This year Half Price Books will celebrate 50 years of placing books in the hands of our customers, and it got me to wondering: what have people been reading for the last 50 years. So, I looked up the books that were the longest running New York Times #1 Bestsellers for the last 50 years. To tell you the truth, some of them were surprising! Let’s take a look…
1972: Jonathan Livingston Seagull, by Richard Bach, a book about a seagull learning to fly, was at the top of the bestseller list for 27 weeks in 1972 and another 11 weeks in 1973.
1973: The Hollow Hills, by Mary Stewart, the second book in a trilogy about the Arthurian legend, also spent 11 weeks at the top of the bestseller list.
1974: Burr, by Gore Vidal, a historical novel about the founding fathers that spent 17 weeks at the top of the bestseller list and was also a finalist for the National Book Award in 1974.
1975: Centennial, by James A. Michener, another historical novel was on top for 16 weeks, and at more than 900 pages is one of the longest books on this list. (Jonathan Livingston Seagull is only 144 pages long.)
1976: Trinity, by Leon Uris, a novel set in Ireland that follows members of two different families through the years stayed at the top of the bestsellers list for 22 weeks.
1977: The Thorn Birds, by Colleen McCollough was number one for 15 weeks. This story from the Australian Outback was almost usurped by Tolkien’s The Silmarillion.
1978: Though a newspaper strike this year caused the bestseller list to not be printed for 13 weeks, Bloodline, by Sidney Sheldon came out on top with 13 weeks as number one.
1979: The Matarese Circle, by Robert Ludlum was number one for 14 weeks, and happens to be one of the only Ludlum books I haven’t read yet.
1980: Ludlum is back for his thriller The Bourne Identity, which spent 16 weeks at number one. (I have read that book.)
1981: Another book By James Michener, The Covenant spent 16 weeks as at the top of the New York Times Bestseller list, and in true Michener style is a long one.
1982: But he couldn’t beat Ludlum the next year, who took the number one spot for 16 weeks with his thriller the Parsifal Mosaic. Michener’s Space came in at number 2 with 12 weeks at the top.
1983: Ludlum bowed out in 1983, giving the number one place to his fellow suspense writer John Le Carré whose novel The Little Drummer Girl spent 12 weeks at the top of the bestseller list. The second most popular book this year was the novelization of Return of the Jedi: Star Wars Episode VI, by Joan D. Vinge with 8 weeks at the top.
1984: But Ludlum returned in 1984 with his novel The Aquitaine Progression which spent 12 weeks at number one. However, his reign is about to come to an end because the author who took second in 1984 with The Talismanis about to beat everyone in 1985.
1985: Skeleton Crew, by Stephen King was at the top of the bestseller list for 10 weeks. No one else even came close.
1986: King continued to dominate with his now classic horror novel IT, which was at the top of the bestseller list for 12 weeks. Ludlum rallied well and came in second with The Bourne Supremacy.
1987: Fine Things, by Danielle Steel took the top slot in 1987 with 9 weeks on the top but Scott Turow’s Presumed Innocent took the number two spot with 8 weeks.
1988: Tom Clancy dominated this year with The Cardinal of the Kremlin holding the number one spot for 12 weeks.
1989: Clancy continued to stand strong with Clear and Present Danger in 1989, but he only tied for the number one spot with Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses. Both were at the top of the list for 9 weeks.
1990: Another tie in 1990 with The Burden of Proof, by Scott Turow and The Plains of Passage, by Jean M Auel both spending 11 weeks at the top of the bestsellers list.
1991: Alexandra Ripley’s sequel to Gone with the Wind blew everyone away as Scarlettstayed at the top of the New York Times bestseller list for 12 weeks. However, I do want to give a shout out to Amy Tan who spend 7 weeks at the top of the bestseller list with The Kitchen God’s Wife.
1992: John Grisham was who everyone was reading in 1992. His book The Pelican Brief was number one for 12 weeks.
1993: Robert James Waller’s novel The Bridges of Madison County held the number one spot longer than any other book on this list, 35 weeks in one year. Wow!
1994: The Celestine Prophecy, by James Redfield was at number one on the New York Times Bestseller list for 12 weeks in 1994.
1995: And Redfield’s novel about spirituality continued to hold the number one spot in 1995 for 14 weeks. John Grisham was at his heels both years though and in 1995 it was The Rainmaker who tied with Michael Crichton’s The Lost World for second, each with 8 weeks in the top slot.
1996: A fictional novelization about a southern governor running for President, Primary Colors was published anonymously and spent 8 weeks at the top of the New York Times Bestseller list. Later, it was revealed that the book was written by columnist Joe Klein. Shout out to Terry McMillian whose novel How Stella Got Her Groove Back spent 2 weeks in the top spot.
