This week, I’ll begin looking at the best-selling novels of 1939. Top of the list is a famous novel that became an equally famous film: John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. Further down the list is another classic book that became a classic film, The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.
Archive for the ‘Lists of bestsellers by year’ Category
Great reads among 1939 top novels
Posted in Lists of bestsellers by year on May 20, 2009 | Comments Off
Bestselling novels of 1949
Posted in Lists of bestsellers by year on March 18, 2009 | Comments Off
This next week, I’ll begin looking back 60 years to the novels that topped the bestseller list in 1949. Here’s the list:
The Egyptian by Mika Waltari
The Big Fisherman by Lloyd C. Douglas, which was #1 in 1948. Use the drop down list at the right to locate my review from last year.
Mary by Sholem Asch
A [...]
Look back to 1959 bestsellers
Posted in 1959 Bestselling Novels, Lists of bestsellers by year on January 5, 2009 | Comments Off
I just discovered that I wrote but never posted my list of the books I’d be reviewing this year.
I look back at vintage bestsellers of 50 years ago. Then I skip backward in 10-year intervals to earlier bestselling novels. So this year, my books are the bestsellers of 1959, 1949, 1939, 1929, 1919 and 1909 [...]
Musings on the 1918 bestseller list
Posted in 1918 Bestselling Novels, Lists of bestsellers by year, tagged E. Phillips Oppenheim, Edward Streeter, Ethel M. Dell, Gene Stratton-Porter, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Ralph Connor, Zane Grey on November 19, 2008 | Comments Off
Older bestsellers are increasingly hard to find. When I do find them, the pages are yellow and brittle. . . . According to my posting scheme, I should begin posting the reviews for 1918’s bestsellers this week. These novels are
1928 Bestselling novels
Posted in 1928 Bestselling Novels, Lists of bestsellers by year on August 27, 2008 | Comments Off
We’ve looked at bestsellers of 1958, 1948, and 1938. Now I’m going to turn my attention to bestsellers of 80 years ago. The top of the 1928 list is a famous novel by a famous writer: The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder.
Time at the Top
Posted in 1938 Bestselling Novels, Lists of bestsellers by year on June 18, 2008 | Comments Off
Prior to 1950, it wasn’t uncommon for an author to have a book on the bestseller list for several years at a time. Of the ten 1938 bestselling novels, there are three that also were on the 1937 list: The Citadel by A. J. Cronin, The Rains Came by Louis Bromfield, and Northwest Passage by Kenneth Roberts.
Classic Children’s Tale Tops 1938 Bestseller List
Posted in 1938 Bestselling Novels, Lists of bestsellers by year on June 4, 2008 | Comments Off
The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings topped the list of bestselling novels for 1938. The poignant tale was made into a film that keeps pretty much to the story, but loses a bit of the wistfulness of the book.
Other novels on the 1938 list are
#2 The Citadel by A.J. Cronin (#3 on the 1937 bestseller [...]
1948 Bestselling Novels
Posted in 1948 Bestselling Novels, Lists of bestsellers by year on March 19, 2008 | Comments Off
Ready for another year’s worth of bestsellers? Here are the top novels of 1948 based on their sales figures that year:
The Big Fisherman by Lloyd C. Douglas
The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer
Dinner at Antoine’s by Frances Parkinson Keyes
The Bishop’s Mantle by Agnes Sligh Turnbull
Tomorrow Will Be Better by Betty [...]
1958 Bestseller List
Posted in 1958 Bestselling Novels, Lists of bestsellers by year on December 31, 2007 | Comments Off
In a few hours it will be 2008. All through the year, I’ll be looking backward to novels that were top sellers 50 or more years ago.
The first bestseller list I’ll review is the hit novels of 1958. Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak topped the list. Today the title is more familiar from the [...]
My Top Picks from 1937 Bestsellers
Posted in Lists of bestsellers by year, My Top Pics on December 22, 2007 | Comments Off
Novels that made the 1937 bestseller list have remarkably good staying power. Every book on the list is still readable, and several are superb entertainment even today.
Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind, which topped both the 1936 and 1937 bestseller lists, is still a winner. Mitchell’s characters are unforgettable. Her picture of the [...]
