Here’s a cute little site that will tell you without hunting through the archive at NYT or hauling out the databases. (Note that it uses European dates.)
I got a Judith Krantz novel I’ve never heard of (Princess Daisy?)at the top of my fiction list, which is kind of disappointing, but I also have James Herriot, John Le Carre, Tom Wolfe… and bizarrely, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Oh, and Phil Donahue.
Arnold Schwarzenegger? Wow, you must be young!
Fiction:
1 RAGTIME E. L. Doctorow
2 LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR Judith Rossner
3 SHOGUN James Clavell
4 THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY Michael Crichton,
5 THE MONEYCHANGERS Arthur Hailey
6 CIRCUS Alistair MacLean
7 HUMBOLDT’S GIFT Saul Bellow
8 CURTAIN Agatha Christie
9 THE EAGLE HAS LANDED Jack Higgins
10 CENTENNIAL James Michener
Non-fiction:
1 SYLVIA PORTER’S MONEY BOOK Sylvia Porter
2 BREACH OF FAITH Theodore H. White
3 TOTAL FITNESS Laurence E. Morehouse and Leonard Gross
4 TM: Discovering Inner Energy and Overcoming Stress, Harold H. Bloomfield, Michael Peter Cain and Dennis T. Jaffe
5 WINNING THROUGH INTIMIDATION Robert J. Ringer
6 MONEY John Kenneth Galbraith
7 THE SAVE YOUR LIFE DIET David Reuben, M.D
8 WITHOUT FEATHERS Woody Allen
9 THE ASCENT OF MAN J. Bronowski
10 THE GREAT RAILWAY BAZAAR Paul Theroux
Lots of fiction I’ve never hear of, an anachronistic Agatha Christie, and tons of books about money.
Hey, Watership Down! I liked that book!
My Fiction list also features several pulp classics - *Jaws, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy *and *The Dogs of War *- but it’s actually the Nonfiction bestsellers on my date of birth that are more fascinating: they’re headed by two classics that helped bring down hated regimes: *All the President’s Men *and The Gulag Archipelago. Not a bad collection, all in all.
I’m not THAT young - I’m 30! It was Arnold’s Bodyshaping for Women -this must be a later edition but the cover gave me a little giggle.
Here are mine, from the week ending 08/18/1968:
Fiction:
1 AIRPORT Arthur Hailey
2 COUPLES John Updike
3 TESTIMONY OF TWO MEN Taylor Caldwell
4 TOPAZ Leon Uris
5 TRUE GRIT Charles Portis
6 RED SKY AT MORNING Richard Bradford
7 MYRA BRECKINRIDGE Gore Vidal
8 THE CONFESSIONS OF NAT TURNER William Styron
9 VANISHED Fletcher Knebel
10 HEAVEN HELP US! Herbert Tarr
Non-Fiction:
1 THE MONEY GAME “Adam Smith”
2 THE RICH AND THE SUPER-RICH Ferdinand Lundberg
3 BETWEEN PARENT AND CHILD Haim G. Ginott
4 IBERIA James A. Michener
5 THE RIGHT PEOPLE Stephen Birmingham
6 THE NAKED APE Desmond Morris
7 THE AMERICAN CHALLENGE J.J. Servan-Schreiber
8 OR I’LL DRESS YOU IN MOURNING Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre
9 THE DOCTOR’S QUICK WEIGHT LOSS DIET Irwin Maxwell Stillman and Samm Sinclair Baker
10 SOUL ON ICE Eldridge Cleaver
Fiction:
Non-Fiction (why only three?):
I notice that the number three non-fiction book on my date of birth was Master and Johnson’s “Human Sexual Response”.
#1 Fiction: James Michener’s “Hawaii”
#1 Non-fiction: William Shirer’s “Rise & Fall of the Third Reich”
Lots of fiction I’ve never heard of, but the #1 nonfiction was *The Power of Positive Thinking. *
#1 Fiction, “Up the Down Staircase” by Bel Kaufman (granddaughter of Shalom Aleichem). I’ve read it. “Poisen” was the idol of my schooldays. Ok, he wasn’t, but only because I hadn’t read it yet.
Only other one on the list I’ve read was the #8 non-fiction, “The Italians” by Luigi Barzini (no relation to the fictional guy). Interesting book.
Fiction
1 THE CAINE MUTINY Herman Wouk
2 THE SILVER CHALICE Thomas B. Costain
3 THE HOUSES IN BETWEEN Howard Spring
4 MATADOR Barna Conrad
5 THE GOWN OF GLORY Agnes Sligh Turnbull
6 MY COUSIN RACHEL Daphne du Maurier
7 THE HIDDEN FLOWER Pearl S. Buck
8 THE CRUEL SEA Nicholas Monsarrat
9 CATHERINE CARTER Pamela Hansford Johnson
10 THE SHINING TIDES Win Brooks
11 THE SARACEN BLADE Frank Yer
12 SCALPEL Horace McCoy
13 THE GOLDEN HAND Edith Simon
14 THE ALEXANDRIANS Charles Mills
15 S P Q R Paul Hyde Bonner
I’ve actually read #1, and it’s the only one that could be considered a classic (depending on your definition). I’ve heard of #8, but never saw it.