1997: Cold Mountain, by Charles Frazier blew even John Grisham away, spending 14 weeks at the top of the list.
1998: John Grisham dominated the 1990s, having at least one book in the number one spot almost every year. In 1998 it was The Street Lawyer who spent 9 week as number one. But Toni Morrison did take the number one spot for 3 weeks with her novel Paradise.
1999: the first Harry Potter book was published by Scholastic in America in September 1998. By 1999, it was Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban that everyone was reading, staying at the top of the New York Times Bestsellers list for 10 weeks.
2000: John Grisham was back on top in 2000, with The Brethren, which spent 9 weeks at the top of the list.
2001: I’m not sure if we began publishing more books or if people were just reading more things but there was a five way tie in 2001 for the longest running #1 bestselling book and two of them were from (you guessed it) John Grisham, A Painted House and Skipping Christmas. The others were Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas, by James Patterson, Valhalla Rising, by Clive Cussler and On the Street Where You Live, by Mary Higgins Clark. All spent 4 weeks at the top of the list. A Day Late and a Dollar Short, by Terry McMillian came in second with 3 weeks.
2002: The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold took the top spot in 2002 for 6 weeks, but I thought it was interesting that Journey Through Heartsongs, a poetry book by Mattie Stepanek, a young boy with a rare type of muscular dystrophy was the #1 Bestseller for two weeks.
2003: It comes as no surprise that this year’s longest running New York Times #1 Bestseller was The Da Vinci Code, keeping the top spot for 18 weeks.
2004: Of course The Da Vinci Code kept its top spot for 24 weeks in 2004, followed by The Dark Tower, by Stephen King who only held the top spot for 3 weeks.
2005: John Grisham is back in 2005 with The Broker, who only tied for the first spot with (you guessed it) The Da Vinci Code. Both of these books spent 5 weeks in the number one spot (that’s 47 weeks over three years).
2006: Another tie for the longest running number one this year, with both For One More Day, by Mitch Albom and Two Little Girls in Blue, by Mary Higgins Clark lasting 4 weeks at the top.
2007: A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini came out on top, spending 13 weeks in the number one spot.
2008: John Grisham’s The Appeal captures the top spot in 2008 with 5 weeks as number one.
2009: But Grisham’s book The Associate comes in second (4 weeks) to Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol, which spent 5 weeks in the top spot.
2010: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, by Stieg Larsson spent 7 weeks at the top of the bestseller list in 2010. Although, Larsson passed away in 2004, the first book in his Millennium Trilogy wasn’t published in Sweden until 2005, and later in English in 2008.
2011: The Help, by Katheryn Stockett spent 13 weeks in the top spot in 2011, though she also came in second in 2010 claiming the top spot for 6 weeks in that year.
2012: Fifty Shades of Grey, by E.L. James dominated the number one slot in 2012, spending 28 weeks at the top.
2013: Inferno, by Dan Brown takes the top spot this year with 6 total weeks, but The Cuckoo’s Calling, by Robert Galbraith (a pseudonym of J.K. Rowling) is a close second with 5 weeks.
2014: The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt and Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn tie for the top spot this year, both holding the number one spot for 4 weeks.
2015: The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins spent 16 weeks at the top in 2015.
2016: And Hawkins psychological thriller continued to dominate in 2016 with another 10 weeks as the #1 New York Times Bestseller. Me Before You, by Jojo Moyes came in second holding onto the number one spot for 6 weeks.
2017: John Grisham is back with Camino Island holding the top spot for 5 weeks. The Shack, by William P. Young came in second with 4 weeks.
2018: The interesting collaboration of James Patterson and Bill Clinton kept The President is Missing in the top spot for 6 weeks.
2019: Where the Crawdads Sing, the first novel by nature writer Delia Owens stayed in the top slot for 24 weeks.
2020: Where the Crawdads sing kept the top slot for 7 more weeks in 2020, making it the longest running #1 New York Times Bestseller this year as well, but I would like to mention a couple of other books that both spent 3 weeks as the #1 Bestselling book in 2020, Little Fires Everywhere, by Celeste Ng and Ready Player Two, by Ernest Cline.
2021: The Four Winds, by Kristin Hannah was number one for 5 weeks in 2021, followed by The Duke and I, by Julia Quinn at 4 weeks.
One thing I can say about Americans, we sure do like our mysteries and thrillers! Have you read these books, or are there some that you still need to read? I know I will have a lot of reading to do this year. (I’ve already started updating my list.)
If you need to start your own, download our Resolve to Read 50 Reading List and create your own list of 50 books!