This is a list of books that topped The New York Times best-seller list in 1931.
This was the first year that the list was published, though it was not yet a national list. Throughout the 1930s the list reflected sales in the New York City area.[1]
The following list ranks the number-one best-selling fiction books.[2]
| Date | Book | Author |
|---|---|---|
| October 12 | The Ten Commandments | Warwick Deeping |
| October 19 | No List Published | |
| October 26 | ||
| November 2 | ||
| November 9 | ||
| November 16 | Maid in Waiting | John Galsworthy |
| November 23 | No List Published | |
| November 30 | Maid in Waiting | John Galsworthy |
| December 7 | ||
| December 14 | ||
| December 21 | ||
| December 28 | ||
The following list ranks the number-one best-selling nonfiction books.[3]
| Date | Book | Author | |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 12 | Ellen Terry and Bernard Shaw: A Correspondence | Ellen Terry and Bernard Shaw | |
| October 19 | No List Published | ||
| October 26 | |||
| November 2 | |||
| November 9 | |||
| November 16 | Ellen Terry and Bernard Shaw: A Correspondence | Ellen Terry and Bernard Shaw | |
| November 23 | No List Published | ||
| November 30 | Washington Merry-Go-Round | Anonymous. (Drew Pearson and Robert S. Allen .) | |
| December 7 | Bernard Shaw | Frank Harris | |
| December 14 | The Epic of America | James Truslow Adams | |
| December 21 | Mourning Becomes Electra | Eugene O'Neill | |
| December 28 | The Epic of America | James Truslow Adams | |