young adult list this week.

ORIGINAL FICTION

1. Always Remember, Charlie Mackesy, Penguin (9)*

2. The Secret of Secrets, Dan Brown, Doubleday (14)

3. The Black Wolf, Louise Penny, Minotaur (8)

4. Loves of Our Lives, Josie Balka, Simon & Schuster (1)

5. The Widow, John Grisham, Doubleday (8)

6. Wild Dark Shore, Charlotte McConaghy, Flatiron (5)

7. My Friends, Fredrik Backman, Simon & Schuster (23)

8. Pick a Colour, Souvankham Thammavongsa, Knopf Canada (2)

9. Broken Country, Clare Leslie Hall, Simon & Schuster (26)

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

ORIGINAL NON-FICTION

1. The Wealthy Barber, David Chilton, Financial Awareness (4)

2. Book of Lives, Margaret Atwood, McClelland & Stewart (6)

3. Guinness World Records 2026, Craig Glenday, Guinness World Records (12)

4. Certified Beauties, James Duthie, Collins (8)

5. The Smiling Land, Alan Doyle, Doubleday Canada (6)

6. Nobody’s Girl, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, Knopf (8)

7. Sorry, Not Sorry, Mark Critch, Viking (3)

8. 1929, Andrew Ross Sorkin, Viking (7)

9. The Old Farmer’s Almanac 2026 Canadian Edition, Old Farmer’s Almanac (8)

10. Vanished Beyond the Map, Adam Shoalts, Allen Lane (9)

CANADIAN FICTION

1. The Black Wolf, Louise Penny, Minotaur

2. Loves of Our Lives, Josie Balka, Simon & Schuster

3. Pick a Colour, Souvankham Thammavongsa, Knopf Canada

4. Final Orbit, Chris Hadfield, Random House Canada

5. Flesh, David Szalay, McClelland & Stewart

6. Finding Flora, Elinor Florence, Simon & Schuster

7. Queen Esther, John Irving, Knopf Canada

8. The Spirit of Scatarie, Lesley Crewe, Vagrant

9. The Paris Express, Emma Donoghue, Harper Perennial

10. The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus, Emma Knight, Viking

CANADIAN NON-FICTION

1. The Wealthy Barber, David Chilton, Financial Awareness

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

3. Certified Beauties, James Duthie, Collins

4. The Smiling Land, Alan Doyle, Doubleday Canada

5. Sorry, Not Sorry, Mark Critch, Viking

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

7. John Candy, Paul Myers, House of Anansi

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

9. Maple Syrup, Peter Kuitenbrouwer, Doubleday Canada

10. Values, Mark Carney, Signal

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. Sunrise on the Reaping, Suzanne Collins, Scholastic

4. Darkstalker (Wings of Fire: Legends), Tui T. Sutherland, Jake Parker, Graphix

5. Sounds Like Christmas, Robert Munsch, Michael Martchenko, Scholastic Canada

6. Little Blue Truck’s Christmas, Alice Schertle, Jill McElmurry, Clarion

7. Love You Forever, Robert Munsch, Sheila McGraw, Firefly

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

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

10. Finding Christmas, Robert Munsch, Michael Martchenko, Scholastic Canada

SELF-IMPROVEMENT

1. The Let Them Theory, Mel Robbins, Sawyer Robbins, Hay House

2. Strong Ground, Brené Brown, Random House

3. The 48 Laws of Power, Robert Greene, Joost Elffers, Penguin

4. The Mountain Is You, Brianna Wiest, Thought Catalog

5. 101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think, Brianna Wiest, Thought Catalog

6. Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor E. Frankl, Beacon

7. The Pivot Year, Brianna Wiest, Thought Catalog

8. Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill, TarcherPerigee

9. The Four Agreements, Don Miguel Ruiz, Tarcher

10. The Book of Awakening, Mark Nepo, Red Wheel

*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.