The Best-Selling Books From the Year You Were Born

In 2018, Literary Hub managing editor Emily Temple analyzed nearly a century’s worth of Publisher’s Weekly best-seller lists to determine which books sold best each year. In addition to splitting nonfiction and fiction into separate lists, she omitted young adult fiction altogether—so don’t expect to see any Harry Potter. 

It’s a fascinating cultural portrait of the country during a given decade. The nonfiction best-seller lists in the ’70s were a tug-of-war between sex and religion, where guides like The Sensuous Man and Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex but Were Afraid to Ask competed with Kenneth Taylor’s The Living Bible and Billy Graham’s Angels. 

The ’80s were all about sci-fi movies and Stephen King. Novelizations of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Return of the Jedi ruled the fiction best-seller list in 1982 and 1983, respectively. King took the top spot in 1984 (The Talisman, co-written with Peter Straub), 1986 (It), and 1987 (The Tommyknockers). On the nonfiction side, people focused on health fads and business in equal measure, from Judy Mazel’s The Beverly Hills Diet to automobile titan Lee Iacocca’s autobiography. 

No one author dominated the 1990s more than John Grisham, who had a different best-seller every year straight from 1994 to 2000 (and more sprinkled throughout the following decade). Self-help especially resonated with nonfiction readers of the 2000s, led by Rick Warren’s The Purpose-Driven Life and Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret.

Trends aside, best-seller lists often aren’t definitive or even totally objective. For example, as Temple pointed out, some of Publisher’s Weekly’s so-called “nonfiction” offerings really stretch the boundaries of that term—like the Bible.

“These lists are subject to all of the flaws, faults, and inaccuracies of any best-seller lists, but they’re what we’ve got,” Temple wrote.

For a more complete picture of what was captivating U.S. readers each year, Temple padded her breakdown with other best-sellers, along with famous books published that year that didn’t top sales charts. You can see the top seller in fiction and nonfiction for your birth year (assuming it falls between 1930 and 2017) below, and explore Temple’s more comprehensive lists for nonfiction here and fiction here.

The 1930s

• 1930
  Cimarron by Edna Ferber
  The Story of San Michele by Axel Munthe

• 1931
  The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
  Education of a Princess by Marie, Grand Duchess of Russia

• 1932
  The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
  The Epic of America by James Truslow Adams

• 1933
  Anthony Adverse by Hervey Allen
  Life Begins at Forty by Walter B. Pitkin

• 1934
  Anthony Adverse by Hervey Allen
  While Rome Burns by Alexander Woollcott

• 1935
  Green Light by Lloyd C. Douglas
  North to the Orient by Anne Morrow Lindbergh

• 1936
  Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
  Man the Unknown by Alexis Carrel

• 1937
  Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
  How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

• 1938
  The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
  The Importance of Living by Lin Yutang

• 1939
  The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
  Days of Our Years by Pierre Van Paassen

The 1940s

• 1940
  How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn
  I Married Adventure by Osa Johnson

• 1941
  The Keys of the Kingdom by A.J. Cronin
  Berlin Diary by William L. Shirer

• 1942
  The Song of Bernadette by Franz Werfel
  See Here, Private Hargrove by Marion Hargrove

• 1943
  The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas
  Under Cover by John Roy Carlson

• 1944
  Strange Fruit by Lillian Smith
  I Never Left Home by Bob Hope

• 1945
  Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor
  Brave Men by Ernie Pyle

• 1946
  The King's General by Daphne du Maurier
  The Egg and I by Betty MacDonald

• 1947
  The Miracle of the Bells by Russell Janney
  Peace of Mind by Joshua L. Liebman

• 1948
  The Big Fisherman by Lloyd C. Douglas
  Crusade in Europe by Dwight D. Eisenhower

• 1949
  The Egyptian by Mika Waltari
  White Collar Zoo by Clare Barnes Jr.

The 1950s

• 1950
  The Cardinal by Henry Morton Robinson
  Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book

• 1951
  From Here to Eternity by James Jones
  Look Younger, Live Longer by Gayelord Hauser

• 1952
  The Silver Chalice by Thomas B. Costain
  The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Edition

• 1953
  The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas
  The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Edition

• 1954
  Not as a Stranger by Morton Thompson
  The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Edition

• 1955
  Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk
  Gift From the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh

• 1956
  Don't Go Near the Water by William Brinkley
  Arthritis and Common Sense by Dan Dale Alexander

• 1957
  By Love Possessed by James Gould Cozzens
  Kids Say the Darndest Things! by Art Linkletter

• 1958
  Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
  Kids Say the Darndest Things! by Art Linkletter

• 1959
  Exodus by Leon Uris
  Twixt Twelve and Twenty by Pat Boone

The 1960s

• 1960
  Advise and Consent by Allen Drury
  Folk Medicine by D.C. Jarvis

• 1961
  The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone
  The New English Bible: The New Testament

