There are two sure signs the holiday season is nigh.
First, a bunch of hockey bios are making their way onto the non-fiction list, all suitable gifts for the hard-to-shop-for male relative on your list. This week, “Home and Away,” the career story of Mats Sundin, the great Swedish hockey player who served as the Maple Leafs captain for 11 seasons, is this week’s top-ranked book. It joins “Dreamer,” by Nazem Kadri, the first Muslim player on a Stanley Cup-winning team (the Colorado Avalanche) and “Hockey Rants and Raves, by Steve “Dangle” Glynn, the sports podcaster and YouTube polemicist.
Second comes a more obviously, light fiction geared to the stocking-stuffer market. There’s “The Christmas Tree Farm” (at No. 5) and “The Pumpkin Spice Café” (at No. 9), both by Laurie Gilmore; “The Mistletoe Mystery” (No. 5 on the Canadian list) by Nita Prose; and “The Christmas Countdown” (No. 10) by Holly Cassidy.
1. The Striker, Ana Huang, Bloom (1)*
2. In Too Deep, Lee Child, Andrew Child, Delacorte (1)
3. The Fury of the Gods, John Gwynne, Orbit (1)
4. The Waiting, Michael Connelly, Little, Brown (2)
5. The Christmas Tree Farm, Laurie Gilmore, One More Chapter (2)
6. Bloodguard, Cecy Robson, Red Tower (1)
7. Intermezzo, Sally Rooney, Knopf Canada (5)
8. Here One Moment, Liane Moriarty, Doubleday Canada (2)
9. The Pumpkin Spice Café, Laurie Gilmore, One More Chapter (4)
10. The Housemaid, Freida McFadden, Grand Central (13)
1. Home and Away, Mats Sundin, Amy Stuart, Simon & Schuster (1)
2. Patriot, Alexei Navalny, Knopf (1)
3. Framed, John Grisham, Jim McCloskey, Doubleday (2)
4. Brothers, Alex van Halen, Harper (1)
5. Revenge of the Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell, Little, Brown (4)
6. War, Bob Woodward, Simon & Schuster (2)
7. From Here to the Great Unknown, Lisa Marie Presley, Riley Keough, Random House (2)
8. Guinness World Records 2025, Craig Glenday, Guinness World Records (7)
9. Nexus, Yuval Noah Harari, Signal (7)
10. Taylor Swift Style, Sarah Chapelle, Saint Martin’s Griffin (3)
1. Proof, Beverley McLachlin Simon & Schuster
2. The Last Secret, Maia Caron, Doubleday Canada
3. When the World Fell Silent, Donna Jones Alward, One More Chapter
4. Butcher and Blackbird, Brynne Weaver, Zando
5. The Mistletoe Mystery, Nita Prose, Viking
6. The Bridge Kingdom, Danielle L. Jensen, Del Rey
7. The Forgotten Home Child, Genevieve Graham, Simon & Schuster
8. What Have You Done?, Shari Lapena, Doubleday Canada
9. Wild Eyes, Elsie Silver, Bloom
10. The Christmas Countdown, Holly Cassidy, Viking
1. Home and Away, Mats Sundin, Amy Stuart, Simon & Schuster
2. Revenge of the Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell, Little, Brown
3. Taylor Swift Style, Sarah Chapelle, Saint Martin’s Griffin
4. Laugh More, Debbie Travis, Random House Canada
5. This Is Our Life, The Tragically Hip, Genesis
6. The Knowing, Tanya Talaga, HarperCollins Canada
7. Dreamer, Nazem Kadri, Viking
8. Hockey Rants and Raves, Steve “Dangle” Glynn, HarperCollins Canada
9. At a Loss for Words, Carol Off, Random House Canada
10. Health for All, Jane Philpott, Signal
1. Hot Mess (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #19), Jeff Kinney, Abrams
2. The Wild Robot, Peter Brown, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
3. Christmas at Hogwarts, J.K. Rowling, Ziyi Gao, Bloomsbury Children’s
4. Karen’s Grandmothers (Baby-Sitters Little Sister #9), D.K. Yingst, Ann M. Martin, Graphix
5. The Wild Robot Escapes, Peter Brown, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
6. Impossible Creatures, Katherine Rundell, Ashley Mackenzie, Knopf Books for Young Readers
7. Kristy and the Walking Disaster (Baby-Sitters Club #16), Ann M. Martin, Ellen T. Crenshaw, Graphix
8. Ms. Rachel and the Special Surprise, Ms. Rachel, Monique Dong, Random House Books for Young Readers
9. Lightlark (Collector’s Edition Book #1), Alex Aster, Abrams
10. Wrath of the Triple Goddess (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #7), Rick Riordan, Disney-Hyperion
1. In Too Deep, Lee Child, Andrew Child, Delacorte
2. The Waiting, Michael Connelly, Little, Brown
3. The Exchange, John Grisham, Vintage
4. The Housemaid, Freida McFadden, Grand Central
5. The Boyfriend, Freida McFadden, Grand Central
6. The Grey Wolf, Louise Penny, Minotaur
7. Shattered, James Patterson, James O. Born, Grand Central
8. Murder Island, James Patterson, Brian Sitts, Grand Central
9. The Briar Club, Kate Quinn, William Morrow
10. The Housemaid’s Secret, Freida McFadden, Quercus
The bestseller lists are compiled by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited from information provided by BookNet Canada’s national sales tracking service, BNC SalesData.
