TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of October 15, 1961

FictionNonfiction
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3
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TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Harper Lee
Cover of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

by Harper Lee · J.B. Lippincott Company

63 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.

4
THE CARPETBAGGERS
Harold Robbins
Cover of THE CARPETBAGGERS

THE CARPETBAGGERS

by Harold Robbins · Trident Press

16 wks on list

A sizzling tale of ambition, lust, and power in the glittering world of old Hollywood Jonas Cord coveted his father's fame, fortune, and even his young, beautiful wife. When his father died, Jonas swore to possess them all. But Rina Marlow was the celebrated screen goddess no man could master. Her sensuality inflamed and enthralled millions, but her personal life was no Hollywood fantasy. She consumed her lovers on the fiery rack of her burning desires. Rina and Jonas took Hollywood and America by storm, brawling and lusting as they carved out an empire blazoned in headlines and enemies' blood. But money, power, revenge and renown were not enough for these two. The higher they soared, the darker and deadlier their fiery passions grew. Carpetbaggers is a legendary masterpiece of historical fiction that boldly explores sex, power and the early days of Hollywood. This provocative classic offers a graphic depiction of the film industry and the scorching desires that drove it. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

5
MILA 18
Leon Uris
Cover of MILA 18

MILA 18

by Leon Uris · Doubleday

18 wks on list

It was a time of crisis, a time of tragedy--and a time of transcendent courage and determination. Leon Uris's blazing novel is set in the midst of the ghetto uprising that defied Nazi tyranny, as the Jews of Warsaw boldly met Wehrmacht tanks with homemade weapons and bare fists. Here, painted on a canvas as broad as its subject matter, is the compelling of one of the most heroic struggles of modern times.

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REMBRANDT
Gladys Schmitt
Cover of REMBRANDT
12
1
CHAIRMAN OF THE BORED
Edward Streeter
Cover of CHAIRMAN OF THE BORED

CHAIRMAN OF THE BORED

by Edward Streeter · Harper and Brothers

2 wks on list

The reactions of a busy top executive who is forced into retirement through a company policy he himself, as a younger man, had devised for other people.

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THE SMALL ROOM
May Sarton
Cover of THE SMALL ROOM

THE SMALL ROOM

by May Sarton · W.W. Norton and Company

3 wks on list

Story of two instructors, Carryl Cope and Lucy Winter, at a New England college.

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