Rankings from Bowker's Annual/Publisher's Weekly
| 1920: Fiction | |||
 | 1 | The Man of the Forest | Grey, Zane |
| 2 | Kindred of the Dust | Kyne, Peter B. | |
| 3 | The Re-Creation of Brian Kent | Wright, Harold Bell |
| 4 | The River's End | Curwood, James Oliver | |
| 5 | A Man for the Ages | Bacheller, Irving | |
| 6 | Mary-Marie | Porter, Eleanor H. |
| 7 | The Portygee | Lincoln, Joseph C. | |
| 8 | The Great Impersonation | Oppenheim, E. Phillips | |
| 9 | The Lamp in the Desert | Dell, Ethel M. | |
| 10 | Harriet and the Piper | Norris, Kathleen | |
| 1920: Non-Fiction | |||
| 1 | Now It Can Be Told | Gibbs, Philip | |
| 2 | The Economic Consequences of the Peace | Keynes, John M. | |
| 3 | Roosevelt's Letters to His Children | Bishop, Joseph B., editor | |
| 4 | Theodore Roosevelt | Thayer, William Roscoe | |
| 5 | White Shadows in the South Seas | O'Brien, Frederick | |
| 6 | An American Idyll | Parker, Cornelia Stratton | |
| 1921: Fiction | |||
| 1 | Main Street | Lewis, Sinclair |
| 2 | The Brimming Cup | Canfield, Dorothy | |
| 3 | The Mysterious Rider | Grey, Zane | |
| 4 | The Age of Innocence | Wharton, Edith |
| 5 | The Valley of Silent Men | Curwood, James Oliver | |
| 6 | The Sheik | Hull, Edith M. | |
| 7 | A Poor Wise Man | Rinehart, Mary Roberts | |
| 8 | Her Father's Daughter | Porter, Gene Stratton | |
| 9 | The Sisters-in-Law | Atherton, Gertrude | |
| 10 | The Kingdom Round the Corner | Dawson, Coningsby | |
| 1921: Non-Fiction | |||
| 1 | The Outline of History | Wells, H. G. | |
| 2 | White Shadows in the South Seas | O'Brien, Frederick | |
| 3 | The Mirrors of Downing Street | A Gentleman with a Duster (pseudonym for Harold Begbie) | |
| 4 | The Autobiography of Margot Asquith | Asquith, Margot | |
| 6 | Peace Negotiations | Lansing, Robert | |
| 1922: Fiction | |||
| 1 | If Winter Comes | Hutchinson, A.S.M. | |
| 2 | The Sheik | Hull, Edith M. | |
| 3 | Gentle Julia | Tarkington, Booth |
| 4 | The Head of the House of Coombe | Burnett, Frances Hodgson |
| 5 | Simon Called Peter | Keable, Robert | |
| 6 | The Breaking Point | Rinehart, Mary Roberts | |
| 7 | This Freedom | Hutchinson, A.S.M. | |
| 8 | Maria Chapdelaine | Hemon, Louis |
| 9 | To the Last Man | Grey, Zane | |
| 10 | Babbitt | Lewis, Sinclair (tie) |
| 10 | Helen of the Old House | Wright, Harold Bell (tie) | |
| 1922: Non-Fiction | |||
| 1 | The Outline of History | Wells, H. G. | |
| 2 | The Story of Mankind | Van Loon, Hendrik Willem | |
| 3 | The Americanization of Bok, Edward | Bok, Edward | |
| 4 | Diet and Health | Peters, Lulu Hunt | |
| 5 | The Mind in the Making | Robinson, James Harvey | |
| 6 | The Outline of Science | Thomson, J. Arthur | |
| 7 | Outwitting Our Nerves | Jackson, Josephine A. and Helen M. Salisbury | |
| 8 | Queen Victoria | Strachey, Lytton | |
| 9 | Mirrors of Washington | anonymous (Clinton W. Gilbert) | |
| 10 | Painted Windows | A Gentleman with a Duster (pseudonym for Harold Begbie) | |
| 1923: Fiction | |||
| 1 | Black Oxen | Atherton, Gertrude | |
| 2 | His Children's Children | Train, Arthur | |
| 3 | The Enchanted April | "Elizabeth" |
| 4 | Babbitt | Lewis, Sinclair |
| 5 | The Dim Lantern | Bailey, Temple | |
| 6 | This Freedom | Hutchinson, A.S.M. | |
| 7 | The Mine with the Iron Door | Wright, Harold Bell | |
| 8 | The Wanderer of the Wasteland | Grey, Zane | |
| 9 | The Sea-Hawk | Sabatini, Rafael | |
