You can bet that if a book was a bestseller at some point during the past four decades, our booksellers have seen dozens, hundreds or even thousands of copies of it. Let’s track HPB’s timeline, noting some milestone bestsellers we’ve seen along our way.
1972 Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach / 1973 Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut / 1974 All Things Bright and Beautiful by James Herriot / 1975 Curtain by Agatha Christie / 1976 Roots by Alex Haley / 1977 The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough / 1978 Mommie Dearest by Christina Crawford / 1979 The Dead Zone by Stephen King
1980 The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum / 1981 A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein / 1982 Jane Fonda’s Workout Book by Jane Fonda / 1983 The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco / 1984 Full Circle by Danielle Steel / 1985 Texas by James Michener / 1986 You’re Only Old Once! by Dr. Seuss / 1987 The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe / 1988 The Great Depression of 1990 by Ravi Batra / 1989 All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum
1990 Means of Ascent by Robert Caro / 1991 The Sum of All Fears by Tom Clancy / 1992 Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words by Andrew Morton / 1993 The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller / 1994 Couplehood by Paul Reiser / 1995 The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans / 1996 Primary Colors by ”Anonymous” / 1997 Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier / 1998 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling / 1999 The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw
2000 It’s Not About the Bike by Lance Armstrong / 2001 The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen / 2002 The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold / 2003 The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown / 2004 Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris / 2005 Blink by Malcolm Gladwell / 2006 Marley & Me by John Grogan / 2007 “T” is for Trespass by Sue Grafton / 2008 Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler / 2009 The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson / 2010 The Help by Kathryn Stockett / 2011 Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson / 2012 Wild by Cheryl Strayed
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Steve is Staffing & Development Manager (aka the “Buy Guy”) at Half Price Books Corporate.
What years did the Greenwood, Indiana and Castleton stores open in the Indianapolis area?
Hi Jana, Greenwood and Castleton were 1991, and Ditch was 1993. Thanks! ~Steve
I remember what a bid deal the "Horse Whisperer" was my first year with the company. Unfortunately, it's kind of a bottom feeder now. : )