Rankings from Bowker's Annual/Publisher's Weekly
| 1950: Fiction | |||
 | 1 | The Cardinal | Robinson, Henry Morton |
| 2 | Joy Street | Keyes, Frances Parkinson | |
| 3 | Across the River and into the Trees | Hemingway, Ernest |
| 4 | The Wall | Hersey, John | |
| 5 | Star Money | Winsor, Kathleen | |
| 6 | The Parasites | du Maurier, Daphne | |
| 7 | Floodtide | Yerby, Frank | |
| 8 | Jubilee Trail | Bristow, Gwen | |
| 9 | The Adventurer | Waltari, Mika | |
| 10 | The Disenchanted | Schulberg, Budd |
| 1950: Non-Fiction | |||
| 1 | Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book | Crocker, Betty | |
| 2 | The Baby | Baby | |
| 3 | Look Younger, Live Longer | Hauser, Gayelord | |
| 4 | How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling | Bettger, Frank | |
| 5 | Kon-Tiki | Heyerdahl, Thor | |
| 6 | Mr. Jones, Meet the Master | Marshall, Peter | |
| 7 | Your Dream Home | Cobb, Hubbard | |
| 8 | The Mature Mind | Overstreet, H. A. | |
| 9 | Campus Zoo | Barnes, Clare Jr. | |
| 10 | Belles on Their Toes | Gilbreth , Frank Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey | |
| 1951: Fiction | |||
| 1 | From Here to Eternity | Jones, James |
| 2 | The Caine Mutiny | Wouk, Herman |
| 3 | Moses | Asch, Sholem | |
| 4 | The Cardinal | Robinson, Henry Morton |
| 5 | A Woman Called Fancy | Yerby, Frank | |
| 6 | The Cruel Sea | Monsarrat, Nicholas | |
| 7 | Melville Goodwin, U.S.A. | Marquand, John P. | |
| 8 | Return to Paradise | Michener, James A. |
| 9 | The Foundling | Spellman, Cardinal | |
| 10 | The Wanderer | Waltari, Mika | |
| 1951: Non-Fiction | |||
| 1 | Look Younger, Live Longer | Hauser, Gayelord | |
| 2 | Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book | Crocker, Betty | |
| 3 | Washington Confidential | Lait, Jack and Lee Mortimer | |
| 4 | Better Homes and Gardens Garden Book | None | |
| 5 | Better Homes and Gardens Handyman's Book | None | |
| 6 | The Sea Around Us | Carson, Rachel L. | |
| 7 | Thorndike-Barnhart Comprehensive Desk Dictionary | Barnhart, Clarence L., editor | |
| 8 | Pogo | Kelly, Walt | |
| 9 | Kon-Tiki | Heyerdahl, Thor | |
| 10 | The New Yorker Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Album | None | |
| 1952: Fiction | |||
| 1 | The Silver Chalice | Costain, Thomas B. | |
| 2 | The Caine Mutiny | Wouk, Herman |
| 3 | East of Eden | Steinbeck, John |
| 4 | My Cousin Rachel | du Maurier, Daphne | |
| 5 | Steamboat Gothic | Keyes, Frances Parkinson | |
| 6 | Giant | Ferber, Edna |
| 7 | The Old Man and the Sea | Hemingway, Ernest |
| 8 | The Gown of Glory | Turnbull, Agnes Sligh | |
| 9 | The Saracen Blade | Yerby, Frank | |
| 10 | The Houses in Between | Spring, Howard | |
| 1952: Non-Fiction | |||
| 1 | The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version | None | |
| 2 | A Man Called Peter | Marshall, Catherine | |
| 3 | U.S.A. Confidential | Lait, Jack and Lee Mortimer | |
| 4 | The Sea Around Us | Carson, Rachel L. | |
| 5 | Tallulah | Bankhead, Tallulah | |
| 6 | The Power of Positive Thinking | Peale, Norman Vincent | |
| 7 | This I Believe | Morgan, Edward P., editor; Edward R. Murrow, foreword | |
| 8 | This Is Ike | Hicks, Wilson, editor | |
| 9 | Witness | Chambers, Whittaker | |
| 10 | Mr. President | Hillman, William | |
| 1953: Fiction | |||
| 1 | The Robe | Douglas, Lloyd C. |
| 2 | The Silver Chalice | Costain, Thomas B. | |
| 3 | Desiree | Selinko, Annemarie | |
| 4 | Battle Cry | Uris, Leon | |
| 5 | From Here to Eternity | Jones, James |
| 6 | The High and the Mighty | Gann, Ernest K. | |
| 7 | Beyond This Place | Cronin, A. J. | |
