List of The New York Times number-one books of 1965

This is a list of books that topped The New York Times best-seller list in 1965.

Fiction

The following list ranks the number-one best-selling fiction books.[1]

Only three titles topped the list in 1965. The most popular was The Source by James Michener, which dominated the second half of the year, even through a three-week newspaper strike. The other two titles were Herzog, by Saul Bellow, which completed a run at the top for more than half a year, begun in October 1964 (29 weeks), and Up the Down Staircase by Bel Kaufman (8 weeks, and another 32 at No. 2, in all spending 65 weeks in the top 10 bestsellers).[2] Coincidentally, both of the latter titles, Herzog and Staircase, are epistolary novels, featuring the extensive use of letters.

Date Book Author
January 3 Herzog Saul Bellow
January 10
January 17
January 24
January 31
February 7
February 14
February 21
February 28
March 7
March 14
March 21
March 28
April 4
April 11
April 18
April 25
May 2
May 9
May 16 Up the Down Staircase Bel Kaufman
May 23
May 30
June 6
June 13
June 20
June 27
July 4
July 11 The Source James Michener
July 18
July 25
August 1
August 8
August 15
August 22
August 29
September 5
September 12
September 19 Not published due to newspaper strike
September 26
October 3
October 10 The Source James Michener
October 17
October 24
October 31
November 7
November 14
November 21
November 28
December 5
December 12
December 19
December 26

Nonfiction

The following list ranks the number-one best-selling nonfiction books.

See also

References

  1. ^ Adult New York Times Best Seller Lists for 1965
  2. ^ John Bear, The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times bestsellers since the first list, 50 years ago, Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 1992, pp. 93-95