| 10 | The Breaking Point | Rinehart, Mary Roberts | |
| 1923: Non-Fiction | |||
| 1 | Etiquette | Post, Emily | |
| 2 | The Life of Christ | Papini, Giovanni | |
| 3 | The Life and Letters of Walter H. Page | Hendrick, Burton J. editor | |
| 4 | The Mind in the Making | Robinson, James Harvey | |
| 5 | The Outline of History | Wells, H. G. | |
| 6 | Diet and Health | Peters, Lulu Hunt | |
| 7 | Self-Mastery Through Conscious Auto-Suggestion | Coue, Emile | |
| 8 | The Americanization of Bok, Edward | Bok, Edward | |
| 9 | The Story of Mankind | Van Loon, Hendrik Willem | |
| 10 | A Man from Maine | Bok, Edward | |
| 1924: Fiction | |||
| 1 | So Big | Ferber, Edna |
| 2 | The Plastic Age | Marks, Percy |
| 3 | The Little French Girl | Sedgwick, Anne Douglas | |
| 4 | The Heirs Apparent | Gibbs, Philip | |
| 5 | A Gentleman of Courage | Curwood, James Oliver | |
| 6 | The Call of the Canyon | Grey, Zane |
| 7 | The Midlander | Tarkington, Booth | |
| 8 | The Coast of Folly | Dawson, Coningsby | |
| 9 | Mistress Wilding | Sabatini, Rafael | |
| 10 | The Homemaker | Fisher, Dorothy Canfield | |
| 1924: Non-Fiction | |||
| 1 | Diet and Health | Peters, Lulu Hunt | |
| 2 | The Life of Christ | Papini, Giovanni | |
| 3 | The Boston Cooking School Cook Book | Farmer, Fannie, editor | |
| 4 | Etiquette | Post, Emily | |
| 5 | Ariel | Maurois, Andre | |
| 6 | The Cross Word Puzzle Books | Buranelli, Prosper, et al. | |
| 7 | Twain, Mark's Autobiography | Twain, Mark | |
| 8 | Saint Joan | Shaw, George Bernard | |
| 9 | The New Decalogue of Science | Wiggam, Albert E. | |
| 10 | The Americanization of Bok, Edward | Bok, Edward | |
| 1925: Fiction | |||
| 1 | Soundings | Gibbs, A. Hamilton | |
| 2 | The Constant Nymph | Kennedy, Margaret |
| 3 | The Keeper of the Bees | Porter, Gene Stratton | |
| 4 | Glorious Apollo | Barrington, E. | |
| 5 | The Green Hat | Arlen, Michael | |
| 6 | The Little French Girl | Sedgwick, Anne Douglas | |
| 7 | Arrowsmith | Lewis, Sinclair | |
| 8 | The Perennial Bachelor | Parrish, Anne |
| 9 | The Carolinian | Sabatini, Rafael | |
| 10 | One Increasing Purpose | Hutchinson, A.S.M. | |
| 1925: Non-Fiction | |||
| 1 | Diet and Health | Peters, Lulu Hunt | |
| 2 | The Boston Cooking School Cook Book, rev. ed. | Farmer, Fannie, editor | |
| 3 | When We Were Very Young | Milne, A. A. | |
| 4 | The Man Nobody Knows | Barton, Bruce | |
| 5 | The Life of Christ | Papini, Giovanni | |
| 6 | Ariel | Maurois, Andre | |
| 7 | Twice Thirty | Bok, Edward | |
| 8 | Twenty-Five Years | Grey, Lord | |
| 9 | Anatole France Himself | Brousson, J. J. | |
| 10 | The Cross Word Puzzle Books | Buranelli, Prosper, et al. | |
| 1926: Fiction | |||
| 1 | The Private Life of Helen of Troy | Erskine, John | |
| 2 | Gentlemen Prefer Blondes | Loos, Anita |
| 3 | Sorrell and Son | Deeping, Warwick | |
| 4 | The Hounds of Spring | Thompson, Sylvia | |
| 5 | Beau Sabreur | Wren, P. C. | |
| 6 | The Silver Spoon | Galsworthy, John | |
| 7 | Beau Geste | Wren, P. C. | |
| 8 | Show Boat | Ferber, Edna |
| 9 | After Noon | Ertz, Susan | |
| 10 | The Blue Window | Bailey, Temple | |
| 1926: Non-Fiction | |||
| 1 | The Man Nobody Knows | Barton, Bruce | |
| 2 | Why We Behave Like Human Beings | Dorsey, George A. | |
| 3 | Diet and Health | Peters, Lulu Hunt | |
| 4 | Our Times, Vol. I | Sullivan, Mark | |
