The American daily newspaper The New York Times publishes multiple weekly lists ranking the best selling books in the United States. The lists are split in three genres—fiction, nonfiction and children's books. Both the fiction and nonfiction lists are further split into multiple lists.
The following list ranks the number-one best selling fiction books, in the hardcover fiction category.[1]
The most popular books of the year were The Appeal, by John Grisham and Change of Heart, by Jodi Picoult with respectively 5 and 3 weeks at the top. The author James Patterson was at the top for four different books (Double Cross, Sundays at Tiffany's, Sail and Cross Country).
| Date | Book | Author |
|---|---|---|
| January 6 | Double Cross | James Patterson |
| January 13 | A Thousand Splendid Suns | Khaled Hosseini |
| January 20 | ||
| January 27 | Plum Lucky | Janet Evanovich |
| February 3 | ||
| February 10 | Duma Key | Stephen King |
| February 17 | The Appeal | John Grisham |
| February 24 | ||
| March 2 | ||
| March 9 | ||
| March 16 | ||
| March 23 | Change of Heart | Jodi Picoult |
| March 30 | ||
| April 6 | ||
| April 13 | Compulsion | Jonathan Kellerman |
| April 20 | Unaccustomed Earth | Jhumpa Lahiri |
| April 27 | Where Are You Now? | Mary Higgins Clark |
| May 4 | Hold Tight | Harlan Coben |
| May 11 | The Whole Truth | David Baldacci |
| May 18 | Sundays at Tiffany's | James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet |
| May 25 | The Host | Stephenie Meyer |
| June 1 | ||
| June 8 | Odd Hours | Dean Koontz |
| June 15 | Blood Noir | Laurell K. Hamilton |
| June 22 | Nothing to Lose | Lee Child |
| June 29 | Sail | James Patterson and Howard Roughan |
| July 6 | Fearless Fourteen | Janet Evanovich |
| July 13 | ||
| July 20 | The Last Patriot | Brad Thor |
| July 27 | Tribute | Nora Roberts |
| August 3 | ||
| August 10 | Moscow Rules | Daniel Silva |
| August 17 | ||
| August 24 | Acheron | Sherrilyn Kenyon |
| August 31 | Smoke Screen | Sandra Brown |
| September 7 | The Force Unleashed | Sean Williams |
| September 14 | Devil Bones | Kathy Reichs |
| September 21 | Dark Curse | Christine Feehan |
| September 28 | Anathem | Neal Stephenson |
| October 5 | The Story of Edgar Sawtelle | David Wroblewski |
| October 12 | ||
| October 19 | The Lucky One | Nicholas Sparks |
| October 26 | ||
| November 2 | The Brass Verdict | Michael Connelly |
| November 9 | Extreme Measures | Vince Flynn |
| November 16 | The Gate House | Nelson DeMille |
| November 23 | Divine Justice | David Baldacci |
| November 30 | The Christmas Sweater | Glenn Beck |
| December 7 | Cross Country | James Patterson |
| December 14 | ||
| December 21 | Scarpetta | Patricia Cornwell |
| December 28 | ||
The following list ranks the number-one best selling nonfiction books, in the hardcover nonfiction category.[2]
| Date | Book | Author | Publisher | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 6 | I Am America (And So Can You!) | Grand Central | ||
| January 13 | ||||
| January 20 | In Defense of Food | Penguin Press | ||
| January 27 | ||||
| February 3 | St. Martin's | |||
| February 10 | In Defense of Food | Michael Pollan | Penguin Press | |
| February 17 | ||||
| February 24 | ||||
| March 2 | ||||
| March 9 | Liberal Fascism | Doubleday | ||
| March 16 | Losing It | Free Press | ||
| March 23 | ||||
| March 30 | ||||
| April 6 | Beautiful Boy | Houghton Mifflin | ||
| April 13 | Mistaken Identity | Don and Susie Van Ryn and Newell, Colleen and Whitney Cerak, with Mark Tabb | Howard | |
| April 20 | ||||
| April 27 | Home | Hyperion | ||
| May 4 | Beautiful Boy | David Sheff | Houghton Mifflin | |
| May 11 | Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea | Simon Spotlight | ||
| May 18 | Grand Central | |||
| May 25 | Knopf | |||
| June 1 | ||||
| June 8 | ||||
| June 15 | What Happened | PublicAffairs | ||
| June 22 | When You Are Engulfed in Flames | Little, Brown | ||
| June 29 | ||||
| July 6 | ||||
| July 13 | ||||
| July 20 | ||||
| July 27 | ||||
| August 3 | ||||
| August 10 | ||||
| August 17 | Threshold Editions | |||
| August 24 | ||||
| August 31 | ||||
| September 7 | ||||
| September 14 | sTORI Telling | Tori Spelling with Hilary Liftin | Simon Spotlight | |
| September 21 | ||||
| September 28 | Hot, Flat, and Crowded | Farrar, Straus and Giroux | ||
| October 31 | James Patterson, Hal Friedman | Little, Brown and Company | ||
| November 30 | Too Fat to Fish | |||
| December 7 | Things That Matter | Crown Forum | ||
| December 15 | ||||
| December 21 | Outliers | Little, Brown |