1968 in books
Who ruled 1968? Arthur Hailey was Author of the Year on the NYT Hardcover Fiction list. Every #1 bestseller of 1968, the biggest books and the top authors.
NYT Hardcover Fiction
| # | Author | Era Power | Crowns | Top-five weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arthur Hailey | 539 | 30 | 39 |
| 2 | John Updike | 394 | 1 | 31 |
| 3 | Leon Uris | 354 | 0 | 30 |
| 4 | William Styron | 307 | 12 | 15 |
| 5 | Fletcher Knebel | 288 | 1 | 21 |
| 6 | Taylor Caldwell | 285 | 0 | 19 |
| 7 | Gore Vidal | 266 | 0 | 18 |
| 8 | Catherine Marshall | 226 | 0 | 12 |
| 9 | Helen MacInnes | 187 | 8 | 13 |
| 10 | Charles Portis | 164 | 0 | 11 |
| First week at #1 | Title | Author | Weeks at #1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 7, 1968 | The Confessions of Nat Turner | William Styron | 12 |
| Mar 31, 1968 | Vanished | Fletcher Knebel | 1 |
| Apr 7, 1968 | Airport | Arthur Hailey | 30 |
| Jun 30, 1968 | Couples | John Updike | 1 |
| Nov 10, 1968 | The Salzburg Connection | Helen MacInnes | 8 |
| # | Title | Author | Peak | Weeks | Book Power |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Airport | Arthur Hailey | #1 | 64 | 761.1 |
| 2 | The Salzburg Connection | Helen MacInnes | #1 | 42 | 503.0 |
| 3 | Couples | John Updike | #1 | 36 | 394.0 |
| 4 | Testimony of Two Men | Taylor Caldwell | #3 | 42 | 331.3 |
| 5 | A Small Town in Germany | John le Carré | #2 | 28 | 295.8 |
| 6 | Vanished | Fletcher Knebel | #1 | 32 | 287.9 |
| 7 | Myra Breckinridge | Gore Vidal | #2 | 30 | 265.5 |
| 8 | Preserve and Protect | Allen Drury | #2 | 28 | 265.0 |
| 9 | True Grit | Charles Portis | #3 | 22 | 164.1 |
| 10 | The Hurricane Years | Cameron Hawley | #5 | 23 | 157.4 |
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