This is a list of books that topped The New York Times best-seller list in 1944.
Fiction The following list ranks the number one best-selling fiction books.
The most popular books of the year were Strange Fruit, by Lillian Smith and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith with respectively 22 and 15 weeks at the top. A "sleeper" success, A Tree Grows had been published fully 6 months before it eventually made it to the No. 1 spot. Somerset Maugham's mystical The Razor's Edge spent several weeks at No. 2, three times displacing Strange Fruit at No. 1.Adult New York Times Best Seller Lists for 1944John Bear, The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times bestsellers since the first list, 50 years ago, Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 1992
DateBookAuthor January 2 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Betty Smith January 9 January 16 January 23 January 30 February 6 February 13 February 20 February 27 March 5 March 12 March 19 March 26 April 2 April 9 April 16 Strange Fruit Lillian Smith April 23 April 30 May 7 May 14 May 21 May 28 June 4 June 11 June 18 June 25 July 2 July 9 July 16 July 23 July 30 August 6 August 13 August 20 The Razor's Edge Somerset Maugham August 27 Strange Fruit Lillian Smith September 3 The Razor's Edge Somerset Maugham September 10 The History of Rome Hanks Joseph S. Pennell September 17 September 24 October 1 Strange Fruit Lillian Smith October 8 October 15 October 22 The Razor's Edge Somerset Maugham October 29 Green Dolphin Street Elizabeth Goudge November 5 Forever Amber Kathleen Winsor November 12 November 19 November 26 December 3 December 10 December 17 December 24 December 31 The Green Years A. J. Cronin
Nonfiction The following list ranks the number one best-selling nonfiction books.Adult New York Times Best Seller Lists for 1944 DateBookAuthor January 2 Under Cover John Roy Carlson January 9 January 16 January 23 January 30 February 6 February 13 Good Night, Sweet Prince Gene Fowler February 20 Under Cover John Roy Carlson February 27 Good Night, Sweet Prince Gene Fowler March 5 Under Cover John Roy Carlson March 12 Good Night, Sweet Prince Gene Fowler March 19 March 26 April 2 April 9 April 16 April 23 April 30 May 7 May 14 May 21 May 28 June 4 June 11 June 18 June 25 July 2 Yankee from Olympus Catherine Drinker Bowen July 9 I Never Left Home Bob Hope July 16 July 23 July 30 August 6 August 13 August 20 August 27 September 3 September 10 The Time for Decision Sumner Welles September 17 September 24 October 1 I Never Left Home Bob Hope October 8 October 15 October 22 The Time for Decision Sumner Welles October 29 I Never Left Home Bob Hope November 5 Yankee from Olympus Catherine Drinker Bowen November 12 I Never Left Home Bob Hope November 19 Yankee from Olympus Catherine Drinker Bowen November 26 December 3 The Time for Decision Sumner Welles December 10 Yankee from Olympus Catherine Drinker Bowen December 17 The Time for Decision Sumner Welles December 24 Brave Men Ernie Pyle December 31
See also Publishers Weekly list of bestselling novels in the United States in the 1940s
References