This is a list of books that topped The New York Times best-seller list in 1942.
Though the bestseller list first began in 1931, it only became a national survey on August 9, 1942; previously the list only reflected sales from the New York metropolitan area.
The following list ranks the number-one best-selling fiction books.
The two most popular books that year were The Song of Bernadette, by Franz Werfel, which made the list for fourteen weeks; and The Robe, by Lloyd Douglas, which would reach number one for the final two weeks of 1942 and 34 weeks in 1943.
The following list ranks the number-one best-selling nonfiction books.