Non-Fiction
1 WITNESS Whittaker Chambers
2 THE SEA AROUND US Rachel Carson
3 A MAN CALLED PETER Catherine Marshall
4 ANNE FRANK:THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL Anne Frank
5 WINDOWS FOR THE CROWN PRICE Elizabeth Gray Vining
6 POSTMARKED MOSCOW Lydia Kirk
7 JOURNEY TO THE FAR PACIFIC Thomas E. Dewey
8 THE THURBER ALBUM James Thurber
9 SUBMARINE Edward L. Beach
10 ADLAI E. STEVENSON OF ILLINOIS Noel F. Busch
11 UNDER THE SEA-WIND Rachel Carson
12 U.S.A. CONFIDENTIAL Jack Lait and Lee Mortimer
13 THEODORA AND THE EMPEROR Harold Lamb
14 IN ONE EAR Eric Severeid
15 WINSTON CHURCHILL Robert Lewis Taylor
I’ve read #1 and #4, the latter being the standout title on both lists.
I’ve got a real interesting list from my birth date (in the spring of 1962), full of both very famous authors and authors that are now totally forgotten.
I mean, take a look at numbers 1 and 8 on the fiction list, and 4 and 5 on non-fiction.
Fiction:
1 FRANNY AND ZOOEY J.D. Salinger
2 THE BULL FROM THE SEA Mary Renault
3 THE FOX IN THE ATTIC Richard Hughes
4 THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY Irving Stone
5 SHIP OF FOOLS Katherine Anne Porter
6 DEVIL WATER Anya Seton
7 A PROLOGUE TO LOVE Taylor Caldwell
8 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD Harper Lee
9 CAPTAIN NEWMAN M.D., Leo Calvin Rosten
10 CHAIRMAN OF THE BORED Edward Streeter
11 THE IVY TREE Mary Stewart
12 ISLAND Aldous Huxley
13 HORNSTEIN’S BOY Robert Traver
14 DAUGHTER OF SILENCE Morris L. West
15 PIGEON FEATHERS John Updike
16 KIRKLAND REVELS Victoria Holt
Non-fiction:
1 CALORIES DON’T COUNT Herman Taller
2 MY LIFE IN COURT Louis Nizer
3 THE ROTHSCHILDS Frederic Morton
4 THE GUNS OF AUGUST Barbara W. Tuchman
5 SIX CRISES Richard Nixon
6 THE MAKING OF THE PRESIDENT 1960 Theodore H. White
7 IN THE CLEARING Robert Frost
8 THE LAST PLANTAGENETS Thomas B. Costain
9 SCOTT FITZGERALD Andrew Turnbull
10 CIA: THE INSIDE STORY Andrew Tully
12 THE RISE AND FALL OF THE THIRD REICH William L. Shirer
13 BEFORE I SLEEP James Monahan
14 THE RICH NATIONS AND THE POOR NATIONS Barbara Ward
15 MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL, Gayelord Hauser
16 A NATION OF SHEEP William J. Lederer
Title Author Info Fiction
1 RAISE HIGH THE ROOF BEAM CARPENTERS, J.D. Salinger author info
Fiction 2 SEVEN DAYS IN MAY Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey II author info
Fiction 3 THE SAND PEBBLES Richard McKenna author info
Fiction 4 FAIL-SAFE Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler author info
Fiction 5 THE MOONSPINNERS Mary Stewart author info
Fiction 6 TRIUMPH Philip Wylie author info
Fiction 7 A SHADE OF DIFFERENCE Allen Drury author info
Fiction 8 $100 MISUNDERSTANDING Robert Gover author info
Fiction 9 THE MOONFLOWER VINE Jetta Carleton author info
Fiction 10 THE CENTAUR John Updike author info
Non-Fiction 1 TRAVELS WITH CHARLEY John Steinbeck author info
Non-Fiction 2 HAPPINESS IS A WARM PUPPY Charles M. Schulz author info
Non-Fiction 3 FINAL VERDICT Adela Rogers St. Johns author info
Non-Fiction 4 THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT Hedda Hopper author info
Non-Fiction 5 O YE JIGS & JULEPS! Virginia Cary Hudson author info
Non-Fiction 6 THE FIRE NEXT TIME James Baldwin author info
Non-Fiction 7 SILENT SPRING Rachel Carson author info
Non-Fiction 8 MY LIFE IN COURT Louis Nizer author info
Non-Fiction 9 POINTS OF MY COMPASS E.B. White author info
Non-Fiction 10 THE FALL OF THE DYNASTIES
I’ve only read Silent Spring.
Oh, yeah.
Also Happiness Is A Warm Puppy.
It had either fallen to #3, or was on its way up from #3 the week I was born. I read it too. It’s the only one on the list I’ve read.
I read “Red Sky at Morning” in college and loved it.
Great link,** Zsofia**!
