I decided to undertake this endeavor as a mission to read books I never would have otherwise read, discover authors who have been lost to obscurity, and to see how what's popular has changed over the last one hundred years. I plan to post a new review every Monday, with links, short essays, and the like between review posts.
Here is the list of books I plan to review:
- 1913: The Inside of the Cup by Winston Churchill
- 1914: The Eyes of the World by Harold Bell Wright
- 1915: The Turmoil by Booth Tarkington
- 1916: Seventeen by Booth Tarkington
- 1917: Mr. Britling Sees It Through by H. G. Wells
- 1918: The U. P. Trail by Zane Grey
- 1919: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez
- 1920: The Man of the Forest by Zane Grey
- 1921: Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
- 1922: If Winter Comes by A.S.M. Hutchinson
- 1923: Black Oxen by Gertrude Atherton
- 1924: So Big by Edna Ferber
- 1925: Soundings by A. Hamilton Gibbs
- 1926: The Private Life of Helen of Troy by John Erskine
- 1927: Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis
- 1928: The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
- 1929: All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
- 1930: Cimarron by Edna Ferber
- 1931: The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
- 1932: The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck *
- 1933: Anthony Adverse by Hervey Allen
- 1934: Anthony Adverse by Hervey Allen*
- 1935: Green Light by Lloyd C. Douglas
- 1936: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
- 1937: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell*
- 1938: The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
- 1939: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
- 1940: How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn
- 1941: The Keys of the Kingdom by A. J. Cronin
- 1942: The Song of Bernadette by Franz Werfel
- 1943: The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas
- 1944: Strange Fruit by Lillian Smith
- 1945: Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor
- 1946: The King's General by Daphne du Maurier
- 1947: The Miracle of the Bells by Russell Janney
- 1948: The Big Fisherman by Lloyd C. Douglas
- 1949: The Egyptian by Mika Waltari
- 1950: The Cardinal by Henry Morton Robinson
- 1951: From Here to Eternity by James Jones
- 1952: The Silver Chalice by Thomas B. Costain
- 1953: The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas*
- 1954: Not as a Stranger by Morton Thompson
- 1955: Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk
- 1956: Don't Go Near the Water by William Brinkley
- 1957: By Love Possessed by James Gould Cozzens
- 1958: Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
- 1959: Exodus by Leon Uris
- 1960: Advise and Consent by Allen Drury
- 1961: The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone
- 1962: Ship of Fools by Katherine Anne Porter
- 1963: The Shoes of the Fisherman by Morris L. West
- 1964: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carré
- 1965: The Source by James A. Michener
- 1966: Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann
- 1967: The Arrangement by Elia Kazan
- 1968: Airport by Arthur Hailey
- 1969: Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth
- 1970: Love Story by Erich Segal
- 1971: Wheels by Arthur Hailey
- 1972: Johnathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
- 1973: Johnathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach*
- 1974: Centennial by James A. Michener
- 1975: Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow
- 1976: Trinity by Leon Uris
- 1977: The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien and Christopher Tolkien
- 1978: Chesapeake by James A. Michener
- 1979: The Matarese Circle by Robert Ludlum
- 1980: The Covenant by James A. Michener
- 1981: Noble House by James Clavell
- 1982: E.T., The Extraterrestrial by William Kotzwinkle
- 1983: Return of the Jedi by James Kahn
- 1984: The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub
- 1985: The Mammoth Hunters by Jean M. Auel
- 1986: It by Stephen King
- 1987: The Tommyknockers by Stephen King
- 1988: The Cardinal of the Kremlin by Tom Clancy
- 1989: Clear and Present Danger by Tom Clancy
- 1990: The Plains of Passage by Jean M. Auel
- 1991: Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley
- 1992: Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King
- 1993: The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller
- 1994: The Chamber by John Grisham
- 1995: The Rainmaker by John Grisham
- 1996: The Runaway Jury by John Grisham
- 1997: The Partner by John Grisham
- 1998: The Street Lawyer by John Grisham
- 1999: The Testament by John Grisham
- 2000: The Brethren by John Grisham
- 2001: Desecration by Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHaye
- 2002: The Summons by John Grisham
- 2003: The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown**
- 2004: The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown*
- 2005: The Broker by John Grisham
- 2006: For One More Day by Mitch Albom
- 2007: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini**
- 2008: The Appeal by John Grisham
- 2009: The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
- 2010: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest by Stieg Larsson
- 2011: The Litigators by John Grisham
- 2012: Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James
- 2013: Inferno by Dan Brown
- 2014: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
* Books that appear multiple times will be condensed into one post. The review of The Robe, the only book to reach number one on two inconsecutive years (1943 and 1953) will be published under the earlier date.
** Publishers Weekly did not include the Harry Potter books in its listings. Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix was the bestselling book for 2003, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was the bestselling book of 2007. I have decided to go with the official PW list. This is not due to any bias against Harry Potter (I have fond memories of waiting in line for the midnight release of the final book). By not counting Harry, I add The Da Vinci Code and A Thousand Splendid Suns to the list. The Da Vinci Code already appears for 2004. A Thousand Splendid Suns has a lot less notoriety than Harry Potter, so is more in tune with the mission.
