List of The New York Times number-one books of 1942

This is a list of books that topped The New York Times best-seller list in 1942.

Though the bestseller list first began in 1931, it only became a national survey on August 9, 1942; previously the list only reflected sales from the New York metropolitan area. ^[1]

Fiction

The following list ranks the number-one best-selling fiction books.

The two most popular books that year were The Song of Bernadette , by Franz Werfel, which made the list for fourteen weeks; and The Robe , by Lloyd Douglas, which would reach number one for the final two weeks of 1942 and 34 weeks in 1943. ^{[2] [3]}

Date	Book	Author
January 5	The Keys of the Kingdom	A. J. Cronin
January 12	Windswept	Mary Ellen Chase
January 19
January 26
February 2
February 9	Dragon Seed	Pearl S. Buck
February 16	Frenchman's Creek	Daphne du Maurier
February 23	Dragon Seed	Pearl S. Buck
March 2
March 9
March 16
March 23	The Moon Is Down	John Steinbeck
March 30
April 6
April 13
April 20
April 27
May 4
May 11
May 18
May 25
June 1
June 8
June 15	And Now Tomorrow	Rachel Field
June 22
June 29
July 6
July 13
July 20	The Song of Bernadette	Franz Werfel
July 27
August 3	And Now Tomorrow	Rachel Field
August 10	The Song of Bernadette	Franz Werfel
August 17
August 24
August 31
September 7
September 14
September 21
September 28
October 5
October 12
October 19
October 26
November 2	The Prodigal Women	Nancy Hale
November 9
November 16
November 23	The Valley of Decision	Marcia Davenport
November 30
December 7	The Prodigal Women	Nancy Hale
December 14
December 21	The Robe	Lloyd Douglas
December 28

Nonfiction

The following list ranks the number-one best-selling nonfiction books. ^[2]

Date	Book	Author
January 5	Berlin Diary	William L. Shirer
January 12	Mission to Moscow	Joseph E. Davies
January 19
January 26
February 2
February 9
February 16
February 23
March 2
March 9
March 16	Flight to Arras	Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
March 23	The Japanese Enemy	Hugh Byas
March 30	Flight to Arras	Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
April 6
April 13	Past Imperfect	Ilka Chase
April 20	Flight to Arras	Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
April 27
May 4	Cross Creek	Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
May 11	The Last Time I Saw Paris	Elliot Paul
May 18
May 25
June 1
June 8
June 15
June 22
June 29
July 6
July 13
July 20
July 27
August 3
August 10	Washington Is Like That	W. M. Kiplinger
August 17	The Last Time I Saw Paris	Elliot Paul
August 24	Victory Through Air Power	Alexander de Seversky
August 31	See Here, Private Hargrove	Marion Hargrove
September 7	The Last Time I Saw Paris	Elliot Paul
September 14	Victory Through Air Power	Alexander de Seversky
September 21	The Coming Battle of Germany	William B. Ziff
September 28	They Were Expendable	William Lindsay White
October 5
October 12
October 19	See Here, Private Hargrove	Marion Hargrove
October 26
November 2
November 9
November 16
November 23
November 30
December 7
December 14
December 21
December 28	Our Hearts Were Young and Gay	Cornelia Otis Skinner and Emily Kimbrough

See also

• Publishers Weekly list of bestselling novels in the United States in the 1940s

References

1. Miller, Laura J. (2000). "The Best-Seller List as Marketing Tool and Historical Fiction". In Ezra Greenspan (ed.). Book History . Vol. Three. Penn State University Press. pp. 286–304. ISBN   0271020504.
2. Adult New York Times Best Seller Lists for 1942
3. Bear, John (1992). The #1 New York Times Best Seller: Intriguing Facts About the 484 Books That Have Been #1 New York Times Bestsellers Since the First List, 50 Years Ago. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press. pp. 3-5.