| 8 | Time and Time Again | Hilton, James | |
| 9 | Lord Vanity | Shellabarger, Samuel | |
| 10 | The Unconquered | Williams, Ben Ames | |
| 1953: Non-Fiction | |||
| 1 | The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version | None | |
| 2 | The Power of Positive Thinking | Peale, Norman Vincent | |
| 3 | Sexual Behavior in the Human Female | Kinsey, Alfred C. et al. | |
| 4 | Angel Unaware | Rogers, Dale Evans | |
| 5 | Life Is Worth Living | Sheen, Fulton J. | |
| 6 | A Man Called Peter | Marshall, Catherine | |
| 7 | This I Believe | Morgan, Edward P., editor; Edward R. Murrow, foreword | |
| 8 | The Greatest Faith Ever Known | Oursler, Fulton and G.A.O. Armstrong | |
| 9 | How to Play Your Best Golf | Armour, Tommy | |
| 10 | A House Is Not a Home | Adler, Polly | |
| 1954: Fiction | |||
| 1 | Not as a Stranger | Thompson, Morton | |
| 2 | Mary Anne | du Maurier, Daphne | |
| 3 | Love Is Eternal | Stone, Irving | |
| 4 | The Royal Box | Keyes, Frances Parkinson | |
| 5 | The Egyptian | Waltari, Mika |
| 6 | No Time for Sergeants | Hyman, Mac | |
| 7 | Sweet Thursday | Steinbeck, John |
| 8 | The View from Pompey's Head | Basso, Hamilton | |
| 9 | Never Victorious, Never Defeated | Caldwell, Taylor | |
| 10 | Benton's Row | Yerby, Frank | |
| 1954: Non-Fiction | |||
| 1 | The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version | None | |
| 2 | The Power of Positive Thinking | Peale, Norman Vincent | |
| 3 | Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book | None | |
| 4 | Betty Crocker's Good and Easy Cook Book | Crocker, Betty | |
| 5 | The Tumult and the Shouting | Rice, Grantland | |
| 6 | I'll Cry Tomorrow | Roth, Lillian, Gerold Frank, and Mike Connolly | |
| 7 | The Prayers of Peter Marshall | Marshall, Catherine, editor | |
| 8 | This I Believe 2 | Swing, Raymond, editor | |
| 9 | But We Were Born Free | Davis, Elmer | |
| 10 | The Saturday Evening Post Treasury | Butterfield, Roger, editor | |
| 1955: Fiction | |||
| 1 | Marjorie Morningstar | Wouk, Herman |
| 2 | Auntie Mame | Dennis, Patrick |
| 3 | Andersonville | Kantor, MacKinlay |
| 4 | Bonjour Tristesse | Sagan, Francoise |
| 5 | The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit | Wilson, Sloan |
| 6 | Something of Value | Ruark, Robert | |
| 7 | Not As a Stranger | Thompson, Morton | |
| 8 | No Time for Sergeants | Hyman, Mac | |
| 9 | The Tontine | Costain, Thomas B. | |
| 10 | Ten North Frederick | O'Hara, John | |
| 1955: Non-Fiction | |||
| 1 | Gift from the Sea | Lindbergh, Anne Morrow | |
| 2 | The Power of Positive Thinking | Peale, Norman Vincent | |
| 3 | The Family of Man | Steichen, Edward | |
| 4 | A Man Called Peter | Marshall, Catherine | |
| 5 | How to Live 365 Days a Year | Schindler, John A. | |
| 6 | Better Homes and Gardens Diet Book | None | |
| 7 | The Secret of Happiness | Graham, Billy | |
| 8 | Why Johnny Can't Read | Flesch, Rudolf | |
| 9 | Inside Africa | Gunther, John | |
| 10 | Year of Decisions | Truman, Harry S. | |
| 1956: Fiction | |||
| 1 | Don't Go Near the Water | Brinkley, William | |
| 2 | The Last Hurrah | O'Connor, Edwin | |
| 3 | Peyton Place | Metalious, Grace |
| 4 | Auntie Mame | Dennis, Patrick |
| 5 | Eloise | Thompson, Kay |
| 6 | Andersonville | Kantor, MacKinlay |
| 7 | A Certain Smile | Sagan, Francoise | |
| 8 | The Tribe That Lost Its Head | Monsarrat, Nicholas | |
| 9 | The Mandarins | de Beauvoir, Simone | |
| 10 | Boon Island | Roberts, Kenneth | |
| 1956: Non-Fiction | |||
| 1 | Arthritis and Common Sense, rev. ed. | Alexander, Dan Dale | |
| 2 | Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language, concise ed. | Guralnik, David B. | |
