1969 in books
Who ruled 1969? Mario Puzo was Author of the Year on the NYT Hardcover Fiction list. Every #1 bestseller of 1969, the biggest books and the top authors.
NYT Hardcover Fiction
| # | Author | Era Power | Crowns | Top-five weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mario Puzo | 501 | 15 | 39 |
| 2 | Philip Roth | 462 | 14 | 35 |
| 3 | Jacqueline Susann | 380 | 13 | 28 |
| 4 | Helen MacInnes | 316 | 10 | 22 |
| 5 | Arthur Hailey | 222 | 0 | 20 |
| 6 | Michael Crichton | 220 | 0 | 18 |
| 7 | John le Carré | 216 | 0 | 17 |
| 8 | Vladimir Nabokov | 160 | 0 | 11 |
| 9 | Alistair MacLean | 137 | 0 | 10 |
| 10 | Gladys Rockmore Davis | 133 | 0 | 7 |
| First week at #1 | Title | Author | Weeks at #1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 5, 1969 | The Salzburg Connection | Helen MacInnes | 10 |
| Mar 16, 1969 | Portnoy's Complaint | Philip Roth | 14 |
| Jun 22, 1969 | The Love Machine | Jacqueline Susann | 13 |
| Sep 21, 1969 | The Godfather | Mario Puzo | 15 |
| # | Title | Author | Peak | Weeks | Book Power |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Godfather | Mario Puzo | #1 | 67 | 779.3 |
| 2 | The French Lieutenant's Woman | John Fowles | #1 | 53 | 582.6 |
| 3 | Portnoy's Complaint | Philip Roth | #1 | 40 | 462.2 |
| 4 | The Love Machine | Jacqueline Susann | #1 | 32 | 384.3 |
| 5 | The House on the Strand | Daphne Du Maurier | #2 | 30 | 284.0 |
| 6 | The Andromeda Strain | Michael Crichton | #3 | 30 | 233.9 |
| 7 | Ada, or Ardor: a Family Chronicle | Vladimir Nabokov | #4 | 20 | 159.7 |
| 8 | The Inheritors | Harold Robbins | #4 | 21 | 154.0 |
| 9 | The Pretenders | Gladys Rockmore Davis | #4 | 18 | 133.3 |
| 10 | Except for Me and Thee | Jessamyn West | #4 | 20 | 131.2 |
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