1940 in books
Who ruled 1940? Richard Llewellyn was Author of the Year on the NYT Hardcover Fiction list. Every #1 bestseller of 1940, the biggest books and the top authors.
NYT Hardcover Fiction
Author of the Year 1940
13 crowns · 34 weeks among the top five authors · Era Power 445
| # | Author | Era Power | Crowns | Top-five weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richard Llewellyn | 445 | 13 | 34 |
| 2 | Jan Struther | 268 | 6 | 22 |
| 3 | F. Van Wyck Mason | 206 | 10 | 16 |
| 4 | Christopher Morley | 202 | 3 | 16 |
| 5 | Sholem Asch | 185 | 6 | 15 |
| 6 | Louis Bromfield | 136 | 0 | 11 |
| 7 | Ernest Hemingway | 136 | 5 | 10 |
| 8 | Henry Bellamann | 135 | 0 | 9 |
| 9 | Nina Fedorova | 127 | 0 | 11 |
| 10 | Elizabeth von Arnim | 117 | 0 | 11 |
| First week at #1 | Title | Author | Weeks at #1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 1, 1940 | The Nazarene | Sholem Asch | 6 |
| Feb 5, 1940 | Kitty Foyle | Christopher Morley | 3 |
| Mar 4, 1940 | How Green Was My Valley | Richard Llewellyn | 13 |
| Mar 18, 1940 | Native Son | Richard Wright | 1 |
| Jun 10, 1940 | Stars on the Sea | F. Van Wyck Mason | 10 |
| Aug 19, 1940 | Mrs. Miniver | Jan Struther | 6 |
| Sep 9, 1940 | The Beloved Returns | Thomas Mann | 2 |
| Sep 30, 1940 | You Can't Go Home Again | Thomas Wolfe | 2 |
| Oct 28, 1940 | For Whom the Bell Tolls | Ernest Hemingway | 5 |
| Dec 2, 1940 | Oliver Wiswell | Kenneth Roberts | 5 |
| # | Title | Author | Peak | Weeks | Book Power |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | How Green Was My Valley | Richard Llewellyn | #1 | 35 | 444.9 |
| 2 | Mrs. Miniver | Jan Struther | #1 | 29 | 327.1 |
| 3 | For Whom the Bell Tolls | Ernest Hemingway | #1 | 23 | 290.5 |
| 4 | Oliver Wiswell | Kenneth Roberts | #1 | 23 | 268.2 |
| 5 | Stars on the Sea | F. Van Wyck Mason | #1 | 16 | 206.2 |
| 6 | The Family | Nina Fedorova | #3 | 16 | 143.6 |
| 7 | Night in Bombay | Louis Bromfield | #2 | 13 | 136.3 |
| 8 | King's Row | Henry Bellamann | #2 | 14 | 135.3 |
| 9 | Mrs. Skeffington | Elizabeth von Arnim | #2 | 12 | 116.8 |
| 10 | Native Son | Richard Wright | #1 | 11 | 115.6 |
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