Since it’s my birthday month, I wanted to do a fun, birthday themed post. I toyed with a few different options, but landed on doing a list of the #1 fiction book from the New York Times Best Seller list for my birthday each year. I was surprised by some of these (Janet Evanovich dominated with Stephanie Plum for a while there) and a couple hit the list both when the books released and the subsequent movie came out, so they are on here twice.

I’m turning 54, so the list is pretty long, but here is every book that was #1 the week of July 15th for every year of my life. I think it’s interesting to see the changes in the types of books that hit the list over the past 50+ years.

1971: The Passions of the Mind by Irving Stone
1972: Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
1973: Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut
1974: Watership Down by Richard Adams
1975: The Moneychangers by Arthur Hailey

1976: Trinity by Leon Uris
1977: The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
1978: The Holcroft Covenant by Robert Ludlum
1979: The Matarese Circle by Robert Ludlum
1980: Rage of Angels by Sidney Sheldon

1981: Noble House by James Clavell
1982: The Parsifal Mosaic by Robert Ludlum
1983: Star Wars: Return of the Jedi: The Storybook Based on the Movie by Joan D. Vinge
1984: “…And the Ladies of the Club” by Helen Hoover Santmyer
1985: Skeleton Crew by Stephen King

1986: Last of the Breed by Louis L’Amour
1987: Misery by Stephen King
1988: Alaska by James Michener
1989: The Russia House by John le Carre
1990: The Burden of Proof by Scott Turow

1991: The Kitchen God’s Wife by Amy Tan
1992: The Pelican Brief by John Grisham
1993: The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller
1994: The Chamber by John Grisham
1995: The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller

1996: The Runaway Jury by John Grisham
1997: Plum Island by Nelson DeMille
1998: The Klone and I by Danielle Steel
1999: Hannibal by Thomas Harris
2000: Hot Six by Janet Evanovich

2001: Leap of Faith by Danielle Steel
2002: The Beach House by James Patterson & Peter de Jonge
2003: The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown
2004: Ten Big Ones by Janet Evanovich
2005: Eleven on Top by Janet Evanovich

2006: Twelve Sharp by Janey Evanovich
2007: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
2008: Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich
2009: Finger Lickin’ Fifteen by Janet Evanovich
2010: Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich

2011: Smokin’ Seventeen by Janet Evanovich
2012: Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James
2013: Second Honeymoon by James Patterson & Howard Roughan
2014: Invisible by James Patterson & David Ellis
2015: Grey by E.L. James

2016: Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
2017: Camino Island by John Grisham
2018: The President is Missing by James Patterson & Bill Clinton
2019: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
2020: 28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand

2021: The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave
2022: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
2023: The Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand
2024: The Women by Kristin Hannah
2025: Don’t Let Him In by Lisa Jewell

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Titles in Bold, I have Read
Italics are books on my TBR
Both are books I’m currently reading