The Pillars of the Earth by Ken FollettThe Name of the Rose by Umberto EcoThe Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey ChaucerWorld Without End by Ken FollettBeowulf by Seamus Heaney
Best Middle Ages Books
1,316 books — 1,919 voters
The Name of the Rose by Umberto EcoThe Alienist by Caleb CarrThe Historian by Elizabeth KostovaThe Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz ZafónMistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin
Best Historical Mystery
2,317 books — 4,853 voters

Second Chances by P.J. FialaConjuring Darkness by Melanie  JamesBlue Coyote Motel by Dianne HarmanMy Lady Love by Bridgitte LesleyGrit by Karl Wiggins
Possible 2014 Book Club Picks
131 books — 178 voters
Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline WinspearThe Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann ShafferThe Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan BradleyThe Pillars of the Earth by Ken FollettHer Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen
Best Books to Make into a PBS Series
485 books — 416 voters

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper LeeWater for Elephants by Sara GruenOf Mice and Men by John SteinbeckThursday's Child by Sonya HartnettThe Bottoms by Joe R. Lansdale
New Historical Fiction
33 books — 48 voters
Escape to the Maroons by Mike WeedallAnti-Intellectualism in American Life by Richard HofstadterThe Ideological Origins of the American Revolution by Bernard BailynThe Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787 by Gordon S. WoodThe Metaphysical Club  by Louis Menand
US Intellectual History
257 books — 123 voters

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper LeeHarry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling1984 by George OrwellAnimal Farm by George OrwellFahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Best Banned, Censored, and Challenged Books
898 books — 2,393 voters
The Hunger Games by Suzanne CollinsThe Book Thief by Markus ZusakThe Kite Runner by Khaled HosseiniA Story of Yesterday by Sergio CoboHarry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
Books That Exceeded Your Expectations
15,741 books — 18,039 voters