This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

They Just Keep Hanging On - New York Times Best Sellers with Some Serious Staying Power

Some books are on the best seller list for a short time others manage to hang on for a year or more and remain popular. These books have stood the test of time and in a few cases movie adaptations.

The New York Times Best Sellers list is among the most visible of best seller lists for books in a variety of formats. Here is a selection of books that have truly gone the distance. They have been on the list a minimum of 65 weeks.

The only book to appear on both the hardcover and paperback trade fiction lists is The Help by Kathryn Stockett (107 weeks for the hardcover book and 22 weeks for the trade paperback). I attempted to read this book twice. I thought that a book this popular should be good. I guess I am just missing something. Everyone else raves about the book. I do not doubt that the movie release has brought new audiences to the book and it continues to be very popular.

Stieg Larsson’s Millenium Trilogy made up of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (volume 1), The Girl Who Played with Fire (volume 2) and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (volume 3) have appeared in various incarnations on the bestsellers lists. Currently the third volume has been on the Hardcover best seller list for 67 weeks, while the first two volumes are more popular in trade paper back format. “Dragon Tattoo” has been a trade paperback best seller for 115 weeks, and “Fire” has been one for 74 weeks. The books follow the intersecting lives of Mikael Blomquist, Swedish journalist and that of Lisbeth Salander, master hacker and one of the most interesting anti-heroines in literature to date. The series has its detractors who are disturbed by the high levels of violence perpetrated against women. The characters, the fascinating mystery, and enigma of Lisbeth Salander keep readers riveted. I was one of them and devoured each novel!

Find out what's happening in Port Jeffersonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Sarah’s Key by Tatiana De Rosnay (on the Trade Paperback list for 131 weeks) is a moving story about a horrible event that took place in Paris in World War II. The story alternates between the present day and Paris, 1942. Sarah is a young Jewish girl living in Paris. She and her family are rounded up to be deported to the death camps. She hides her younger brother in a closet before they leave and promises to return to free him with the key she carried with her. She and her family wait in the Velodrome d’ Hiver (a stadium) and Sarah schemes to escape. It is a tragic and moving story that sheds light on a notorious event where Parisians turned against fellow Parisians.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford has been on the trade paper back list for 65 weeks. It is a moving historical novel about events most would prefer to forget- the deportation of thousands of Japanese- Americans to internment camps. In San Francisco Henry Lee,who is Chinese, falls in love with Keiko, who is Japanese. The two continue their relationship despite Keiko’s move to the camps. It is a story that shows that true love endures.

Find out what's happening in Port Jeffersonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Paolo Coelho’s The Alchemist has been on the Trade Paperback Best Seller’s list for 192 weeks. This book reads like a rather straight forward fable type narrative about a young shepherd in search of his destiny. It sounds simple, but this book has hidden depths... A re-read may be in order for this one.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?