1949 in books
Who ruled 1949? Lloyd C. Douglas was Author of the Year on the NYT Hardcover Fiction list. Every #1 bestseller of 1949, the biggest books and the top authors.
NYT Hardcover Fiction
Author of the Year 1949
14 crowns · 34 weeks among the top five authors · Era Power 509
| # | Author | Era Power | Crowns | Top-five weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lloyd C. Douglas | 509 | 14 | 34 |
| 2 | John P. Marquand | 400 | 22 | 26 |
| 3 | Frances Parkinson Keyes | 316 | 0 | 24 |
| 4 | Edward Streeter | 252 | 0 | 18 |
| 5 | John O'Hara | 213 | 6 | 16 |
| 6 | Mika Waltari | 210 | 9 | 15 |
| 7 | Norman Mailer | 193 | 0 | 13 |
| 8 | Taylor Caldwell | 182 | 0 | 15 |
| 9 | Irwin Shaw | 178 | 0 | 12 |
| 10 | Frank Yerby | 160 | 0 | 12 |
| First week at #1 | Title | Author | Weeks at #1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2, 1949 | The Big Fisherman | Lloyd C. Douglas | 14 |
| Apr 10, 1949 | Point of No Return | John P. Marquand | 22 |
| Sep 11, 1949 | Twilight on the Floods | Marguerite Steen | 1 |
| Sep 18, 1949 | A Rage to Live | John O'Hara | 6 |
| Oct 30, 1949 | The Egyptian | Mika Waltari | 9 |
| # | Title | Author | Peak | Weeks | Book Power |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Egyptian | Mika Waltari | #1 | 59 | 575.7 |
| 2 | Point of No Return | John P. Marquand | #1 | 34 | 400.5 |
| 3 | A Rage to Live | John O'Hara | #1 | 33 | 323.7 |
| 4 | Mary | Sholem Asch | #2 | 30 | 257.8 |
| 5 | Father of the Bride | Edward Streeter | #2 | 30 | 254.2 |
| 6 | Let Love Come Last | Taylor Caldwell | #2 | 23 | 197.7 |
| 7 | Pride's Castle | Frank Yerby | #3 | 22 | 160.3 |
| 8 | Cutlass Empire | F. Van Wyck Mason | #4 | 22 | 153.4 |
| 9 | The Brave Bulls | Tom Lea | #3 | 22 | 150.2 |
| 10 | The Way West | A.B. Guthrie Jr | #4 | 20 | 146.6 |
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