| 3 | Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book, 2nd. ed. | Crocker, Betty | |
| 4 | Etiquette | Benton, Frances | |
| 5 | Better Homes and Gardens Barbecue Book | None | |
| 6 | The Search for Bridey Murphy | Bernstein, Morey | |
| 7 | Love or Perish | Blanton, Smiley, M.D. | |
| 8 | Better Homes and Gardens Decorating Book | None | |
| 9 | How To Live 365 Days a Year | Schindler, John A. | |
| 10 | The Nun's Story | Hulme, Kathryn | |
| 1957: Fiction | |||
| 1 | By Love Possessed | Cozzens, James Gould | |
| 2 | Peyton Place | Metalious, Grace |
| 3 | Compulsion | Levin, Meyer | |
| 4 | Rally Round the Flag, Boys! | Shulman, Max |
| 5 | Blue Camellia | Keyes, Frances Parkinson | |
| 6 | Eloise in Paris | Thompson, Kay | |
| 7 | The Scapegoat | du Maurier, Daphne | |
| 8 | On the Beach | Shute, Nevil |
| 9 | Below the Salt | Costain, Thomas B. | |
| 10 | Atlas Shrugged | Rand, Ayn |
| 1957: Non-Fiction | |||
| 1 | Kids Say the Darndest Things! | Linkletter, Art | |
| 2 | The FBI Story | Whitehead, Don | |
| 3 | Stay Alive All Your Life | Peale, Norman Vincent | |
| 4 | To Live Again | Marshall, Catherine | |
| 5 | Better Homes and Gardens Flower Arranging | None | |
| 6 | Where Did You Go? Out. What Did You Do? Nothing | Smith, Robert Paul | |
| 7 | Baruch: My Own Story | Baruch, Bernard M. | |
| 8 | Please Don't Eat the Daisies | Kerr, Jean | |
| 9 | The American Heritage Book of Great Historic Places | None | |
| 10 | The Day Christ Died | Bishop, Jim | |
| 1958: Fiction | |||
| 1 | Doctor Zhivago | Pasternak, Boris |
| 2 | Anatomy of a Murder | Traver, Robert |
| 3 | Lolita | Nabokov, Vladimir |
| 4 | Around the World with Auntie Mame | Dennis, Patrick | |
| 5 | From the Terrace | O'Hara, John | |
| 6 | Eloise at Christmastime | Thompson, Kay | |
| 7 | Ice Palace | Ferber, Edna | |
| 8 | The Winthrop Woman | Seton, Anya | |
| 9 | The Enemy Camp | Weidman, Jerome | |
| 10 | Victorine | Keyes, Frances Parkinson | |
| 1958: Non-Fiction | |||
| 1 | Kids Say the Darndest Things! | Linkletter, Art | |
| 2 | 'Twixt Twelve and Twenty | Boone, Pat | |
| 3 | Only in America | Golden, Harry | |
| 4 | Masters of Deceit | Hoover, Edgar | |
| 5 | Please Don't Eat the Daisies | Kerr, Jean | |
| 6 | Better Homes and Gardens Salad Book | None | |
| 7 | The New Testament in Modern English | Phillips, J. P., trans. | |
| 8 | Aku-Aku | Heyerdahl, Thor | |
| 9 | Dear Abby | Van Buren, Abigail | |
| 10 | Inside Russia Today | Gunther, John | |
| 1959: Fiction | |||
| 1 | Exodus | Uris, Leon |
| 2 | Doctor Zhivago | Pasternak, Boris |
| 3 | Hawaii | Michener, James A. |
| 4 | Advise and Consent | Drury, Allen | |
| 5 | Lady Chatterley's Lover | Lawrence, D. H. |
| 6 | The Ugly American | Lederer, William J. and Eugene L. Burdick | |
| 7 | Dear and Glorious Physician | Caldwell, Taylor |
| 8 | Lolita | Nabokov, Vladimir |
| 9 | Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris | Gallico, Paul |
| 10 | Poor No More | Ruark, Robert | |
| 1959: Non-Fiction | |||
| 1 | 'Twixt Twelve and Twenty | Boone, Pat | |
| 2 | Folk Medicine | Jarvis, D. C. | |
| 3 | For 2cents Plain | Golden, Harry | |
| 4 | The Status Seekers | Packard, Vance | |
| 5 | Act One | Hart, Moss | |
| 6 | Charley Weaver's Letters from Mamma | Arquette, Cliff | |
| 7 | The Elements of Style | Strunk, William Jr. and E. B. White | |
| 8 | The General Foods Kitchens Cookbook | None | |
| 9 | Only in America | Golden, Harry | |
| 10 | Mine Enemy Grows Older | King, Alexander | |
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