The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson by Emily DickinsonLeaves of Grass by Walt WhitmanShakespeare's Sonnets by William ShakespeareThe Waste Land and Other Poems by T.S. EliotAriel by Sylvia Plath
Best Poetry Books
3,055 books — 2,608 voters
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret AtwoodEnder’s Game by Orson Scott CardThe Color Purple by Alice WalkerMatilda by Roald DahlBeloved by Toni Morrison
Best Books of the Decade: 1980s
2,255 books — 2,435 voters

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper LeeThe Great Gatsby by F. Scott FitzgeraldThe Catcher in the Rye by J.D. SalingerJane Eyre by Charlotte BrontëThe Four Jacks Annotated, Uncensored by Robert Pavchick
Best Literary Fiction
1,598 books — 1,623 voters
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot DíazJesus’ Son by Denis JohnsonInterpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa LahiriThe Things They Carried by Tim O'BrienDrown by Junot Díaz
Best Reading for the Contemporary Writer
132 books — 234 voters