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 combined print and e-books category.[1] The most frequent weekly best seller was The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins with 16 weeks at the top of the list.
| Date | Book | Author | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 4 | Gray Mountain | John Grisham | |
| January 11 | Gone Girl | Gillian Flynn | |
| January 18 | All the Light We Cannot See | Anthony Doerr | |
| January 25 | |||
| February 1 | The Girl on the Train | Paula Hawkins | |
| February 8 | |||
| February 15 | |||
| February 22 | |||
| March 1 | |||
| March 8 | |||
| March 15 | |||
| March 22 | |||
| March 29 | |||
| April 5 | |||
| April 12 | |||
| April 19 | |||
| April 26 | |||
| May 3 | The Liar | Nora Roberts | |
| May 10 | Memory Man | David Baldacci | |
| May 17 | Gathering Prey | John Sandford | |
| May 24 | 14th Deadly Sin | James Patterson | |
| May 31 | The Girl on the Train | Paula Hawkins | |
| June 7 | |||
| June 14 | Radiant Angel | Nelson DeMille | |
| June 21 | Finders Keepers | Stephen King | |
| June 28 | The Girl on the Train | Paula Hawkins | |
| July 5 | Grey | E. L. James | |
| July 12 | |||
| July 19 | |||
| July 26 | |||
| August 2 | Go Set a Watchman | Harper Lee | |
| August 9 | |||
| August 16 | |||
| August 23 | Alert | James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge | |
| August 30 | Go Set a Watchman | Harper Lee | |
| September 6 | Friction | Sandra Brown | |
| September 13 | X | Sue Grafton | |
| September 20 | The Girl in the Spider's Web | David Lagercrantz | |
| September 27 | Make Me | Lee Child | |
| October 4 | The Martian | Andy Weir | |
| October 11 | |||
| October 18 | |||
| October 25 | The Survivor | Vince Flynn and Kyle Mills | |
| November 1 | See Me | Nicholas Sparks | |
| November 8 | Rogue Lawyer | John Grisham | |
| November 15 | |||
| November 22 | The Crossing | Michael Connelly | |
| November 29 | Rogue Lawyer | John Grisham | |
| December 6 | Tricky Twenty-Two | Janet Evanovich | |
| December 13 | Cross Justice | James Patterson | |
| December 20 | The Nightingale | Kristin Hannah | |
| December 27 | Rogue Lawyer | John Grisham |
The following list ranks the number-one best-selling nonfiction books, in the combined print and e-books category.[2] The most frequent weekly best sellers of the year were American Sniper and Killing Reagan.
| Date | Book | Author | Publisher | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 4 | Unbroken | Random House | ||
| January 11 | ||||
| January 18 | ||||
| January 25 | ||||
| February 1 | American Sniper | Chris Kyle with Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice | Morrow/HarperCollins | |
| February 8 | ||||
| February 15 | ||||
| February 22 | ||||
| March 1 | ||||
| March 8 | ||||
| March 15 | ||||
| March 22 | ||||
| March 29 | Dead Wake | Crown | ||
| April 5 | ||||
| April 12 | Becoming Steve Jobs | Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli | Crown | |
| April 19 | Dead Wake | Crown | ||
| April 26 | The Residence | Harper | ||
| May 3 | The Road to Character | David Brooks | Random House | |
| May 10 | And the Good News Is... | Dana Perino | Twelve | |
| May 17 | Hope | Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus | Viking | |
| May 24 | The Wright Brothers | David McCullough | Simon & Schuster | |
| May 31 | ||||
| June 7 | ||||
| June 14 | ||||
| June 21 | ||||
| June 28 | ||||
| July 5 | ||||
| July 12 | Down the Rabbit Hole | Holly Madison | Dey Street | |
| July 19 | ||||
| July 26 | ||||
| August 2 | Between the World and Me | Ta-Nehisi Coates | Spiegel & Grau | |
| August 9 | ||||
| August 16 | ||||
| August 23 | Plunder and Deceit | Mark Levin | Threshold Editions | |
| August 30 | ||||
| September 6 | It Is About Islam | Glenn Beck | Threshold Editions/Mercury Radio Arts | |
| September 13 | ||||
| September 20 | A Walk in the Woods | Bill Bryson | Broadway | |
| September 27 | ||||
| October 4 | Why Not Me? | Mindy Kaling | Crown | |
| October 11 | Killing Reagan | Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard | Holt | |
| October 18 | ||||
| October 25 | ||||
| November 1 | Brandon Stanton | St. Martin's | ||
| November 8 | Killing Reagan | Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard | Holt | |
| November 15 | ||||
| November 22 | Troublemaker | Leah Remini and Rebecca Paley | Ballantine | |
| November 29 | ||||
| December 6 | Killing Reagan | Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard | Holt | |
| December 13 | ||||
| December 20 | Brandon Stanton | St. Martin's Press | ||
| December 27 | Killing Reagan | Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard | Holt |