The bestselling books in Canada for the week ending Jan. 4, 2023

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Self-help books top the list of non-fiction bestsellers throughout the year, but the effect is most noticeable in January and through February, when we all turn over a new leaf — usually the same new leaf we turned over last January (lose weight, quit drinking and other worthy self-care projects). The titles may change but the inclination remains the same.

This week the top three non-fiction books are Michelle Obama’s “The Light We Carry” (categorized as Self-Help), James Clear’s enduring 2018 bestseller “Atomic Habits” (a Business book) and Gabor Maté and Daniel Maté’s latest blockbuster “The Myth of Normal” (a Health & Fitness title). We publish bestseller lists in these specialized categories on a rotating basis, which is why you don’t see them on the main Original Non-Fiction list.

Most week’s the Children and Young Adult list is dominated by publishing franchises — “Cat Kid Comic Club,” “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” “The Baby Sitters Club” and the like. This week those stalwarts are joined by several newcomers that involve topical themes: For example, “Fish in a Tree,” by Lynda Mullaly Hunt (at No. 6, published in 2017), is about a disruptive boy with undiagnosed dyslexia; “Almost American Girl,” by Robin Ha (at No. 7, published in 2020), is a graphic memoir about the author’s move with her mother from South Korea to a new stepfamily in Alabama; “Other Words for Home,” by Jasmine Warga (at No. 8, published in 2021), is about a girl who moves from Syria to Cincinnati and must get used to being described as “Middle Eastern” in her new community; and “The Other Boy” (at No. 9, published in 2019) about a transgender boy arriving at a new school (this is a bi-coastal project, written by M.G. Hennessey, a California writer, illustrated by Sfé R. Monster, a Nova Scotia illustrator).

— Sarah Murdoch

The bestseller lists are compiled by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited from information provided by BookNet Canada’s national sales tracking service, BNC SalesData.

ORIGINAL FICTION

1. It Starts with Us, Colleen Hoover, Atria (10)*

2. It Ends with Us, Colleen Hoover, Atria (69)

3. Verity, Colleen Hoover, Grand Central (52)

4. Twisted Love, Ana Huang, Bloom (1)

5. Our Missing Hearts, Celeste Ng, Viking (4)

6. Ugly Love, Colleen Hoover, Atria (31)

7. A World of Curiosities, Louise Penny, Minotaur (4)

8. Healing Through Words, Rupi Kaur, Simon & Schuster (4)

9. The Paris Apartment, Lucy Foley, William Morrow (15)

10. All Your Perfects, Colleen Hoover, Atria (1)

ORIGINAL NON-FICTION

1. Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, Matthew Perry, Flatiron (8)

2. I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette McCurdy, Simon & Schuster (19)

3. 12 Rules for Life, Jordan B. Peterson, Random House Canada (128)

4. Guinness World Records 2023, Guinness World Records (17)

5. Surrender, Bono, Doubleday Canada (8)

6. Ducks, Kate Beaton, Drawn & Quarterly (4)

7. True Reconciliation, Jody Wilson-Raybould, McClelland & Stewart (6)

8. Beyond the Wand, Tom Felton, Grand Central (4)

9. Atlas of the Heart, Brené Brown, Random House (45)

10. The Song of the Cell, Siddhartha Mukherjee, Scribner (2)

CANADIAN FICTION

1. A World of Curiosities, Louise Penny, Minotaur

2. Healing Through Words, Rupi Kaur, Simon & Schuster

3. The Sleeping Car Porter, Suzette Mayr, Coach House

4. Things We Do in the Dark, Jennifer Hillier, Minotaur

5. Five Little Indians, Michelle Good, Harper Perennial

6. Looking for Jane, Heather Marshall, Simon & Schuster

7. Home Body, Rupi Kaur, Simon & Schuster

8. Fayne, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Knopf Canada

9. The Deal, Elle Kennedy, Bloom

10. Every Summer After, Carley Fortune, Viking

CANADIAN NON-FICTION

1. 12 Rules for Life, Jordan B. Peterson, Random House Canada

2. Ducks, Kate Beaton, Drawn & Quarterly

3. True Reconciliation, Jody Wilson-Raybould, McClelland & Stewart

4. Playing the Long Game, Christine Sinclair, Random House Canada

5. A Little Bit Broken, Roz Weston, Doubleday Canada

6. The Series, Ken Dryden, McClelland & Stewart

7. 21 Things You May Not Know about the Indian Act, Bob Joseph, Indigenous Relations

8. Finding the Mother Tree, Suzanne Simard, Penguin Canada

9. Run Towards the Danger, Sarah Polley, Hamish Hamilton

10. Beyond Order, Jordan B. Peterson, Random House Canada

CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULT

1. Moon Rising, Tui T. Sutherland, Graphix

2. Cat Kid Comic Club: Collaborations (Cat Kid Comic Club #4), Dav Pilkey, Scholastic

3. Diper Överlöde (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #17), Jeff Kinney, Amulet

4. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, Holly Jackson, Random House Children’s

5. Mary Anne’s Bad Luck Mystery (The Baby Sitter Club #13), Ann M Martin, Cynthia Yuan Cheng, Graphix

6. Fish in a Tree, Lynda Mullaly Hunt, Puffin

7. Almost American Girl, Robin Ha, Balzer & Bray

8. Other Words for Home, Jasmine Warga, Balzer & Bray

9. The Other Boy, M.G. Hennessey, Sfé R. Monster, HarperCollins

10. Girl in Pieces, Kathleen Glasgow, Ember

BUSINESS AND PERSONAL FINANCE

1. Atomic Habits, James Clear, Avery

2. The Psychology of Money, Morgan Housel, Harriman House

3. Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert T. Kiyosaki, Plata

4. Financial Feminist, Tori Dunlap, Dey Street

5. The LEGO Story, Jens Andersen, Mariner

6. The Intelligent Investor (Rev. Ed.), Benjamin Graham, Harper Business

7. The Daily Stoic, Ryan Holiday, Stephen Hanselman, Portfolio

8. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen R. Covey, Sean Covey, Jim Collins, Simon & Schuster

9. Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order, Ray Dalio, Avid Reader

10. Start with Why, Simon Sinek, Portfolio

* Number of weeks on list

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