This is a list of lists by year of The New York Times number-one books.
The New York Times Best Seller list was first published on October 12, 1931.The New York Times. October 12, 1931. 19 It consisted of five fiction and four nonfiction for the New York City region only. The following month the list was expanded to eight cities, with a separate list for each city. By the early 1940s, fourteen cities were included. A national list was created August 9, 1942, in The New York Times Book Review (Sundays) as a supplement to the regular paper's city lists (Monday edition). The national list ranked by weighting how many times the book appeared in each city list. A few years later, the city lists were eliminated leaving only the national rankings, which was compiled according to "reports from leading booksellers in 22 cities," a system which remains essentially unchanged to this day (though the specifics have changed).
A separate category for "Advice, How-To and Miscellaneous" books was created January 1, 1984. Its number one bestseller (The Body Principal by Victoria Principal) had been number ten and number twelve on the nonfiction lists for the two preceding weeks."The New York Times Book Review Best Sellers", NYT January 1, 1984, page BR28. "Best Sellers", NYT December 25, 1983, page BR13.
By year (links are to lists of the New York Times fiction best sellers of each year)
1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
See also
Books in the United States Publishers Weekly lists of bestselling novels in the United States
References