| 5 | The Boston Cooking School Cook Book, rev. ed. | Farmer, Fannie, editor | |
| 6 | Auction Bridge Complete | Work, Milton C. | |
| 7 | The Book Nobody Knows | Barton, Bruce | |
| 8 | The Story of Philosophy | Durant, Will | |
| 9 | The Light of Faith | Guest, Edgar A. | |
| 10 | Jefferson and Hamilton | Bowers, Claude G. | |
| 1927: Fiction | |||
| 1 | Elmer Gantry | Lewis, Sinclair | |
| 2 | The Plutocrat | Tarkington, Booth | |
| 3 | Doomsday | Deeping, Warwick | |
| 4 | Sorrell and Son | Deeping, Warwick | |
| 5 | Jalna | de la Roche, Mazo | |
| 6 | Lost Ecstasy | Rinehart, Mary Roberts | |
| 7 | Twilight Sleep | Wharton, Edith |
| 8 | Tomorrow Morning | Parrish, Anne | |
| 9 | The Old Countess | Sedgwick, Anne Douglas | |
| 10 | A Good Woman | Bromfield, Louis | |
| 1927: Non-Fiction | |||
| 1 | The Story of Philosophy | Durant, Will | |
| 2 | Napoleon | Ludwig, Emil | |
| 3 | Revolt in the Desert | Lawrence, T. E. | |
| 4 | Trader Horn, Vol. I | Horn, Alfred Aloysius and Ethelreda Lewis | |
| 5 | We | Lindbergh, Charles A. | |
| 6 | Ask Me Another | Spafford, Julian | |
| 7 | The Royal Road to Romance | Halliburton, Richard | |
| 8 | The Glorious Adventure | Halliburton, Richard | |
| 9 | Why We Behave Like Human Beings | Dorsey, George A. | |
| 10 | Mother India | Mayo, Katherine | |
| 1928: Fiction | |||
| 1 | The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Wilder, Thornton |
| 2 | Wintersmoon | Walpole, Hugh | |
| 3 | Swan Song | Galsworthy, John | |
| 4 | The Greene Murder Case | Van Dine, S. S. | |
| 5 | Bad Girl | Delmar, Vina | |
| 6 | Claire Ambler | Tarkington, Booth | |
| 7 | Old Pybus | Deeping, Warwick | |
| 8 | All Kneeling | Parrish, Anne | |
| 9 | Jalna | de la Roche, Mazo | |
| 10 | The Strange Case of Miss Annie Spragg | Bromfield, Louis | |
| 1928: Non-Fiction | |||
| 1 | Disraeli | Maurois, Andre | |
| 2 | Mother India | Mayo, Katherine | |
| 3 | Trader Horn, Vol. I | Horn, Alfred Aloysius and Ethelreda Lewis | |
| 4 | Napoleon | Ludwig, Emil | |
| 5 | Strange Interlude | O'Neill, Eugene | |
| 6 | We | Lindbergh, Charles A. | |
| 7 | Count Luckner, the Sea Devil | Thomas, Lowell | |
| 8 | Goethe | Ludwig, Emil | |
| 9 | Skyward | Byrd, Richard E. | |
| 10 | The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism and Capitalism | Shaw, George Bernard | |
| 1929: Fiction | |||
| 1 | All Quiet on the Western Front | Remarque, Erich Maria |
| 2 | Dodsworth | Lewis, Sinclair | |
| 3 | Dark Hester | Sedgwick, Anne Douglas | |
| 4 | The Bishop Murder Case | Van Dine, S. S. |
| 5 | Roper's Row | Deeping, Warwick | |
| 6 | Peder Victorious | Rolvaag, O. E. | |
| 7 | Mamba's Daughters | Heyward, DuBose | |
| 8 | The Galaxy | Ertz, Susan | |
| 9 | Scarlet Sister Mary | Peterkin, Julia |
| 10 | Joseph and His Brethren | Freeman, H. W. | |
| 1929: Non-Fiction | |||
| 1 | The Art of Thinking | Dimnet, Ernest | |
| 2 | Henry the Eighth | Hackett, Francis | |
| 3 | The Cradle of the Deep | Lowell, Joan | |
| 4 | Elizabeth and Essex | Strachey, Lytton | |
| 5 | The Specialist | Sale, Chic | |
| 6 | A Preface to Morals | Lippmann, Walter | |
| 7 | Believe It or Not | Ripley, Robert L. | |
| 8 | John Brown's Body | Benoit, Stephen Vincent | |
| 9 | The Tragic Era | Bowers, Claude G. | |
| 10 | The Mansions of Philosophy | Durant, Will | |
Bestsellers
Graduate School of Library and Information Science
Maintained by unsworth@uiuc.edu