1981

More recent. The year I graduated from college.

1. Noble House, James Clavell 542 copies on LT

2. The Hotel New Hampshire, John Irving 1,873 copies

3. Cujo, Stephen King 1,448 copies

4. An Indecent Obsession, Colleen McCullough 112 copies

5. Gorky Park, Martin Cruz Smith 587 copies

6. Masquerade, Kit Williams 165 copies

7. Goodbye, Janette, Harold Robbins 28 copies

8. The Third Deadly Sin, Lawrence Sanders 77 copies

9. The Glitter Dome, Joseph Wambaugh 56 copies

10. No Time for Tears, Cynthia Freeman 15 copies

I think I've read Noble House, The Hotel New Hampshire and Gorky Park. None of them stand out as particularly memorable.

Uncooperative touchstones once again.

Read, but didn't particularly care for Cujo. I rooted for the dog.

Love Gorky Park though. As near a perfect thriller/mystery as I have read and the start of one of my favorite series.

Fans of Colleen McCullough bought An indecent obsession because they thought it would be another Thornbirds. It wasn't. James Clavell's Noble House rested on the foundations of Shogun which it was compared to in reviews, but not nearly as good. Cujo was not a disappointment even though King used no supernatural elements to add to the horror. John Irving & Martin Cruz Smith were both building up audiences for their work -- both books were solid though not outstanding- but still read today. Harold Robbins brought out his usual page-turner (& to many, collection of garbage.)

Yes, I think the only reason I read Noble House was because I was a big fan of Shogun. Oh, Anjin-san! *sigh* I do remember the scene where they had to jump from a ship into Hong Kong harbor and the female character was wearing the newly invented and very curious garment known as panty house. Of course, they all had to get vaccinations afterward.

The only one I've read is Gorky Park, which I enjoyed.

Read this one
Noble House by James Clavell also have read most of Clavells other books with king Rat being a favorate.

I'm one of those who read An Indecent Obsession after The Thorn Birds and was sorely disappointed. Cujo amazing how a story about a dog can terrorize you--good job King. Gorky Park just read it last year and followed it up with Polar Star this year. I'll probably continue reading the Arkady Renko series.

Before Katrina destroyed my book collection, I owned An Indecent Obsession but never got around to reading it. I had The Thorn birds also but never got to read it either.
That storm makes me so angry when I think about all that I lost. I had a good 300 book collection going there. I'm back up to about 60 right now, but a lot of the books I used to have were rare books that probably are hard to find now. GGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

raggedit-- Being a lifelong reader I know how personal books can become, particularly when they aren't easily replaced.

US Non-Fiction

1. The Beverly Hills Diet, Judy Mazel 8 copies on LT

2. The Lord God Made Them All, James Herriot 763 copies

3. Richard Simmons' Never-Say-Diet Book, Richard Simmons 31 copies

4. A Light in the Attic, Shel Silverstein 2,124 copies

5. Cosmos, Carl Sagan 1,596 copies

6. Better Homes & Gardens New Cook Book 1,154 copies

7. Miss Piggy's Guide to Life, Miss Piggy as told to Henry Beard 44 copies

8. Weight Watchers 365-Day Menu Cookbook 40 copies

9. You Can Negotiate Anything, Herb Cohen 131 copies

10. A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney, Andrew A. Rooney 86 copies

I once owned Cosmos and I actually did the Beverly Hills Diet once. Ate enough pineapple to make my mouth sore.

The Lord God Made Them All was enjoyable.

A Light in the Attic is a classic -- it's one of my son's favorite books.

>11 varielle:, Could we assume that a few Americans in 1981 perceived trouble with their waistlines?

Funny how so few of those diet books made it to LT. Maybe people aren't looking at their kitchen shelves for new things to catalog.

Or maybe people don't keep diet books if the diet doesn't work.

Or even the lack of success of all these books published every year. What a waist!

You're very punny today vpfluke!

But not puny in waste.

Cujo, a killer dog book. Hmm. I was never a fan of King. It did provide a good line for Chevy Chase in Fletch.

Cosmos…of course, my Carl Sagan period, both in books and the TV series. Lost respect for him as I grew older.

Saw a movie version of The Hotel New Hampshire. Weird.

My mom still has Masquerade, a strange book which was linked to some kind of contest.

My sister (an adult) has all of Shel Silverstein's books and has recommended them to me. She loves them.

Miss Piggy's Guide to Life? That's it. Pump the franchise.

I also have copies of the Shel Silverstein books.

I have read Cujo and some of Cosmos

I received Cosmos as a gift. Have browsed it, but never read it through.

I know I read Noble House and Hotel New Hampshire, but they must have been paperbacks, because I no longer own them.

Have given A Light in the Attic to several nieces and nephews, and they all loved it.

Immensely enjoyed Gorky Park.

Gorky Park is the only one on these lists that I've read. I soured on Irving after The World According to Garp, which I thought was too precious and over-rated. Better than Tom Robbins, but that's not saying a lot in my estimation.*

* "Personal Preference Only" alert

now i know why i was so depressed back in the early 80's. was it that Reagan had just been elected or I couldn't find a good bestseller to read?

maybe it is a reflection of where America was at and probably still is?

do any good books end up on the bestseller lists.

the most recent one i recall is Cormac McCarthy's The Road

rocketjk, truer words were never spoken.

I hated Cujo - can't bear sad books - but loved Gorky Park and all the sequels.