The 1990s in books

Who ruled the 1990s? John Grisham was Author of the Decade on the NYT Hardcover Fiction list. Every #1 bestseller of the 1990s, the biggest books and the top authors.

NYT Hardcover Fiction

Author of the Decade 1990s

John Grisham

64 crowns · 193 weeks among the top five authors · Era Power 2,907

Top authors of the 1990s
#	Author	Era Power	Crowns	Top-five weeks
1	John Grisham	2,907	64	193
2	Danielle Steel	2,729	33	183
3	Stephen King	2,092	40	140
4	Robert James Waller	1,864	67	103
5	James Redfield	1,558	22	99
6	Mary Higgins Clark	1,544	21	94
7	Tom Clancy	1,462	27	103
8	Anne Rice	1,144	9	76
9	Dr. Seuss	1,139	5	54
10	Sidney Sheldon	894	3	52

Author of the Year, 1990s
Year	Author	Crowns
1990	Stephen King	13
1991	John Grisham	0
1992	John Grisham	12
1993	Robert James Waller	42
1994	Robert James Waller	16
1995	James Redfield	7
1996	James Redfield	5
1997	Danielle Steel	3
1998	Danielle Steel	3
1999	J. K. Rowling	26

Every #1 bestseller of the 1990s102 books reached #1 on the NYT Hardcover Fiction list
First week at #1	Title	Author	Weeks at #1
Jan 7, 1990	The Dark Half	Stephen King	2
Jan 21, 1990	Daddy	Danielle Steel	2
Feb 4, 1990	The Bad Place	Dean R. Koontz	2
Feb 18, 1990	Devices and Desires	P.D. James	3
Mar 4, 1990	Oh, the Places You'll Go!	Dr. Seuss	5
Mar 18, 1990	The Bourne Ultimatum	Robert Ludlum	5
Apr 22, 1990	September	Rosamunde Pilcher	4
May 13, 1990	The Stand	Stephen King	4
Jun 17, 1990	The Burden of Proof	Scott Turow	11
Sep 2, 1990	Memories of Midnight	Sidney Sheldon	2
Sep 16, 1990	Four Past Midnight	Stephen King	5
Oct 21, 1990	The Plains of Passage	Jean M. Auel	13
Jan 20, 1991	The Secret Pilgrim	John le Carré	2
Feb 3, 1991	Cold Fire	Dean R. Koontz	3
Feb 24, 1991	Heartbeat	Danielle Steel	8
Apr 21, 1991	The Seeress of Kell	David Eddings	3
May 12, 1991	Loves Music, Loves to Dance	Mary Higgins Clark	6
Jun 30, 1991	Heir to the Empire	Timothy Zahn	1
Jul 7, 1991	The Kitchen God's Wife	Amy Tan	7
Aug 25, 1991	The Sum of All Fears	Tom Clancy	7
Oct 13, 1991	Scarlett	Alexandra Ripley	16
Feb 2, 1992	Hideaway	Dean R. Koontz	4
Mar 1, 1992	Rising Sun	Michael Crichton	2
Mar 15, 1992	The Pelican Brief	John Grisham	12
May 17, 1992	Jewels	Danielle Steel	4
Jul 19, 1992	Gerald's Game	Stephen King	9
Sep 20, 1992	Where Is Joe Merchant	? by Jimmy Buffett	3
Oct 18, 1992	The Stars Shine Down	Sidney Sheldon	1
Oct 25, 1992	The Tale of the Body Thief	Anne Rice	4
Nov 22, 1992	Mixed Blessings	Danielle Steel	2
Dec 6, 1992	Dolores Claiborne	Stephen King	7
Jan 24, 1993	Dragon Tears	Dean Koontz	1
Jan 31, 1993	The Bridges of Madison County	Robert James Waller	38
Mar 21, 1993	The Client	John Grisham	4
Aug 29, 1993	Without Remorse	Tom Clancy	2
Nov 14, 1993	Slow Waltz in Cedar Bend	Robert James Waller	9
Jan 23, 1994	Disclosure	Michael Crichton	5
Feb 27, 1994	Accident	Danielle Steel	5
Apr 3, 1994	The Celestine Prophecy	James Redfield	27
May 22, 1994	Remember Me	Mary Higgins Clark	1
Jun 12, 1994	The Chamber	John Grisham	8
Aug 7, 1994	The Gift	Danielle Steel	4
Sep 4, 1994	Debt of Honor	Tom Clancy	6
Oct 16, 1994	Taltos	Anne Rice	1
Oct 23, 1994	Insomnia	Stephen King	3
Dec 11, 1994	Politically Correct Bedtime Stories	James Finn Garner	6
Apr 30, 1995	The Rainmaker	John Grisham	9
Jul 16, 1995	Beach Music	Pat Conroy	3
Jul 30, 1995	Memnoch the Devil	Anne Rice	3
Aug 27, 1995	From Potter's Field	Patricia Cornwell	3
Sep 17, 1995	"L" Is for Lawless	Sue Grafton	2
Oct 1, 1995	The Horse Whisperer	Nicholas Evans	2
Oct 8, 1995	The Lost World	Michael Crichton	8
Dec 3, 1995	Five Days in Paris	Danielle Steel	2
Dec 17, 1995	The Christmas Box	Richard Paul Evans	5
Jan 28, 1996	Intensity	Dean Koontz	3
Feb 18, 1996	Primary Colors	Anonymous	9
Apr 21, 1996	Moonlight Becomes You	Mary Higgins Clark	4
May 19, 1996	How Stella Got Her Groove Back	Terry McMillan	2
Jun 2, 1996	The Runaway Jury	John Grisham	7
Jul 21, 1996	Cause of Death	Patricia Cornwell	5
Aug 25, 1996	Servant of the Bones	Anne Rice	1
Sep 1, 1996	Executive Orders	Tom Clancy	5
Oct 6, 1996	The Deep End of the Ocean	Jacquelyn Mitchard	6
Oct 13, 1996	Desperation	Stephen King	2
Dec 1, 1996	Silent Honor	Danielle Steel	4
Dec 29, 1996	Airframe	Michael Crichton	5
Feb 2, 1997	Hornet's Nest	Patricia Cornwell	4
Mar 2, 1997	Sole Survivor	Dean Koontz	2
Mar 16, 1997	The Partner	John Grisham	8
May 4, 1997	Pretend You Don't See Her	Mary Higgins Clark	5
Jun 15, 1997	Plum Island	Nelson DeMille	5
Jul 20, 1997	Special Delivery	Danielle Steel	2
Aug 3, 1997	Unnatural Exposure	Patricia Cornwell	4
Aug 31, 1997	Cold Mountain	Charles Frazier	18
Oct 12, 1997	Flood Tide	Clive Cussler	3
Nov 30, 1997	The Ghost	Danielle Steel	1
Feb 1, 1998	Paradise	Toni Morrison	3
Feb 22, 1998	The Street Lawyer	John Grisham	9
Apr 26, 1998	The Long Road Home	Danielle Steel	2
May 10, 1998	You Belong to Me	Mary Higgins Clark	4
May 31, 1998	''N'' Is for Noose	Sue Grafton	1
Jun 14, 1998	A Widow for One Year	John Irving	3
Jul 5, 1998	I Know This Much Is True	Wally Lamb	3
Jul 12, 1998	The Klone and I	Danielle Steel	1
Jul 26, 1998	Point of Origin	Patricia Cornwell	3
Aug 23, 1998	Rainbow Six	Tom Clancy	7
Oct 11, 1998	Bag of Bones	Stephen King	4
Nov 8, 1998	The Path of Daggers	Robert Jordan	2
Nov 22, 1998	A Man in Full	Tom Wolfe	10
Jan 31, 1999	Southern Cross	Patricia Cornwell	3
Feb 21, 1999	The Testament	John Grisham	9
Apr 25, 1999	Bittersweet	Danielle Steel	1
May 2, 1999	The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon	Stephen King	1
May 9, 1999	We'll Meet Again	Mary Higgins Clark	2
May 23, 1999	STAR WARS: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace	Terry Brooks	4
Jun 20, 1999	Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets	J. K. Rowling	5
Jun 27, 1999	Hannibal	Thomas Harris	7
Aug 15, 1999	Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone	J. K. Rowling	2
Aug 22, 1999	Black Notice	Patricia Cornwell	3
Sep 19, 1999	The Alibi	Sandra Brown	1
Sep 26, 1999	Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban	J. K. Rowling	10