• 1962
  Ship of Fools by Katherine Anne Porter
  Calories Don't Count by Dr. Herman Taller

• 1963
  The Shoes of the Fisherman by Morris L. West
  Happiness Is a Warm Puppy by Charles M. Schulz

• 1964
  The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John Le Carré
  Four Days: The Historical Record of the Death of President Kennedy by American Heritage and United Press International

• 1965
  The Source by James A. Michener
  How to Be a Jewish Mother by Dan Greenburg

• 1966
  Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann
  How to Avoid Probate! by Norman F. Dacey

• 1967
  The Arrangement by Elia Kazan
  The Death of a President by William Manchester

• 1968
  Airport by Arthur Hailey
  Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book

• 1969
  Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth
  American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language edited by William Morris

The 1970s

• 1970
  Love Story by Erich Segal
  Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex but Were Afraid to Ask by David Reuben

• 1971
  Wheels by Arthur Hailey
  The Sensuous Man by "M" (Joan Garrity, John Garrity, and Len Forman)

• 1972
  Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
  The Living Bible by Kenneth Taylor

• 1973
  Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
  The Living Bible by Kenneth Taylor

• 1974
  Centennial by James A. Michener
  The Total Woman by Marabel Morgan

• 1975
  Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow
  Angels: God's Secret Agents by Billy Graham

• 1976
  Trinity by Leon Uris
  The Final Days by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein

• 1977
  The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien and Christopher Tolkien
  Roots by Alex Haley

• 1978
  Chesapeake by James A. Michener
  If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits? by Erma Bombeck

• 1979
  The Matarese Circle by Robert Ludlum
  Aunt Erma's Cope Book by Erma Bombeck

The 1980s

• 1980
  The Covenant by James A. Michener
  Crisis Investing: Opportunities and Profits in the Coming Great Depression by Douglas R. Casey

• 1981
  Noble House by James Clavell
  The Beverly Hills Diet by Judy Mazel

• 1982
  E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial Storybook by William Kotzwinkle
  Jane Fonda's Workout Book by Jane Fonda

• 1983
  Return of the Jedi by James Kahn
  In Search of Excellence: Lessons From America's Best-Run Companies by Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman Jr.

• 1984
  The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub
  Iacocca: An Autobiography by Lee Iacocca with William Novak

• 1985
  The Mammoth Hunters by Jean M. Auel
  Iacocca: An Autobiography by Lee Iacocca with William Novak

• 1986
  It by Stephen King
  Fatherhood by Bill Cosby

• 1987
  The Tommyknockers by Stephen King
  Time Flies by Bill Cosby

• 1988
  The Cardinal of the Kremlin by Tom Clancy
  The 8-Week Cholesterol Cure by Robert E. Kowalski

• 1989
  Clear and Present Danger by Tom Clancy
  All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten: Uncommon Thoughts on Common Things by Robert Fulghum

The 1990s

• 1990
  The Plains of Passage by Jean M. Auel
  A Life on the Road by Charles Kuralt

• 1991
  Scarlett: The Sequel by Alexandra Ripley
  Me: Stories of My Life by Katharine Hepburn

• 1992
  Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King
  The Way Things Ought to Be by Rush Limbaugh

• 1993
  The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller
  See, I Told You So by Rush Limbaugh

• 1994
  The Chamber by John Grisham
  In the Kitchen With Rosie by Rosie Daley

• 1995
  The Rainmaker by John Grisham
  Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus by John Gray

• 1996
  The Runaway Jury by John Grisham
  Make the Connection: Ten Steps to a Better Body—And a Better Life by Bob Greene and Oprah Winfrey

• 1997
  The Partner by John Grisham
  Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt

• 1998
  The Street Lawyer by John Grisham
  The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom by Suze Orman

• 1999
  The Testament by John Grisham
  Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom

The 2000s

• 2000
  The Brethren by John Grisham
  Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson

• 2001
  Desecration by Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHaye
  The Prayer of Jabez by Bruce Wilkinson

• 2002
  The Summons by John Grisham
  Self Matters by Dr. Phil McGraw

• 2003
  The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
  The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren

• 2004
  The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
  The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren

• 2005
  The Broker by John Grisham
  Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You to Know About by Kevin Trudeau

• 2006
  For One More Day by Mitch Albom
  The Innocent Man by John Grisham

• 2007
  A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
  The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

• 2008
  Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich
  The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow

• 2009
  The Appeal by John Grisham
  The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow

The 2010s

• 2010
  The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
  Decision Points by George W. Bush

• 2011
  The Help by Kathryn Stockett
  Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

• 2012
  Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James
  No Easy Day by Mark Owen with Kevin Maurer

• 2013
  Inferno by Dan Brown
  Killing Jesus by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

• 2014
  Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
  Killing Jesus by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

• 2015
  Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
  The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

• 2016
  The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
  Killing the Rising Sun by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

• 2017
  A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
  The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson

[h/t Literary Hub]