1938 in books
Who ruled 1938? A. J. Cronin was Author of the Year on the NYT Hardcover Fiction list. Every #1 bestseller of 1938, the biggest books and the top authors.
NYT Hardcover Fiction
| # | Author | Era Power | Crowns | Top-five weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A. J. Cronin | 514 | 16 | 43 |
| 2 | Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings | 458 | 12 | 36 |
| 3 | Howard Spring | 373 | 11 | 30 |
| 4 | Kenneth Roberts | 269 | 0 | 22 |
| 5 | Phyllis Bottome | 181 | 0 | 16 |
| 6 | Daphne Du Maurier | 174 | 8 | 12 |
| 7 | Louis Bromfield | 166 | 0 | 14 |
| 8 | Hervey Allen | 118 | 2 | 9 |
| 9 | Rachel Field | 118 | 2 | 9 |
| 10 | Mary Roberts Rinehart | 99 | 0 | 8 |
| First week at #1 | Title | Author | Weeks at #1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 3, 1938 | The Citadel | A. J. Cronin | 16 |
| Feb 7, 1938 | The Prodigal Parents | Sinclair Lewis | 1 |
| Mar 21, 1938 | Action at Aquila | Hervey Allen | 2 |
| May 16, 1938 | The Yearling | Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings | 12 |
| Jul 11, 1938 | My Son, My Son! | Howard Spring | 11 |
| Oct 24, 1938 | Rebecca | Daphne Du Maurier | 8 |
| Nov 28, 1938 | All This and Heaven Too | Rachel Field | 2 |
| # | Title | Author | Peak | Weeks | Book Power |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Yearling | Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings | #1 | 42 | 499.8 |
| 2 | All This and Heaven Too | Rachel Field | #1 | 38 | 483.8 |
| 3 | My Son, My Son! | Howard Spring | #1 | 31 | 381.8 |
| 4 | Rebecca | Daphne Du Maurier | #1 | 32 | 380.9 |
| 5 | The Mortal Storm | Phyllis Bottome | #2 | 18 | 181.3 |
| 6 | Three Harbours | F. Van Wyck Mason | #3 | 15 | 137.7 |
| 7 | Action at Aquila | Hervey Allen | #1 | 11 | 117.6 |
| 8 | The Wall | Mary Roberts Rinehart | #3 | 10 | 98.5 |
| 9 | The Prodigal Parents | Sinclair Lewis | #1 | 8 | 85.3 |
| 10 | And Tell of Time | Laura Krey | #3 | 8 | 79.9 |
Author of the Year and the rankings are the ChartReign Power model: the author with the most chart power over the year, not the most #1s. Crowns are weeks crowned Author of the Week. How it works