Most Popular Fiction Books of the 1940s

The Great Divorce

C. S. Lewis

Fantasy

1946

Hercule Poirot #26

The Hollow

Agatha Christie

Crime Fiction · Short Stories · Mystery · Thriller

January 1, 1946

Harold Shea #1

The Incomplete Enchanter

L. Sprague de Camp, Fletcher Pratt

Fantasy · Short Stories

1941

Hercule Poirot #25

Five Little Pigs

Agatha Christie

Crime Fiction · Short Stories · Mystery · Thriller

May 1, 1942

Hercule Poirot #22

Sad Cypress

Agatha Christie

Crime Fiction · Short Stories · Mystery · Thriller

March 1, 1940

The Once and Future King #3

The Ill-Made Knight

T. H. White

Fantasy

1940

Heinlein Juveniles

Space Cadet

Robert A. Heinlein

Science Fiction · Military Science Fiction · Young Adult

1948

Heinlein Juveniles

Red Planet

Robert A. Heinlein

Science Fiction · Young Adult

1949

Hercule Poirot #24

Evil Under the Sun

Agatha Christie

Crime Fiction · Short Stories · Mystery · Thriller

June 1, 1941

Hercule Poirot #23

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe

Agatha Christie

Crime Fiction · Short Stories · Mystery · Thriller

November 11, 1940

Hercule Poirot #29

Taken at the Flood

Agatha Christie

Crime Fiction · Mystery · Thriller

January 1, 1948

The Scarf

Robert Bloch

Horror · Psychological Horror · Psychological Thriller · Thriller

1947

The Women of the Wood

A. Merritt

Fantasy · Horror · Weird Fiction · Short Stories

1948

Miss Marple #2

The Body in the Library

Agatha Christie

Crime Fiction · TV Series · Mystery · Thriller

February 1942

Dr. Patrick Cory #1

Donovan's Brain

Curt Siodmak

Science Fiction

1942

Stuart Little

E. B. White

Fantasy · Animal Fantasy · Childrens

1945

The Wind on the Moon

Eric Linklater

Fantasy · Childrens · Carnegie Medal

1944

Kallocain

Karin Boye

Science Fiction · Dystopia · Translation

1940

The Lottery and Other Stories

Shirley Jackson

Horror · Short Stories

1949

Heinlein Juveniles

Rocket Ship Galileo

Robert A. Heinlein

Science Fiction · Young Adult

1947

The People of the Pit

A. Merritt

Fantasy · Short Stories

1948

The Fox Woman / The Blue Pagoda

A. Merritt, Hannes Bok

Fantasy

1946

Isher #1

The Weapon Makers

A. E. van Vogt

Science Fiction

1946

Over to You

Roald Dahl

Fantasy · Short Stories · Mainstream

1945

The Gremlins

Roald Dahl

Fantasy · Childrens

1943

Lest Darkness Fall

L. Sprague de Camp

Science Fiction · Alternate History

1941

Zimiamvia #2

A Fish Dinner in Memison

E. R. Eddison

Fantasy

1941

The Flames

Olaf Stapledon

Science Fiction

1947

The Stranger

Albert Camus

Crime Fiction · Psychological Thriller · Mystery · Thriller

May 19, 1942

Ape and Essence

Aldous Huxley

Science Fiction

1948

Darker Than You Think

Jack Williamson

Fantasy · Horror

1948

Skylark #1

The Skylark of Space

E. E. Smith

Science Fiction

1946

Rest and Be Thankful

Helen MacInnes

Historical Fiction · Mystery · Romance · Thriller · Western

January 1, 1949

Inspector Hazlerigg #3

The Doors Open

Michael Gilbert

Crime Fiction · Mystery · Thriller

January 1, 1949

Philip Marlowe #5

The Little Sister

Raymond Chandler

Crime Fiction · Mystery · Thriller

January 1, 1949

The Vaivaisukko Bride

D Scott-Moncrieff

Horror · Science Fiction · Gothic Horror · Psychological Horror · Weird Fiction

1949