Top Ten BestSelling Books 1990 : Fiction

Despite the fact that new books are constantly being upgraded to best selling status, those books that once reached that status are still excellent reads. While some books date, most don't. A good book vouched to be so by the reading public remains a good book more often than not. Reading them five years or twenty years later doesn’t give any less pleasure. The list that I have detailed is comprised of all genres, the criteria simply being number of books sold. The list reads from the top selling one being top of the list through to the tenth one being the one that sold the lesser number of books. One of the truly great things about this list is that many of the books are part of a series of books. As all the books in the series have now been written, and as they are no longer the cost they were when first published, it is an easily affordable option to buy the entire series and read them consecutively with no break in between. That is truly a book lover's dream. With that in mind, here are the best selling fiction books for 1990.

The Plains of Passage by Jean M Auel
This is the fourth book in the children’s series entitled, ‘Earth’s Children.” The book continues the saga set in the earliest days of mankind – ice age Europe. The book has stood the test of time, and along with the first three copies of the series, would make an excellent gift to a child. The other books in the series are:
1.The Clan of the Cave Bear
2.The Valley of the Horses
3.The Mammoth Hunters
5.The Shelters of Stone
6. The Land of Painted Caves

Four Past Midnight by Stephen King
This book comprises four short stories or novellas. Naturally, they are in the genre for which King is famous – horror! This is a great book for quick reading when time permits as the stories are quickly resolved. Afternoon reading is probably preferable to last thing at night! Both paperback and hardcover versions appear to be currently available.

The four titles are:

The Langoliers
Secret Window, Secret Garden
The Library Policeman
The Sun Dog

The Burden of Proof by Scott Turow
Although some would argue that this is not a true sequel, the main character remains the same. So, this is a sequel to Scott Turow’s book, ‘Presumed Innocent’ which caused waves in 1987. Although the book also managed to reach the best sellers list, whereas the first was almost invariably read through to the end, many did not. This was because the story only starts pacing up half way through the novel. Once more, a crime novel, those who enjoy an Agatha Christie style of writing will enjoy this.

Memories of Midnight by Sidney Sheldon
Again, this is a sequel to a prior book. In this case, the prior book is, The Other Side of Midnight', obviously also written by Sidney Sheldon. Sheldon writes thrillers and he writes good ones. His books are always filled with plenty of lust, murder, and mayhem. Thanksfully, in good storytelling tradition, his books have a resolution which makes the reader enjoy them all the more. In this case, both books can be read independently of each other and still be enjoyed. Time has not dulled the excellent writing of Sidney Sheldon and the books remain as exciting as ever as they deal with human traits that do not change much over time.

Message from Nam by Danielle Steel
Thiis novel details the fictional experiences of a journalist stationed in Vietnam for seven years during the war. It was made into a TV series in 1993. Naturally, it's a love story, and equally naturally, there is a happy ending at the end of the book. However, more than that, the heroine, after learning that  the love of her life has been killed in Vietnam, goes to Vietnam not only as a journalist, but on a personal quest to find out why the war is happening. Many believe that this is Danielle Steel's best book as it powerfully details the horrific experiences of Vietnam. Through it, many came to know what living in a war zone was like.

Few need an introduction to Jason Bourne, the hero of Robert Ludlum's Triology. The books have all been converted to Hollywood blockbusters and, decades after the books reached international bestselling status, they are still selling. For this book, it's probably go get all three books, The Borne Indenty, The Borne Supremacy, and The Borne Ultimatum in one hard cover version. The book, as with most books converted to the big screen, reads better than the movies, even thought the movies were pretty good!

The Stand won the World Fantasy award for Best Novel in 1979. I could say that it doesn't get much better than that but I'd be mistaken. As with other Stephen King Novels, it was filmed for a television miniseries. It also went one vurther and was published as a graphic novel by Marvel Comics. Now that's a bestselling book and the story is a must for all horror fans. Briefly, the story is about a manmade virus that gets loose and how the powers that be release it elsewhere in order to cover up the fact that it's a manmade virus. Many people get killed in order to keep the secret that the virus was the result of experimental research into germ warfare.

Jackie Collins has sold over 400 million books which have been translated into forty languages. That means that her stories are loved by millions the world over. Not surprisingly, like many other bestselling stories, this story was also transformed into a smash-hit TV mini-series. Lady Boss is the third Lucky Santangelo novel, the other two being, Chances published in 1981 and Lucky in 1985. The remaining three are Vendetta in 1996, Dangerous Kiss in 1999, Drop Dead Beautiful in 2007, and Poor Littel Bitch Girl in 2010. Personally, i couldn't think of a better treat than reading through the entire series in a serious read marathon with a group of friends. It's also an outstanding gift for any readaholic!

The Witching Hour is the first in a series of stories about the Mayfair witches. The Mayfair witches live in New Orleans and ther stories are told in three novels, namely The Witching Hour, Lasher, and Taitos. The three books detail the lives of many generations of the Mayfair family, all of whom have contact with a spirit by the name of Lasher. The characters of the novels are loosely used in other novels but these are the main Mayfair Wtiches books. Anne Rice has sold 100 million books internationally and is much loved by many.

For those who like stories with no particular story, but rather character driven books, detailing the development of characters, this is for you. The story is set in a small village and narrates the drama of ordinary families in their everyday lives. Violet, the heroine of the story is giving a party for her neighbor's daughter. Guests arrive with their different dramas and unknown secret lives. Perhaps, the nice thing about this tale is that so many of us are recognisable and there is comfort in knowing that others also experience the same things we do.