Toronto Star bestsellers: New entry Jess Janz recounts dinners with strangers in ‘The Table Where We Meet’

Now that we’re well and truly into the dog days of summer, movement on the bestsellers lists seems to have slowed to match the sensation of slogging through the intense heat.

Only one brand new book made it onto the fiction lists this week — the romantasy “The Exquisite Torment of Loving Your Enemy” by Brigitte Knightley — and just one in non-fiction: “The Table Where We Meet” by Jess Janz, which is No. 10 in Canadian non-fiction.

Janz, who moved to Toronto from B.C., created “Dinner with Strangers” with a friend in 2017 as a way for people who didn’t know each other to gather and share who they were beyond their job titles — in fact, talk of work isn’t allowed at the repasts.

In Canadian fiction, meanwhile, the Elle Kennedy and Carley Fortune romances dominating the rankings have been joined by two more of Rachel Reid’s books. “Heated Rivalry,” which reappeared on the Canadian list last week, also cracked original fiction this week for the first time since April, while “The Long Game” and “Game Changer” are back on the Canadian fiction list.

In original non-fiction, topped once again by the Trump expose “Regime Change,” actor-producer Lena Dunham’s memoir “Famesick” returns to the list, as does the posthumous memoir by Virginia Roberts Guiffre about her sexual exploitation by Jeffrey Epstein and his cronies.

CANADIAN FICTION

1. The Deal, Elle Kennedy, Bloom

2. Our Perfect Storm, Carley Fortune, Viking

3. Every Summer After, Carley Fortune, Viking

4. The Mistake, Elle Kennedy, Bloom

5. The Score, Elle Kennedy, Bloom

6. Heated Rivalry, Rachel Reid, Carina

7. The Long Game, Rachel Reid, Carina

8. One Golden Summer, Carley Fortune, Viking

9. Game Changer, Rachel Reid, Carina

10. Fever Dream, Elsie Silver, Simon & Schuster

CANADIAN NON-FICTION

1. The Wealthy Barber, David Chilton, Financial Awareness

2. The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI, Cory Doctorow, Farrar, Strauss & Giroux

3. Suicidal Empathy, Gad Saad, Broadside

4. Enshittification, Cory Doctorow, MCD/FSG

5. The High Road, Hank Idsinga, Simon & Schuster

6. A History of Canada in Ten Maps, Adam Shoalts, Penguin Canada

7. Dreamer’s Daughter, Lori Thicke, Simon & Schuster

8. Values, Mark Carney, Signal

9. Talk Treaty to Me, Crystal Gail Fraser, Sara Komarnisky, Collins

10. The Table Where We Meet, Jess Janz, HarperCollins Canada

ORIGINAL FICTION

1. Yesteryear, Caro Claire Burke, Knopf Canada (13)*

2. The Calamity Club, Kathryn Stockett, Doubleday Canada (9)

3. Theo of Golden, Allen Levi, Simon & Schuster (20)

4. It Could Have Been Her, Lisa Jewell, Atria (3)

5. Love You More, Emily Giffin, Doubleday Canada (2)

6. Whistler, Ann Patchett, Harper (6)

7. Our Perfect Storm, Carley Fortune, Viking (10)

8. The Exquisite Torment of Loving Your Enemy, Brigitte Knightley, Ace (1)

9. The Correspondent, Virginia Evans, Crown (25)

10. Heated Rivalry, Rachel Reid, Carina (18)

ORIGINAL NON-FICTION

1. Regime Change, Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan, Simon & Schuster (3)

2. The Wealthy Barber, David Chilton, Financial Awareness (30)

3. Strangers, Belle Burden, Dial (18)

4. London Falling, Patrick Radden Keefe, Bond Street (13)

5. Cancel Me If You Can, Dave Portnoy, Gallery (2)

6. The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI, Cory Doctorow, Farrar, Strauss & Giroux (3)

7. Famesick, Lena Dunham, Doubleday Canada (8)

8. Nobody’s Girl, Virginia Roberts Guiffe, Knopf (24)

9. The Land and Its People, David Sedaris, Little, Brown (6)

10. The Story of Birds, Steve Brusatte, Mariner (6)

CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULT

1. Heartstopper #6, Alice Oseman, Graphix

2. Warriors Graphic Novel (The New Prophecy #1), Erin Hunter, Gibson Twist, Sammy Savos, HarperAlley

3. I Survived the Bombing of Pearl Harbor, 1941 (I Survived #14), Lauren Tarshis, Peter Wartman, Graphix

4. First Crush (The New Girl #2), Cassandra Calin, Graphix

5. The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle, Penguin Young Readers Group

6. Dawn on the Coast (Baby-Sitters Club #19), Arley Nopra, Ann M. Martin, Graphix

7. Unico: Lost (Vol. 3), Samuel Sattin, Osamu Tezuka, Gurihiru, Graphix

8. Better Than the Movies, Lynn Painter, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

9. The Princess in Black and the Trick-or-Treating Trouble, Shannon Hale, Dean Hale, LeUyen Pham, Candlewick

10. Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games), Suzanne Collins, Scholastic

BUSINESS AND PERSONAL FINANCE

1. Atomic Habits, James Clear, Avery

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

3. Unreasonable Hospitality, Will Guidara, Optimism

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

5. Strong Ground, Brené Brown, Random House

6. The Art of Spending Money, Morgan Housel, Portfolio

7. How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie, Terry O’Reilly, Collins

8. The Wealth Money Can’t Buy, Robin Sharma, HarperCollins Canada

9. The Atomic Habits Workbook, James Clear, Avery

10. Die with Zero, Bill Perkins, Mariner

*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.