Genre Fiction

Today’s bestsellers … are not today’s at all. They come from a decade ago; they are the top ten bestselling fiction books from all of 1998. Be sure to check out the authors: a few of them are still writing bestsellers to this day!

1. The Street Lawyer by John Grisham: This was Grisham’s ninth legal thriller about a Washington, D.C. lawyer who changes his priorities and begins working for men that his law firm was responsible for making homeless.

2. Rainbow Six by Tom Clancy: The first of the Rainbow Six series, this counter-terrorist tale has spawned video games and a movie coming 2010.

3. Bag of Bones by Stephen King (original cover art shown): For the first time, a Stephen King novel was given literary merit outside of the horror genre. Like many of King’s works, it has been adapted to film and is expected to hit theaters in 2009.

4. A Man in Full by Tom Wolfe: Taking his time with research, writing, and editing, this novel was published 11 years after Wolfe’s previous - and first - book. The result of all his hard work? 742 pages of satire.

5. Mirror Image by Danielle Steel: Set during World War II, this is a story of twin sisters fighting to make the right decisions for themselves and their family. One leans towards starting her own life with a new husband; the other, toward staying home and caring for their widowed father.

6. The Long Road Home by Danielle Steel: First she’s abused by her mother, then left by her father, then turned over to the nuns to finish school. But it’s not until she’s pregnant with a priest’s baby that Gabby’s story really takes off.

7. The Klone and I by Danielle Steel: It’s a tale that’s been told dozens of times: Man leaves woman with kids. Woman grieves. Woman finds new freedom in a trip to Paris.

8. Point of Origin by Patricia Cornwell: A medical examiner is taunted and hunted by a psychopathic killer. It’s not connected to the 2002 film of the same name.

9. Paradise by Toni Morrison: It was an Oprah Book Club selection. That should say plenty about the mood and themes (not cheery, but with an uplifting ending).

10. All Through the Night by Mary Higgins Clark: Not connected to the Cyndi Lauper song, or Humphrey Bogart’s 1942 film, or Cole Porter’s tune all of the same name. It is a “cozy Christmas mystery” free of murder.

It seems that 1998 was a good year for Danielle Steel! She also released His Bright Light that year.