Columbine by Dave CullenLet the Great World Spin by Colum McCannEverything Ravaged, Everything Burned by Wells TowerTrue Compass by Edward M. KennedyManhood for Amateurs by Michael Chabon
Best Books of 2009
1,769 books — 6,937 voters
The Road by Cormac McCarthyAtonement by Ian McEwanThe Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael ChabonThe Audacity of Hope by Barack ObamaThe Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
Best Books of the Decade: 2000s
7,189 books — 28,374 voters

1984 by George OrwellThe Catcher in the Rye by J.D. SalingerOn the Road by Jack KerouacNight by Elie WieselBlood Meridian, or, the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy
Best Books of the 20th Century
7,815 books — 49,771 voters
Hegemony or Survival by Noam Chomsky
Best Books to Become an Informed Voter
934 books — 1,097 voters

The Hour I First Believed by Wally LambThe Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David WroblewskiAmerica America by Ethan CaninOlive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
Best Books of 2008
1,631 books — 6,783 voters