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
2,988 books — 2,429 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
2,258 books — 2,432 voters

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper LeeThe Catcher in the Rye by J.D. SalingerThe Great Gatsby by F. Scott FitzgeraldJane Eyre by Charlotte BrontëThe Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Best Literary Fiction
1,544 books — 1,330 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
127 books — 226 voters