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Eras · The 1990s

1990 in books

Who ruled 1990? Stephen King was Author of the Year on the NYT Hardcover Fiction list. Every #1 bestseller of 1990, the biggest books and the top authors.

NYT Hardcover Fiction

Stephen King portrait

Author of the Year 1990

Stephen King

13 crowns · 35 weeks among the top five authors · Era Power 487

Top authors of 1990
#AuthorEra PowerCrownsTop-five weeks
1Stephen King4871335
2Dr. Seuss355121
3Scott Turow2911120
4Danielle Steel283219
5Rosamunde Pilcher228415
6Robert Ludlum209511
7Sidney Sheldon191212
8Tom Clancy188011
9Jean M. Auel161911
10P.D. James140310
Every #1 bestseller of 199012 books reached #1 on the NYT Hardcover Fiction list
First week at #1TitleAuthorWeeks at #1
Jan 7, 1990The Dark HalfStephen King2
Jan 21, 1990DaddyDanielle Steel2
Feb 4, 1990The Bad PlaceDean R. Koontz2
Feb 18, 1990Devices and DesiresP.D. James3
Mar 4, 1990Oh, the Places You'll Go!Dr. Seuss1
Mar 18, 1990The Bourne UltimatumRobert Ludlum5
Apr 22, 1990SeptemberRosamunde Pilcher4
May 13, 1990The StandStephen King4
Jun 17, 1990The Burden of ProofScott Turow11
Sep 2, 1990Memories of MidnightSidney Sheldon2
Sep 16, 1990Four Past MidnightStephen King5
Oct 21, 1990The Plains of PassageJean M. Auel11
Biggest books of 1990Titles that entered the list in 1990, by Book Power
#TitleAuthorPeakWeeksBook Power
1Oh, the Places You'll Go!Dr. Seuss#11781,076.3
2The Burden of ProofScott Turow#135313.4
3The Plains of PassageJean M. Auel#129312.8
4Four Past MidnightStephen King#122248.5
5SeptemberRosamunde Pilcher#126227.4
6Memories of MidnightSidney Sheldon#123214.9
7The Bourne UltimatumRobert Ludlum#126209.1
8Message from NamDanielle Steel#218171.7
9The Witching HourAnne Rice#222159.9
10Devices and DesiresP.D. James#116140.4

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