Literary Prize
NYT Best Sellers Winners
Among the most respected prizes in its category, this award has a strong track record of recognising literature that endures beyond its year of publication. Its shortlists and winners provide a reliable guide to the field's most important works.
120 winners ranked
Top Countries
Top Genres
All Winners
#1
biography-memoir
Reading Lolita in Tehran
Azar Nafisi· 2003
★Booker Prize
Editorial Score70/100
#2
young-adult
Between Shades of Gray
Ruta Sepetys· 2011
★Carnegie Medal
Editorial Score67/100
#3
literary-fiction
My Brilliant Friend
Elena Ferrante· 2011
Editorial Score58/100
#4
biography-memoir
A Tale of Love and Darkness
Amos Oz· 2002
Editorial Score42/100
#5
literary-fiction
The Polished Hoe
Austin Clarke· 2002
★Booker Prize
Editorial Score36/100
#6
historical-fiction
The Swallows of Kabul
Yasmina Khadra· 2002
Editorial Score30/100
#7
literary-fiction
Broken April
Ismail Kadare· 1978
Editorial Score30/100
#8
historical-fiction
Creole
José Eduardo Agualusa· 2000
Editorial Score30/100
#9
historical-fiction
Mayombe
Pepetela· 1980
Editorial Score30/100
#10
science-fiction
The Invention of Morel
Adolfo Bioy Casares· 1940
Editorial Score30/100
#11
historical-fiction
Santa Evita
Tomás Eloy Martínez· 1995
Editorial Score30/100
#12
short-stories
My Name is Aram
William Saroyan· 1940
Editorial Score30/100
#13
mystery-thriller
QuixotiQ
Ali Al Saeed· 2004
Editorial Score30/100
#14
literary-fiction
The Good Muslim
Tahmima Anam· 2011
Editorial Score30/100
#15
historical-fiction
War and Turpentine
Stefan Hertmans· 2013
Editorial Score30/100
#16
literary-fiction
Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon
Jorge Amado· 1958
Editorial Score30/100
#17
literary-fiction
The Peach Thief
Emilian Stanev· 1948
Editorial Score30/100
#18
biography-memoir
First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers
Loung Ung· 2000
Editorial Score30/100
#19
historical-fiction
In the Shadow of the Banyan
Vaddey Ratner· 2012
Editorial Score30/100
#20
biography-memoir
My Invented Country
Isabel Allende· 2003
Editorial Score30/100
#21
literary-fiction
Delirium
Laura Restrepo· 2004
Editorial Score30/100
#22
literary-fiction
Reputations
Juan Gabriel Vásquez· 2013
Editorial Score30/100
#23
biography-memoir
The Lights of Pointe-Noire
Alain Mabanckou· 2013
Editorial Score30/100
#24
literary-fiction
La Loca de Gandoca
Anacristina Rossi· 1992
Editorial Score30/100
#25
literary-fiction
Our Man in Iraq
Robert Perišić· 2007
Editorial Score30/100
#26
history
The Cyprus File
Makarios Drousiotis· 2014
Editorial Score30/100
#27
literary-fiction
I Served the King of England
Bohumil Hrabal· 1971
Editorial Score30/100
#28
mystery-thriller
Smilla's Sense of Snow
Peter Høeg· 1992
Editorial Score30/100
#29
mystery-thriller
Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow
Peter Høeg· 1992
Editorial Score30/100
#30
historical-fiction
In the Name of Salomé
Julia Alvarez· 2000
Editorial Score30/100
#31
literary-fiction
How the García Girls Lost Their Accents
Julia Alvarez· 1991
Editorial Score30/100
#32
young-adult
Before We Were Free
Julia Alvarez· 2002
Editorial Score30/100
#33
literary-fiction
The Yacoubian Building
Alaa Al Aswany· 2002
Editorial Score30/100
#34
literary-fiction
One Day of Life
Manlio Argueta· 1980
Editorial Score30/100
#35
literary-fiction
Cutting for Stone
Abraham Verghese· 2009
Editorial Score30/100
#36
historical-fiction
Beneath the Lion's Gaze
Maaza Mengiste· 2010
Editorial Score30/100
#37
humor
The Year of the Hare
Arto Paasilinna· 1975
Editorial Score30/100
