# List of The New York Times number-one books of 1963

This is a list of books that topped The New York Times best-seller list in 1963.
The list is notable for being blank for part of the winter as The New York Times, like many other newspapers in the city, worked its way through a major newspaper strike.

## Fiction

The following list ranks the number-one best-selling fiction books.
When the strike ended in March, the political thriller Seven Days in May led the list, having also been at the top at the start of the strike in December 1962. It lasted there only one week before being overtaken by J.D. Salinger's second No. 1 bestseller in 18 months, the anthologized novellas, "Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters" and "Seymour: An Introduction".
Salinger's book led the list for 14 weeks through the spring of 1963. Daphne du Maurier's The Glass-Blowers then spent six weeks on the list, followed by Morris West's novel about the Vatican, The Shoes of the Fisherman (14 weeks). On October 6, Shoes gave way to Mary McCarthy's semi-autobiographical novel The Group, which would spend the next 20 weeks at the top, closing out the year.
| Date | Book | Author |
| January 6 | Not published due to the Newspaper Strike | Not published due to the Newspaper Strike |
| January 13 | Not published due to the Newspaper Strike | Not published due to the Newspaper Strike |
| January 20 | Not published due to the Newspaper Strike | Not published due to the Newspaper Strike |
| January 27 | Not published due to the Newspaper Strike | Not published due to the Newspaper Strike |
| February 3 | Not published due to the Newspaper Strike | Not published due to the Newspaper Strike |
| February 10 | Not published due to the Newspaper Strike | Not published due to the Newspaper Strike |
| February 17 | Not published due to the Newspaper Strike | Not published due to the Newspaper Strike |
| February 24 | Not published due to the Newspaper Strike | Not published due to the Newspaper Strike |
| March 3 | Seven Days in May | Fletcher Knebel |
| March 10 | Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters | J. D. Salinger |
| March 17 | Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters | J. D. Salinger |
| March 24 | Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters | J. D. Salinger |
| March 31 | Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters | J. D. Salinger |
| April 7 | Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters | J. D. Salinger |
| April 14 | Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters | J. D. Salinger |
| April 21 | Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters | J. D. Salinger |
| April 28 | Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters | J. D. Salinger |
| May 5 | Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters | J. D. Salinger |
| May 12 | Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters | J. D. Salinger |
| May 19 | The Glass-Blowers | Daphne du Maurier |
| May 26 | The Glass-Blowers | Daphne du Maurier |
| June 2 | The Glass-Blowers | Daphne du Maurier |
| June 9 | The Glass-Blowers | Daphne du Maurier |
| June 16 | The Glass-Blowers | Daphne du Maurier |
| June 23 | The Glass-Blowers | Daphne du Maurier |
| June 30 | The Shoes of the Fisherman | Morris West |
| July 7 | The Shoes of the Fisherman | Morris West |
| July 14 | The Shoes of the Fisherman | Morris West |
| July 21 | The Shoes of the Fisherman | Morris West |
| July 28 | The Shoes of the Fisherman | Morris West |
| August 4 | The Shoes of the Fisherman | Morris West |
| August 11 | The Shoes of the Fisherman | Morris West |
| August 18 | The Shoes of the Fisherman | Morris West |
| August 25 | The Shoes of the Fisherman | Morris West |
| September 1 | The Shoes of the Fisherman | Morris West |
| September 8 | The Shoes of the Fisherman | Morris West |
| September 15 | The Shoes of the Fisherman | Morris West |
| September 22 | The Shoes of the Fisherman | Morris West |
| September 29 | The Shoes of the Fisherman | Morris West |
| October 6 | The Group | Mary McCarthy |
| October 13 | The Group | Mary McCarthy |
| October 20 | The Group | Mary McCarthy |
| October 27 | The Group | Mary McCarthy |
| November 3 | The Group | Mary McCarthy |
| November 10 | The Group | Mary McCarthy |
| November 17 | The Group | Mary McCarthy |
| November 24 | The Group | Mary McCarthy |
| December 1 | The Group | Mary McCarthy |
| December 8 | The Group | Mary McCarthy |
| December 15 | The Group | Mary McCarthy |
| December 22 | The Group | Mary McCarthy |
| December 29 | The Group | Mary McCarthy |

## Nonfiction

The following list ranks the number-one best-selling nonfiction books.