Princess Daisy (which was made into a miniseries starring Lindsey Wagner) is not Judith Krantz’s best, but oddly it has almost the identical plot to a recent bestseller, The Memory Keeper’s Daughter.
My list has some true classics (Happiness is a Warm Puppy, Travels with Charley). It’s also nice to see The Fire Next Time on top, since my birthday (and therefore this list) coincided with Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream speech.
Albert Camus was on the bestseller list? 
Those were different times.
Fiction
THE SHOES OF THE FISHERMAN Morrs L. West
ELIZABETH APPLETON John O’Hara
CARAVANS James Michener
CITY OF NIGHT John Rechy
JOY IN THE MORNING Betty Smith
THE COLLECTOR John Fowles
THE GLASS BLOWERS Daphne du Maurier
GRANDMOTHER AND THE PRIESTS Taylor Caldwell
THE CONCUBINE Nora Lofts
BRIDE OF PENDORRIC Victoria Holt
Non-Fiction
THE FIRE NEXT TIME James Baldwin
I OWE RUSSIA $1200 Bob Hope
MY DARLING CLEMENTINE Jack Fishman
THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT Hedda Hopper
THE DAY THEY SHOOK THE PLUM TREE Arthur H. Lewis
HAPPINESS IS A WARM PUPPY Charles M. Schulz
TRAVELS WITH CHARLEY John Steinbeck
NOTEBOOKS 1935-1942 Albert Camus
FRANCIS BACON Catherine Drinker Bowen
THE WINE IS BITTER Milton S. Eisenhower
Fiction 1 OLIVER’S STORY Erich Segal
Fiction 2 TRINITY Leon Uris
Fiction 3 THE CRASH OF '79 Paul E. Erdman
Fiction 4 FALCONER John Cheever
Fiction 5 RAISE THE TITANIC! Clive Cussler
Fiction 6 HOW TO SAVE YOUR OWN LIFE Erica Jong
Fiction 7 THE CHANCELLOR MANUSCRIPT Robert Ludlum
Fiction 8 OCTOBER LIGHT John Gardner
Fiction 9 THE USERS Joyce Haber
Fiction 10 THE VALHALLA EXCHANGE Harry Patterson
Non-Fiction 1 ROOTS Alex Haley
Non-Fiction 2 YOUR ERRONEOUS ZONES Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
Non-Fiction 3 PASSAGES Gail Sheehy
Non-Fiction 4 THE GAMESMAN Michael Macco
Non-Fiction 5 HAYWIRE Brooke Hayward
Non-Fiction 6 CHANGING Liv Ullmann
Non-Fiction 7 THE GRASS IS ALWAYS GREENER OVER THE SEPTIC TANK Erma Brombeck
Non-Fiction 8 THE HITE REPORT Shere Hite
Non-Fiction 9 BLIND AMBITION John W. Dean III
Non-Fiction 10 HOWARD HUGHES: The Hidden Years James Phelan
So, how many of the books on your lists have you read? Out of the twenty, I’ve read two: Roots and The Grass Is Always Greener Over The Septic Tank.
On the other hand, I think I’d rather be beaten with a stick than read Oliver’s Story. One of my mom’s favorite “can you believe what my kid said?” stories is about giving me Love Story to read and asking me what I thought of it. I told her that the plotting and dialog were weak, and that there were a lot of grammatical errors. She says that’s how she already knew by the time I was twelve that I’d major in English in college 
Love Story (fiction) and Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (non-fiction).
Yes, really.
Breakfast of Champions! I totally win the thread.
Also #2 and 3 on non-fiction are I’m OK, You’re OK and The Joy of Sex. 
Looks like RealityChuck and I must have been born somewhere near the same time.
1 TRINITY Leon Uris
2 SLEEPING MURDER Agatha Christie
3 STORM WARNING Jack Higgins
4 RAISE THE TITANIC! Clive Cussler
5 SLAPSTICK Kurt Vonnegut
6 THE CRASH OF '79 Paul E. Erdman
7 CEREMONY OF THE INNOCENT Taylor Caldwell
8 BLUE SKIES, NO CANDY Gael Greene
9 THE USERS Joyce Haber
10 TOUCH NOT THE CAT Mary Stewart
1 ROOTS Alex Haley
2 PASSAGES Gail Sheehy
3 BLIND AMBITION John W. Dean III
4 YOUR ERRONEOUS ZONES Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
5 THE GRASS IS ALWAYS GREENER OVER THE SEPTIC TANK Erma Bombeck
6 THE HITE REPORT Shere Hite
7 ADOLF HITLER John Toland
8 BLOOD AND MONEY Thomas Thompson
9 THE RIGHT AND THE POWER Leon Jaworski
10 TO JERUSALEM AND BACK Saul Bellow
Never read any of them…never even heard of most of them - none, actually, aside from Trinity, and Roots… I obviously know who Agatha Christie, Kurt Vonnegut, Erma Bombeck, Saul Bellow and Clive Cussler are (well, were), but don’t think I’ve ever heard of those books. (Except for Christie and Vonnegut, I don’t think I could name any specific book by any of them…)