Biggest books of the 1990sTitles that entered the list in the 1990s, by Book Power
#	Title	Author	Peak	Weeks	Book Power
1	The Bridges of Madison County	Robert James Waller	#1	164	1,512.2
2	The Celestine Prophecy	James Redfield	#1	165	1,406.0
3	Oh, the Places You'll Go!	Dr. Seuss	#1	178	1,076.3
4	Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets	J. K. Rowling	#1	57	678.5
5	Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone	J. K. Rowling	#1	82	630.8
6	Cold Mountain	Charles Frazier	#1	61	582.2
7	Politically Correct Bedtime Stories	James Finn Garner	#1	65	554.6
8	The Pelican Brief	John Grisham	#1	49	527.0
9	Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban	J. K. Rowling	#1	43	507.2
10	The Client	John Grisham	#1	48	434.0
11	Like Water for Chocolate	Laura Esquivel	#3	61	404.7
12	The Firm	John Grisham	#2	47	392.5
13	The Notebook	Nicholas Sparks	#3	56	361.8
14	Scarlett	Alexandra Ripley	#1	34	348.0
15	The Horse Whisperer	Nicholas Evans	#1	37	326.8
16	The Partner	John Grisham	#1	30	313.6
17	The Burden of Proof	Scott Turow	#1	35	313.4
18	The Plains of Passage	Jean M. Auel	#1	29	312.8
19	Slow Waltz in Cedar Bend	Robert James Waller	#1	29	298.0
20	Memoirs of a Geisha	Arthur Golden	#5	62	289.1

Author of the Decade and the rankings are the ChartReign Power model: the author with the most chart power over the decade, not the most #1s. Crowns are weeks crowned Author of the Week. How it works