Toronto Star bestsellers for July 31, 2024

An interesting bestselling fiction list this week.

Debuting at No. 1 is “The Book of Bill,” by Alex Hirsch, an unusual title by an unfamiliar author — though apparently known to the legion of readers who made this the most purchased book in Canada last week.

Hirsch is the creator of “Gravity Falls,” the popular Disney television animation series that ran from 2012 to 2016 centring on paranormal events in Gravity Falls, a mysterious little town in Oregon. There have been several spinoff books over the years, but “The Book of Bill” is the first to be aimed at adults.

In other cross-platform news, Toronto’s own Keanu Reeves (actor, musician, motorcycle enthusiast), writing with speculative literary author China Miéville, takes the No. 3 spot on the original fiction list with “The Book of Elsewhere” (absolutely no relation to the aforementioned “The Book of Bill”). “Elsewhere” is inspired by the world imagined in Reeves’ comic series “BRZRKR.” It’s getting top-notch reviews.

ORIGINAL FICTION

1. The Book of Bill, Alex Hirsch, Hyperion Avenue (1)

2. The Briar Club, Kate Quinn, William Morrow (4)

3. The Book of Elsewhere, Keanu Reeves, China Miéville, Random House Canada (1)

4. A Death in Cornwall, Daniel Silva, Harper (3)

5. This Summer Will Be Different, Carley Fortune, Viking (12)

6. The Midnight Feast, Lucy Foley, William Morrow (6)

7. The Housemaid Is Watching, Freida McFadden, Poisoned Pen (7)

8. The Housemaid, Freida McFadden, Grand Central (5)

9. Just for the Summer, Abby Jimenez, Forever (10)

10. The Au Pair Affair, Tessa Bailey, Avon (2)

ORIGINAL NON-FICTION

1. The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt, Penguin Press (18)

2. Autocracy, Inc., Anne Applebaum, Signal (1)

3. Tiger, Tiger, James Patterson, Little Brown (2)

4. What This Comedian Said Will Shock You, Bill Maher, Simon & Schuster (10)

5. The War We Won Apart, Nahlah Ayed, Viking (9)

6. Fall of Civilizations, Paul Cooper, Hanover Square (1)

7. Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed (145)

8. The Demon of Unrest, Erik Larson, Crown (12)

9. 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act, Bob Joseph, Indigenous Relations (36)

10. Taylor Swift Is Life, Kathleen Perricone, Epic Ink (1)

CANADIAN FICTION

1. The Book of Elsewhere, Keanu Reeves, China Miéville, Random House Canada

2. This Summer Will Be Different, Carley Fortune, Viking

3. Butcher and Blackbird, Brynne Weaver, Zando

4. Body Check, Elle Kennedy, Harlequin

5. Meet Me at the Lake, Carley Fortune, Viking

6. The Secret History of Audrey James, Heather Marshall, Simon & Schuster

7. The Haters, Robyn Harding, Grand Central

8. Look Both Ways, Linwood Barclay, William Morrow

9. Leather and Lark, Brynne Weaver, Zando

10. Every Summer After, Carley Fortune, Viking

CANADIAN NON-FICTION

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

2. The War We Won Apart, Nahlah Ayed, Viking

3. Fire Weather, John Vaillant, Vintage Canada

4. Making Love With the Land, Joshua Whitehead, Vintage Canada

5. 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act, Bob Joseph, Indigenous Relations

6. The Widow’s Guide to Dead Bastards, Jessica Waite, Simon & Schuster

7. A Gentleman and a Thief, Dean Jobb, HarperCollins Canada

8. Pierre Poilievre, Andrew Lawton, Sutherland House

9. My Day With the Cup, Jim Lang, Simon & Schuster

10. The Prince, Stephen Maher, Simon & Schuster

CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULT

1. Reckless, Lauren Roberts, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

2. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, Holly Jackson, Ember

3. Taylor Swift, Vegara Sanchez, Isabel Maria, Borghild Fallberg, Quarto

4. The Bad Guys in the Serpent and the Beast (#19), Aaron Blabey, Scholastic

5. Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder (Dog Man #12), Dav Pilkey, Graphix

6. The Wild Robot, Peter Brown, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

7. Powerless, Lauren Roberts, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

8. Warriors: The Prophecies Begin (#1), Erin Hunter, Natalie Riess, Sara Goetter, HarperAlley

9. PAW Patrol 5-Minute Kindness Stories, Random House Books for Young Readers

10. Bluey: Grannies and Other Stories, Penguin Young Readers

SELF-IMPROVEMENT

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

2. The Courage to Be Disliked, Ichiro Kishimi, Fumitake Koga, Simon & Schuster

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

4. 101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think, Brianna Wiest, Thought Catalog

5. The Four Agreements, Don Miguel Ruiz, Janet Mills, Amber-Allen

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

7. The Creative Act, Rick Rubin, Penguin

8. The Pivot Year, Brianna Wiest, Thought Catalog

9. Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill, TarcherPerigee

10. Attached, Amir Levine, Rachel Heller, TarcherPerigee

* 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.