# List of The New York Times number-one books of 1949

This is a list of books that topped The New York Times best-seller list in 1949.

## Fiction

The following list ranks the number-one best-selling fiction books.
Only four novels topped the list that year, which was dominated by John P. Marquand's Point of No Return which spent 22 straight weeks at the top of the list though it only lasted 34 weeks in the top 15 overall. Marquand's book is notable for its lampooning of W. Lloyd Warner, an anthropologist with whom Marquand had a personal grudge. Point of No Return was toppled by John O'Hara's Rage To Live, which spent 6 weeks at the top. That book stayed in the top five for another 20 weeks but the remainder of the year was dominated by The Egyptian by the Finnish author Mika Waltari. The Egyptian was translated from a Swedish translation by Naomi Walford.
| Date | Book | Author |
| January 3 | The Big Fisherman | Lloyd Douglas |
| January 10 | The Big Fisherman | Lloyd Douglas |
| January 17 | The Big Fisherman | Lloyd Douglas |
| January 24 | The Big Fisherman | Lloyd Douglas |
| January 31 | The Big Fisherman | Lloyd Douglas |
| February 7 | The Big Fisherman | Lloyd Douglas |
| February 14 | The Big Fisherman | Lloyd Douglas |
| February 21 | The Big Fisherman | Lloyd Douglas |
| February 28 | The Big Fisherman | Lloyd Douglas |
| March 6 | The Big Fisherman | Lloyd Douglas |
| March 13 | The Big Fisherman | Lloyd Douglas |
| March 20 | The Big Fisherman | Lloyd Douglas |
| March 27 | The Big Fisherman | Lloyd Douglas |
| April 3 | The Big Fisherman | Lloyd Douglas |
| April 10 | Point of No Return | John P. Marquand |
| April 17 | Point of No Return | John P. Marquand |
| April 24 | Point of No Return | John P. Marquand |
| May 1 | Point of No Return | John P. Marquand |
| May 8 | Point of No Return | John P. Marquand |
| May 15 | Point of No Return | John P. Marquand |
| May 22 | Point of No Return | John P. Marquand |
| May 29 | Point of No Return | John P. Marquand |
| June 5 | Point of No Return | John P. Marquand |
| June 12 | Point of No Return | John P. Marquand |
| June 19 | Point of No Return | John P. Marquand |
| June 26 | Point of No Return | John P. Marquand |
| July 3 | Point of No Return | John P. Marquand |
| July 10 | Point of No Return | John P. Marquand |
| July 17 | Point of No Return | John P. Marquand |
| July 24 | Point of No Return | John P. Marquand |
| July 31 | Point of No Return | John P. Marquand |
| August 7 | Point of No Return | John P. Marquand |
| August 14 | Point of No Return | John P. Marquand |
| August 21 | Point of No Return | John P. Marquand |
| August 28 | Point of No Return | John P. Marquand |
| September 4 | Point of No Return | John P. Marquand |
| September 11 | Point of No Return | John P. Marquand |
| September 18 | A Rage To Live | John O'Hara |
| September 25 | A Rage To Live | John O'Hara |
| October 2 | A Rage To Live | John O'Hara |
| October 9 | A Rage To Live | John O'Hara |
| October 16 | A Rage To Live | John O'Hara |
| October 23 | A Rage To Live | John O'Hara |
| October 30 | The Egyptian | Mika Waltari |
| November 6 | The Egyptian | Mika Waltari |
| November 13 | The Egyptian | Mika Waltari |
| November 20 | The Egyptian | Mika Waltari |
| November 27 | The Egyptian | Mika Waltari |
| December 4 | The Egyptian | Mika Waltari |
| December 11 | The Egyptian | Mika Waltari |
| December 18 | The Egyptian | Mika Waltari |
| December 26 | The Egyptian | Mika Waltari |

## Nonfiction

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