TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of September 11, 1960

FictionNonfiction
WeekMonth
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1
HAWAII
James A. Michener
Cover of HAWAII

HAWAII

by James A. Michener · Random House

49 wks at #1 · 43 on list
6
1
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Harper Lee
Cover of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

by Harper Lee · J.B. Lippincott Company

6 wks on list

Look for The Land of Sweet Forever, a posthumous collection of newly discovered short stories and previously published essays and magazine pieces by Harper Lee, coming October 21, 2025.Voted America's Best-Loved Novel in PBS's The Great American ReadHarper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork of honor and injustice in the deep South—and the heroism of one man in the face of blind and violent hatredOne of the most cherished stories of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird has been translated into more than forty languages, sold more than forty million copies worldwide, served as the basis for an enormously popular motion picture, and was voted one of the best novels of the twentieth century by librarians across the country. A gripping, heart-wrenching, and wholly remarkable tale of coming-of-age in a South poisoned by virulent prejudice, it views a world of great beauty and savage inequities through the eyes of a young girl, as her father—a crusading local lawyer—risks everything to defend a black man unjustly accused of a terrible crime.

7
1
WATER OF LIFE
Henry Morton Robinson
Cover of WATER OF LIFE

WATER OF LIFE

by Henry Morton Robinson · Simon & Schuster

11 wks on list

Saga of the Woodhull family of Cincinnati, by the author of The Cardinal.--Dust jacket.

14
2
SET THIS HOUSE ON FIRE
William Styron
Cover of SET THIS HOUSE ON FIRE

SET THIS HOUSE ON FIRE

by William Styron · Random House

12 wks on list

A New York Times bestseller by the author of Sophie's Choice: Two Americans search for the truth about a mysterious long-ago murder in Italy. Shortly after World War II, in the village of Sambuco, Italy, two men—Virginia attorney Peter Leverett and South Carolina artist Cass Kinsolving—crossed paths with Mason Flagg. They both had their own reactions to the gregarious and charismatic movie mogul's son. For the impressionable Peter, it was something close to awe. For the alcoholic Cass, it was unsettled rage. Then, after the rape and murder of a peasant girl, Mason's body was found at the base of a cliff—an apparent suicide. He'd been distraught, the authorities said, over committing such a heinous crime. Peter and Cass went their separate ways, and never spoke of it again. Now, years later, Peter is still haunted by what he knows—and by what he doesn't. He's sought out Cass in Charleston for closure, and something close to the truth. Together both men will share their tales of that terrible season in Italy, each with their own ghosts—and their own reasons to exorcise them. But neither Peter nor Cass is prepared for where this path of revenge, complicity, and atonement will take them. A profound exploration of the evil that men do, and what the innocent must endure to accommodate it, Set This House on Fire is more than a byzantine murder mystery, it's "one of the finest novels of our times" from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Confessions of Nat Turner, Darkness Visible, and other modern classics ( San Francisco Chronicle). This ebook features a new illustrated biography of William Styron, including original letters, rare photos, and never-before-seen documents from the Styron family and the Duke University Archives.

15
NEW
ALL FALL DOWN
James Leo Herlihy
Cover of ALL FALL DOWN

ALL FALL DOWN

by James Leo Herlihy · E.P. Dutton

1 wks on list

A teenage boy's image of his older brother is shattered by tragedy in this "remarkable first novel" by the author of Midnight Cowboy ( New York Herald Tribune Book Review). Some families get a reputation for being strange, and so it is with the Williamses of Seminary Street. The father, once an outspoken socialist, now keeps to his rocks glass. The mother has a reputation for scaring children. But the older son, named Berry-berry, is the most whispered-about of them all. A traveling vagabond, he's known for his cleft chin, loose morals, and streaks of violence. Then there's sixteen-year-old Clinton, who spends his time filling notebooks with every conversation he can overhear, word for word. When Clinton escapes the confines of home to find his big brother, he hopes to make a connection more real than anything he's put down on paper. But finding Berry-berry in coastal Florida will set off a tragic series of events that will stay with Clinton, and his family, forever. "There is something very wonderful about this book; it has a luminous thing that is the best thing in writing or any kind of art." —Tennessee Williams "Herlihy writes with an edge of iron." —Nelson Algren, National Book Award–winning author of The Man with the Golden Arm

Historical bestseller data sourced from the New York Times Book Review, archived by Hawes Publications.