Today is a look back thirty-five years to the books selling well in 1988. This type of information helps put the present in perspective. Best-selling titles in the broader book market can often indicate what society, in general, is thinking (and reading) at the time. Looking at Christian books during a certain period should also show something about the church.
Doing so is another reminder that book publishing has a history; and if you are interested in writing, it is worth your time to gain some context. Publishing didn’t start in the last year or two; there are reasons why things happen today.
From data compiled by Daniel Immerwahr, currently associate chair of the history department at Northwestern University (IL), the best-selling books during 1988:
Fiction Bestsellers
- Tom Clancy, The Cardinal of the Kremlin
- Sidney Sheldon, The Sands of Time
- Danielle Steel, Zoya
- Robert Ludlum, The Icarus Agenda
- James A. Michener, Alaska
- Judith Krantz, Till We Meet Again
- Anne Rice, The Queen of the Damned
- Barbara Taylor Bradford, To Be the Best
- Richard Bach, One: A Novel
- Leon Uris, Mitla Pass
| Nonfiction Bestsellers
1. Robert E. Kowalski, The 8-Week Cholesterol Cure 2. Lee Iacocca with Sonny Kleinfield, Talking Straight 3. Steven W. Hawking, A Brief History of Time 4. Donald J. Trump with Tony Schwartz, Trump: The Art of the Deal 5. George Burns, Gracie: A Love Story 6. Elizabeth Taylor, Elizabeth Takes Off 7. Harvey MacKay, Swim with the Sharks without Being Eaten Alive 8. David Cohen, ed., Christmas in America 9. Jean Nidetch, Weight Watchers Quick Success Program Book 10. Michael Jackson, Moonwalk |
|
Christian Fiction and Nonfiction
(from a variety of sources)
Jerry Bridges, Trusting God
Stuart Briscoe, Everyday Discipleship for Ordinary People
Larry Crabb, Inside Out
Elisabeth Elliot, Loneliness
Tim LaHaye, Why You Act the Way You Do
The Life Application Bible: The Living Bible edition
Gordon MacDonald, Rebuilding Your Broken World
Eugene Peterson, Traveling Light
Frank Peretti, Tilly
Doug Sherman and William Hendricks, Your Work Matters to God
Gary Smalley, The Joy of Committed Love
Gary Smalley & John Trent, The Language of Love
R.C. Sproul, Pleasing God
Charles Swindoll, Living Beyond the Daily Grind
Philip Yancey, Disappointment with God
Handling Disappointment
I think if we could just go back
and somehow reconnect,
we might find something that we lack,
the strength we’re needing to reject
the stain of fragmentation
that divides us as it undermines
what had then been one nation
arcing through its best of times.
Perhaps it’s all gone far too late,
and we’re anchored to the scorners’ seat,
and the memory of what was great
is rubbled now in sad defeat,
but before we say Goodbye,
should we not have one last try?
With flashing eyes and two-edged Sword—
We’ll take it back for Christ our Lord.
On bended knee
The victory.
Karen, this is terrific!
Excellent thoughts, Andrew. Sad but true.
Sad indeed, Roberta. There was so much hope, back in the day.
A couple of my all-time favorites are on that list. Disappointment with God by Yancey has been a buoy for me through various trials. MacDonald’s Rebuilding Your Broken World has also been another tremendous source of wisdom and encouragement during difficult seasons. These two books remain staples in my library. Well read. Tattered pages. Torn covers.
On another note, LaHaye’s book on the temperaments helped me better understand myself. I was in high school when it was published and desperate to figure out who I was. 🙂
Dear Dan, very interesting lists! First of all, it was great to meet you in 3-D last week at the writers conference. Secondly, I notice there are no women’s fiction titles in the Christian bestsellers in 1988. I suspect that’s because there was a lot less women’s fiction in that decade in the Christian market. True story? Anybody know?
It was a different time in the 80’s. Probably more of a 50/50 mix in Christian fiction with men and women authors. Janette Oke was gaining momentum, but overall Christian fiction was in its infancy with just a handful of publishers selling it. Didn’t really take off until the 90’s.
Hey, I have Trusting God in my TBR pile! A lecturer recommended it. I’ve read some other Gary Smalley books (fiction and nonfiction) but not those.
Thanks, Dan. Having just returned from last week’s wonderful Write to Publish (WTP) Christian Writer’s Conference at Wheaton College, I would just like to say that the best part was meeting for the first time in person my wonderful agent, Dan Balow, my wonderful publisher Catherine Devries (Kregel) and my wonderful friend, Karen Marline. And lots of other wonderful people. Of course the classes and workshops were also wonderful, and I learned many useful things about writing, like always use the same adjective over and over again. Wait…I can’t read my notes. Hmmm.
Wow, glad I (we) made your list, Dan!
You caught that, huh?
There he is again–James Michener’s “Alaska”. I have a copy. A saga. I am a first time author–unpublished because I’ve written a 3007,000+ Christian saga and despair of getting any interest if I try to pitch it. I’m no James Michener and yet I believe deeply in this book. I can’t say it poetically.
Yancey and Sproul are always good reads.
I am surprised that, “101 Reasons Why Jesus Could Come Back in 1988” wasn’t on the list (or was that 88 reasons)?
🙂