TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of April 22, 1990

FictionNonfiction
WeekMonth
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1
NEW
SEPTEMBER
Rosamunde Pilcher
Cover of SEPTEMBER

SEPTEMBER

by Rosamunde Pilcher · St. Martin's

4 wks at #1 · 1 on list
3
NEW
OH, THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!
Dr. Seuss
Cover of OH, THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

OH, THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

by Dr. Seuss · Random House

An interactive board book adaptation of the Dr. Seuss classic—featuring 12 different sounds! Perfect for celebrating little ones' milestone moments, from first steps to preschool graduation! Introduce little ones to the world of Dr. Seuss with this super simple interactive adaptation of Oh, the Places You'll Go! that's just right for babies and toddlers. From the sound of clomping shoes and trumpeting elephants to howling Hacken-Kraks and cheering crowds, the twelve sounds featured in the story bring to life the Great Places a child's feet will carry them! This book includes colorful sound buttons, a handy on/off switch, and batteries that can be easily replaced.

6
3
CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER
Tom Clancy
Cover of CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER

CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER

by Tom Clancy · Putnam

34 wks on list

At the end of the prologue to Clear and Present Danger, Clancy writes, "And so began something that had not quite begun and would not soon end, with many people in many places moving off in directions and on missions which they all mistakenly thought they understood. That was just as well. The future was too fearful for contemplation, and beyond the expected, illusory finish lines were things fated by the decisions made this morning--and, once decided, best unseen." In Clear and Present Danger nothing is as clear as it may seem.The president, unsatisfied with the success of his "war on drugs," decides that he wants some immediate success. But after John Clark's covert strike team is deployed to Colombia for Operation Showboat, the drug lords strike back taking several civilian casualties. The chief executive's polls plummet. He orders Ritter to terminate their unofficial plan and leave no traces. Jack Ryan, who has just been named CIA deputy director of intelligence is enraged when he discovers that has been left out of the loop of Colombian operations. Several of America's most highly trained soldiers are stranded in an unfinished mission that, according to all records, never existed. Ryan decides to get the men out.

7
3
DEVICES AND DESIRES
P. D. James
8
1
THE SCIONS OF SHANNARA
Terry Brooks
Cover of THE SCIONS OF SHANNARA

THE SCIONS OF SHANNARA

by Terry Brooks · Del Rey/Ballantine

7 wks on list

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Since the death of the Druid Allanon, the Four Lands have changed profoundly, with magic strictly forbidden in the Southland, now under totalitarian rule. Yet Par still has some power of the Wishsong. When he accidently brings a mythic horror to life, a man calling himself Cogline drives it away. Cogline brings a message from Allanon: venture to the dread Hadeshorn, along with the other Scions of Shannara. For in the future, all life in the Four Lands will be destroyed. To prevent this terrible fate, Allanon commands Par to recover the long-lost Sword of Shannara, a task that is next to impossible. Thus continues the enthralling Shannara epic, a spellbinding tale of adventure, magic, and myth. . . . BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Terry Brooks's The Measure of the Magic.

9
4
THE BAD PLACE
Dean R. Koontz
Cover of THE BAD PLACE

THE BAD PLACE

by Dean R. Koontz · Putnam

13 wks on list

When Frank Pollard begs husband-and-wife team, Bobby and Julie Dakota, to get to the bottom of his mysterious amnesiac fugues, it seems like a simple job. But they are drawn into ever darkening realms where they encounter the nightmare, hate-filled figure stalking Frank, and their lives are threatened, as is that of Julie's gentle, Down's-syndrome brother, Thomas.

10
NEW
SKINNY LEGS AND ALL
Tom Robbins
Cover of SKINNY LEGS AND ALL

SKINNY LEGS AND ALL

by Tom Robbins · Bantam

1 wks on list

An Arab and a Jew open a restaurant together across the street from the United Nations.... It sounds like the beginning of an ethnic joke, but it's the axis around which spins this gutsy, fun-loving, and alarmingly provocative novel, in which a bean can philosophizes, a dessert spoon mystifies, a young waitress takes on the New York art world, and a rowdy redneck welder discovers the lost god of Palestine--while the illusions that obscure humanity's view of the true universe fall away, one by one, like Salome's veils. Skinny Legs and All deals with today's most sensitive issues: race, politics, marriage, art, religion, money, and lust. It weaves lyrically through what some call the "end days" of our planet. Refusing to avert its gaze from the horrors of the apocalypse, it also refuses to let the alleged end of the world spoil its mood. And its mood is defiantly upbeat. In the gloriously inventive Tom Robbins style, here are characters, phrases, stories, and ideas that dance together on the page, wild and sexy, like Salome herself. Or was it Jezebel?

11
5
BITTER SWEET
LaVyrle Spencer
12
NEW
BRIGHT STAR
Harold Coyle
Cover of BRIGHT STAR

BRIGHT STAR

by Harold Coyle · Simon & Schuster

1 wks on list

In the not-too-distant future, an assassination attempt by Libyan terrorists sparks an Egyptian retaliatory raid across the borders. As the conflict intensifies, U.S. and Soviet troops are drawn into the battle. Front-line s oldiers on both sides embark on daring commando raids and face horrifi c nerve gas attacks.

14
1
COUNTERATTACK
W. E. B. Griffin
Cover of COUNTERATTACK

COUNTERATTACK

by W. E. B. Griffin · Putnam

11 wks on list

No one captures the drama of war as brilliantly as bestselling author W.E.B. Griffin. The Corps is his multi-volume portrait of the Marine Corps, the brave men and women who fought, loved and died in the sweeping turmoil of WW II.

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