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The following are the books used as examples on herdedwords.com. Click on a book to find:
- a synopsis
- a list of all the posts it’s used as an example in
- book review(s)
- writing exercises & prompts
- book facts (publication date, length, rating, etc)
Table of Contents
Bestselling Fiction Examples
All the bestsellers used as examples on herdedwords.com were published in 2009 or later. They all spent at least 1 week at #1 on the NYT Bestseller List (in the Combined Print & E-Book Fiction category).
Fifty Shades of Grey
FIFTY SHADES OF GREY, published in 2011, is a romance novel by E. L. James. It’s book 1 in the Fifty Shades trilogy.
FIFTY SHADES OF GREY spent 29 weeks at #1 on the NYT bestseller list. By June 2015 it had sold over 125 million copies worldwide. The movie was released in 2015.
The Girl On the Train
THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN, published in 2015, is a mystery, thriller & suspense novel by Paula Hawkins. The movie was released in 2016.
THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN spent 26 weeks at #1 on the NYT bestseller list. It had sold an estimated 15 million copies worldwide by October 2016.
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest
THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNETS’ NEST, published in 2010 is a mystery, thriller & suspense novel by Stieg Larsson. It’s book 3 in the Millennium series.
THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNETS’ NEST spent 9 weeks at #1 on the NYT Bestseller List. The Swedish version of the movie was released in 2009. The US version of the movie is not yet complete.
Gone Girl
GONE GIRL, published in 2012, is a mystery, thriller & suspense novel by Gillian Flynn. The movie was released in 2014.
GONE GIRL spent 8 weeks at #1 on the NYT Bestseller List. It’s estimated the novel sold more than 15 million copies worldwide by 2016.
The Lost Symbol
THE LOST SYMBOL, published in 2009, is a mystery, thriller & suspense novel by Dan Brown.
THE LOST SYMBOL spent 10 weeks at #1 on the NYT Bestseller List. Between 2009 and 2018, Dan Brown spent a total of 22 weeks at #1 on the NYT Bestseller list.
Me Before You
ME BEFORE YOU, published in 2012, is a women’s fiction novel by Jojo Moyes. ME BEFORE YOU is book 1 of the Me Before You Trilogy.
ME BEFORE YOU spent 7 weeks at #1 on the NYT Bestseller List. It has sold over 14 million copies worldwide. The movie was released in 2016.
Shelter In Place
SHELTER IN PLACE, published in 2018, is a romance novel by Nora Roberts.
SHELTER IN PLACE spent 1 week at #1 on the NYT Bestseller List. Between 2009 and 2018, Nora Roberts spent a total of 29 weeks at #1 on the NYT Bestseller list (16 weeks as Nora Roberts + 13 weeks as JD Robb).
Sycamore Row
SYCAMORE ROW, published in 2013, is a mystery, thriller & suspense novel by John Grisham.
SYCAMORE ROW spent 7 weeks at #1 on the NYT Bestseller List. Between 2009 and 2018, John Grisham spent a total of 40 weeks at #1 on the NYT Bestseller list.
Vendetta in Death
VENDETTA IN DEATH, published in 2019, is a romantic suspense novel by JD Robb. It is book 49 in the In Death series. JD Robb is a pseudonym for Nora Roberts.
VENDETTA IN DEATH spent 1 week at #1 on the NYT Bestseller List. Between 2009 and 2018, Nora Roberts spent a total of 29 weeks at #1 on the NYT Bestseller list (16 weeks as Nora Roberts + 13 weeks as JD Robb).
Water for Elephants
WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, published in 2010, is a contemporary novel by Sara Gruen. The movie was released in 2011.
WATER FOR ELEPHANTS spent 8 weeks at #1 on the NYT Bestseller List. It has sold over 10 million copies worldwide.
Where the Crawdads Sing
WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING, published in 2018, is a women’s fiction novel by Delia Owens. It is her debut novel.
WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING spent 25 weeks at #1 on the NYT Bestseller List in 2019.
The Wrong Side of Goodbye
THE WRONG SIDE OF GOODBYE, published in 2016, is a mystery, thriller, & suspense novel by Michael Connelly. It’s book 19 in the Harry Bosch series.
THE WRONG SIDE OF GOODBYE spent 2 weeks at #1 on the NYT Bestseller List. Between 2009 and 2018, Michael Connelly spent a total of 12 weeks at #1 on the NYT Bestseller list.
Award-Winning Fiction Examples
There are numerous awards given to authors all over the world. The award-winning examples used on Herded Words were all published in 2009 or later.
All the Light We Cannot See
ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE, published in 2014, is a historical fiction novel by Anthony Doerr.
ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. It also spent 1 week at #1 on the NYT Bestseller List.
Ancillary Justice
ANCILLARY JUSTICE, published in 2013, is a Science Fiction novel by Ann Leckie. It’s book 1 in the Ancillary World trilogy.
ANCILLARY JUSTICE won the 2014 Hugo Award. Fox Television Studies has purchased the option to create a TV series.
The Graveyard Book
THE GRAVEYARD BOOK, published in 2008, is a children’s fantasy novel by Neil Gaiman.
THE GRAVEYARD BOOK won the 2009 Hugo Award. Disney is planning a movie based on the novel.
Less
LESS, published in 2017, is a satirical comedy novel by Andrew Sean Greer.
LESS won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
Sing, Unburied, Sing
SING, UNBURIED, SING, published in 2017, is a fiction novel by Jesmyn Ward.
SING, UNBURIED, SING won the 2017 National Book Award for Fiction.
The Stone Sky
THE STONE SKY, published in 2017, is a science fantasy novel by N. K. Jemisin. It’s book 3 in the Broken Earth trilogy.
THE STONE SKY won the 2018 Hugo Award. All three books in the trilogy won Hugo Awards.
The Sympathizer
THE SYMPATHIZER, published in 2015, is a historical fiction novel by Viet Thanh Nguyen.
THE SYMPATHIZER won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
The Testaments
THE TESTAMENTS, published in 2019, is a dystopian fiction novel by Margaret Atwood. It’s the followup to THE HANDMAIDS TALE.
THE TESTAMENTS won the 2019 Booker Prize (shared with OTHER by Bernardine Evaristo).
The Underground Railroad
THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD, published in 2016, is a historical fiction novel by Colson Whitehead. Amazon Studios is planning a limited drama series based on the novel.
THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the 2016 National Book Award for Fiction.
A Visit From the Goon Squad
A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD, published in 2010, is a collection of short stories by Jennifer Egan.
A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
The Windup Girl
THE WINDUP GIRL, published in 2009, is a science fiction novel by Paolo Bacigalupi.
THE WINDUP GIRL won the 2010 Hugo Award.
Check Them Out
Read the books above as a writer. Analyze them. What makes a bestseller? What makes an award-winner?
Most importantly though, enjoy them. Because books are meant to be enjoyed!
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