TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of July 25, 1999

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4
1
MOTHER OF PEARL
Melinda Haynes
Cover of MOTHER OF PEARL

MOTHER OF PEARL

by Melinda Haynes · Hyperion

4 wks on list

In Petal, a segregated community in 1950s Mississippi, Valuable Korner becomes pregnant, and sets off a series of events that exposes the charm and irony of life in the deep South.

5
HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS
J. K. Rowling
Cover of HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS

HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS

by J. K. Rowling · Levine/Scholastic

6 wks on list

The summer after his first year at Hogwarts is worse than ever for Harry Potter. The Dursleys of Privet Drive are more horrible to him than ever before. And just when he thinks the endless summer vacation is over, a creature named Dobby the house-elf shows up issuing a grave warning to Harry not to go back to school or disaster will happen! Of course, Harry has to go back- and he does so in grand style, in a flying-car magicked by his friends Ron and Percy Weasley. But getting back to Hogwarts isn't the cure Harry expects it to be. Almost immediately a student is found turned to stone, and then another. And somehow Harry stands accused. Could Harry Potter be the long-feared heir of Slytherin?Harry and friends Hermione and Fred are stretched to their limits in a desperate fight against Draco Malfoy and his gang, the hideously stuck-up new professor Gilderoy Lockheart, the malevolent owner of the diary of Tom Riddle, giant spiders, and perhaps even...Hagrid!This is the book that proves J.K. Rowling is a talent that's here to stay!

7
4
A VERY STRANGE TRIP
L. Ron Hubbard and Dave Wolverton
Cover of A VERY STRANGE TRIP

A VERY STRANGE TRIP

by L. Ron Hubbard and Dave Wolverton · Bridge

2 wks on list

Private Dumphee, the military's renowned cargo driver, is about to have a very bad few millennia on this VERY STRANGE TRIP. He is a stranger to technology in action. He is use too running valuable commodities, such as moonshine in the rough country. Not a time machine during a volatile storm. The combination of bad weather and bad timing has gotten Dumphee into a very precarious position. In this urban fantasy, Dumphee will have to face off against Mayan civilization, prehistoric threat, the countdown of a clock and Native Americans dead set on having him for a new headpiece. His defenses are some faulty futuristic military weapons and three squaw intent on being his wife (a woman's adventure with a twist!) Dumphee doesn't know how he's going to make it, but with some promises to his stubborn companions and a few bright ideas he may just make it back home alive. "A wild, high-tech ride through time. Read it to have a rollicking good time." --Brian Herbert, co-author Dune: House Attreides

9
1
LAKE NEWS
Barbara Delinsky
Cover of LAKE NEWS

LAKE NEWS

by Barbara Delinsky · Simon & Schuster

3 wks on list

Lily Blake, forced home to small-town Lake Henry, New Hampshire, after being unfairly smeared by a journalist, begins a partnership with John Kipling, a local newspaper publisher, as both try to heal their wounds and find community. 350,000 first printing.

10
1
THE TESTAMENT
John Grisham
Cover of THE TESTAMENT

THE TESTAMENT

by John Grisham · Doubleday

23 wks on list

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In a plush Virginia office, a rich, angry old man is furiously rewriting his will. With his death just hours away, Troy Phelan wants to send a message to his children, his ex-wives, and his minions—a message that will touch off a vicious legal battle and transform dozens of lives. Nate O'Riley is a high-octane Washington litigator who's lived too hard, too fast, for too long. His second marriage in a shambles, and he is emerging from his fourth stay in rehab armed with little more than his fragile sobriety, good intentions, and resilient sense of humor. Returning to the real world is always difficult, but this time it's going to be murder. Rachel Lane is a young woman who chose to give her life to God, who walked away from the modern world with all its strivings and trappings and encumbrances, and went to live and work with a primitive tribe of Indians in the deepest jungles of Brazil. In a story that mixes legal suspense with a remarkable adventure, their lives are forever altered by the startling secret of The Testament. Don’t miss John Grisham’s new book, THE EXCHANGE: AFTER THE FIRM!

11
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THE GIRL WHO LOVED TOM GORDON
Stephen King
Cover of THE GIRL WHO LOVED TOM GORDON

THE GIRL WHO LOVED TOM GORDON

by Stephen King · Scribner

14 wks on list

When Trisha McFarland gets lost in the woods of Maine she imagines her hero, relief pitcher Tom Gordon, is with her and will help her survive against the beast trying to kill her.

13
NEW
A NEW SONG
Jan Karon
Cover of A NEW SONG

A NEW SONG

by Jan Karon · Viking Press

10 wks on list

In A New Song, Mitford's longtime Episcopal priest, Father Tim, retires. However, new challenges and adventures await when he agrees to serve as interim minister of a small church on Whitecap Island. He and his wife, Cynthia, soon find that Whitecap has its own unforgettable characters: a church organist with a mysterious past, a lovelorn bachelor placing personal ads, a mother battling paralyzing depression. They also find that Mitford is never far away when circumstances "back home" keep their phone ringing off the hook. In this fifth novel of the beloved series, fans old and new will discover that a trip to Mitford and Whitecap is twice as good for the soul.

15
NEW
CARNAL INNOCENCE
Nora Roberts
Cover of CARNAL INNOCENCE

CARNAL INNOCENCE

by Nora Roberts · Bantam

1 wks on list

A retreat to the bayou for some rest and relaxation becomes anything but for celebrated concert violinist Caroline Waverly as she finds herself falling in love . . . with a man who may be a serial killer in this novel from 'the greatest novelist on Planet Earth' (Washington Post) Burned out by a whirlwind musical career, Caroline Waverly arrives in the small Mississippi town of Innocence desperate for some peace and quiet. Relaxing in her grandmother's beautiful home by the bayou, Caroline has no intention of indulging in a summer fling . . . until she meets Tucker Longstreet. Tucker has a reputation for keeping his romances short and shallow, but this feels different for both of them. Perhaps they might both have a chance for real, lasting love. But then Caroline's quiet summer is shattered by tragedy. A killer is stalking the town, targeting young women. Worse still, evidence seems to point to Tucker himself. And the remote town of Innocence isn't quite as safe and sleepy as it seems . . .

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