Hello Everyone!
I have chosen one popular book from each year of 1900 to 1999, and there were many I did not include but might another time. Note: Winston Churchill on this list is the American novelist, not the British prime minister – although Sir Winston Churchill was a prolific writer and received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953.
Many of these I had not known of and only a few I have read.
1900: To Have and To Hold by Mary Johnston
1901: The Crisis by Winston Churchill
1902: The Virginian by Owen Wister
1903: Lady Rose’s Daughter by Mary Augusta Ward
1904: The Crossing by Winston Churchill
1905: The Marriage of William Ashe by Mary Augusta Ward
1906: Coniston by Winston Churchill
1907: The Lady of the Decoration by Frances Little
1908: Mr. Crewe’s Career by Winston Churchill
1909: The Inner Shrine by Basil King
1910: The Rosary by Florence Barclay
1911: The Broad Highway by Jeffrey Farnol
1912: The Harvester by Gene Stratton Porter
1913: The Inside of the Cup by Winston Churchill
1914: The Eyes of the World by Harold Bell Wright
1915: The Turmoil by Booth Tarkington
1916: Seventeen by Booth Tarkington
1917: Mr. Britling Sees It Through by H.G. Wells
1918: The U.P. Trail by Zane Grey
1919: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by V. Blasco Ibanez
1920: The Man of the Forest by Zane Grey
1921: Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
1922: If Winter Comes by A.S.M. Hutchison
1923: Black Oxen by Gertrude Atherton
1924: So Big by Edna Ferber
1925: Soundings by A. Hamilton Gibbs
1926: The Private Life of Helen of Troy by John Erskine
1927: Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis
1928: The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
1929: All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
1930: Cimarron by Edna Ferber
1931: The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
1932: Light in August by William Faulkner
1933: Anthony Adverse by Hervey Allen
1934: I, Claudius by Robert Graves
1935: Green Light by Lloyd C. Douglas
1936: Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
1937: Northwest Passage by Kenneth Roberts
1938: The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
1939: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
1940: How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn
1941: The Keys of the Kingdom by A.J. Cronin
1942: The Song of Bernadette by Franz Werfel
1943: The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas
1944: Strange Fruit by Lillian Smith
1945: Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor
1946: The King’s General by Daphne du Maurier
1947: The Miracle of the Bells by Russell Janney
1948: The Big Fisherman by Lloyd C. Douglas
1949: The Egyptian by Mika Waltari
1950: The Cardinal by Henry Morton Robinson
1951: From Here to Eternity by James Jones
1952: The Silver Chalice by Thomas B. Costain
1953: The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas
1954: Not as a Stranger by Morton Thompson
1955: Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk
1956: Don’t Go Near the Water by William Brinkley
1957: By Love Possessed by James Gould Cozzens
1958: Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
1959: Exodus by Leon Uris
1960: Advise and Consent by Allen Drury
1961: The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone
1962: Ship of Fools by Katherine Anne Porter
1963: The Shoes of Fisherman by Morris L. West
1964: The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John Le Carre
1965: The Source by James A. Michener
1966: Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann
1967: The Arrangement by Elia Kazan
1968: Airport by Arthur Hailey
1969: Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth
1970: Love Story by Erich Segal
1971: Wheels by Arthur Hailey
1972: Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
1973: Once is Not Enough by Jacqueline Susann
1974: Centennial by James A. Michener
1975: Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow
1976: Trinity by Leon Uris
1977: The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien and Christopher Tolkien
1978: Chesapeake by James A. Michener
1979: The Matarese Circle by Robert Ludlum
1980: The Covenant by James A. Michener
1981: Noble House by James Clavell
1982: E.T. the Extraterrestrial Storybook by William Kotzwinkle
1983: Return of the Jedi Storybook by Joan D. Vinge
1984: The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub
1985: The Mammoth Hunters by Jean M. Auel
1986: It by Stephen King
1987: The Tommyknockers by Stephen King
1988: The Cardinal of the Kremlin by Tom Clancy
1989: Clear and Present Danger by Tom Clancy
1990: The Plains of Passage by Jean M. Auel
1991: Scarlett: The Sequel to Margaret Mitchell’s “Gone with the Wind” by Alexandra Ripley
1992: Dolores Claiburne by Stephen King
1993: The Bridges of Madison County by James Robert Waller
1994: The Chamber by John Grisham
1995: The Rainmaker by John Grisham
1996: The Runaway Jury by John Grisham
1997: The Partner by John Grisham
1998: The Street Lawyer by John Grisham
1999: The Testament by John Grisham
I hope you’ve done better than I. Of the 100 listed I’ve read only these 6: All Quiet on the Western Front; Gone With the Wind; The Grapes of Wrath; Doctor Zhivago; The Spy Who Came in From the Cold; Jonathan Livingston Seagull.
Of the many I have not read on the list, I think I have only two in my personal library: Ship of Fools; The Runaway Jury.
How many of the above have you read? Are there others on the list that you plan to read?
Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! – Lynn
Polilla Writes 
A superb list. I’ve read 15 of these books, my favourites being How Green Was My Valley, All Quiet on the Western Front, Gone With The Wind, and Doctor Zhivago. I have not heard of Winston Churchill the American author.
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Good for you, Darlene!
I wasn’t aware of the American author Winston Churchill either, until writing this post. Apparently, the two Churchills corresponded awhile.
Thank you for commenting.
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I loved the cold spy but in real life John le Carré the spy had more Achilles heels than he had feet! Brilliant author but what of his Dad & the Kray Brothers? Did he upset Monty, Philby’s cousin? Were Pemberton’s People in MI6 in #TheBurlingtonFiles real friends or foes? See https://theburlingtonfiles.org/news_2022.10.31.php.
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Welcome to my blog.
I enjoyed The Spy Who Came in From the Cold too. Frankly, I don’t know what Le Carre’s father and the Kray Brothers have to do with this reading list. 🙂
Thanks for your comment, anyway.
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Lynn – We would have thought that as you list one of John le Carré’s finest novels in your blog you would at least be interested in brief anecdotes about obscure and relatively unknown aspects of his background in MI6 et al. Maybe you are not interested but we bet your readers are. The article referred to has been read by several thousand le Carré enthusiasts 95% or more of whom found it interesting because they had no idea of his Achilles heels. Kind regards from Vauxhall
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I enjoy reading anecdotes, thank you. I looked up some of what you mentioned, and most seem to be his characters’ Achilles heels. Quite interesting.
Thanks for commenting.
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The Mammoth Hunters by Jean M. Auel is the only one I’ve read! It’s part of a series my grandmother owns and loves 🙂 The Silmarillion has been on my list of things to read, but it feels a little threatening.
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Welcome to my blog!
The Mammoth Hunters and The Silmarillion are among the ones I hadn’t heard of before writing this post. The Silmarillion seems to be one I would like to read.
Thank you for sharing! 🙂
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