#38
historical-fiction
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Patrick Süskind· 1985
Editorial Score30/100
#39
religion-spirituality
The Last Temptation of Christ
Nikos Kazantzakis· 1955
Editorial Score30/100
#40
biography-memoir
Eleni
Nicholas Gage· 1983
Editorial Score30/100
#41
literary-fiction
The Dew Breaker
Edwidge Danticat· 2004
Editorial Score30/100
#42
literary-fiction
Satantango
László Krasznahorkai· 1985
Editorial Score30/100
#43
literary-fiction
The Blue Fox
Sjón· 2003
Editorial Score30/100
#44
literary-fiction
The Greenhouse
Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir· 2007
Editorial Score30/100
#45
literary-fiction
The Rainbow Troops
Andrea Hirata· 2005
Editorial Score30/100
#46
literary-fiction
Beauty Is a Wound
Eka Kurniawan· 2002
Editorial Score30/100
#47
historical-fiction
The Book of Night Women
Marlon James· 2009
Editorial Score30/100
#48
literary-fiction
No Longer Human
Osamu Dazai· 1948
Editorial Score30/100
#49
mystery-thriller
The Woman in the Dunes
Kobo Abe· 1962
Editorial Score30/100
#50
politics-society
The Queue
Basma Abdel Aziz· 2013
Editorial Score30/100
#51
historical-fiction
Salt Houses
Hala Alyan· 2017
Editorial Score30/100
#52
biography-memoir
The Silent Steppe
Mukhamet Shayakhmetov· 2006
Editorial Score30/100
#53
historical-fiction
The In-Between World of Vikram Lall
M.G. Vassanji· 2003
Editorial Score30/100
#54
short-stories
The Hidden Light of Objects
Mai Al-Nakib· 2014
Editorial Score30/100
#55
short-stories
Mother's Beloved: Stories from Laos
Outhine Bounyavong· 1999
Editorial Score30/100
#56
literary-fiction
The Cage
Regīna Ezera· 1972
Editorial Score30/100
#57
literary-fiction
The Hakawati
Rabih Alameddine· 2008
Editorial Score30/100
#58
literary-fiction
The White Shroud
Antanas Škėma· 1958
Editorial Score30/100
#59
historical-fiction
Beyond the Rice Fields
Naivo· 2012
Editorial Score30/100
#60
biography-memoir
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
William Kamkwamba· 2009
Editorial Score30/100
#61
literary-fiction
Evening Is the Whole Day
Preeta Samarasan· 2008
Editorial Score30/100
#62
historical-fiction
Mauritius Command
Patrick O'Brian· 1977
Editorial Score30/100
#63
romance
Like Water for Chocolate
Laura Esquivel· 1989
Editorial Score30/100
#64
history
The Secret History of the Mongol Queens
Jack Weatherford· 2010
Editorial Score30/100
#65
historical-fiction
The Green Eyed Lama
Oyungerel Tsedevdamba· 2008
Editorial Score30/100
#66
biography-memoir
For Bread Alone
Mohamed Choukri· 1973
Editorial Score30/100
#67
literary-fiction
The Happy Marriage
Tahar Ben Jelloun· 2013
Editorial Score30/100
#68
literary-fiction
The Tuner of Silences
Mia Couto· 2011
Editorial Score30/100
#69
literary-fiction
Niketche: A Story of Polygamy
Paulina Chiziane· 2002
Editorial Score30/100
#70
literary-fiction
Karnali Blues
Buddhisagar· 2010
Editorial Score30/100
#71
literary-fiction
The Guru of Love
Samrat Upadhyay· 2003
Editorial Score30/100
#72
short-stories
Arresting God in Kathmandu
Samrat Upadhyay· 2001
Editorial Score30/100
#73
historical-fiction
The Assault
Harry Mulisch· 1982
Editorial Score30/100
#74
mystery-thriller
The Darkroom of Damocles
Willem Frederik Hermans· 1958
Editorial Score30/100
#75
biography-memoir
The Country Under My Skin
Gioconda Belli· 2001
Editorial Score30/100
#76
biography-memoir
My Life and Faith
Kang Chol-hwan· 2001
Editorial Score30/100
#77
literary-fiction
Naïve. Super
Erlend Loe· 1996
Editorial Score30/100
#78
philosophy
Sophie’s World
Jostein Gaarder· 1991
Editorial Score30/100
#79
literary-fiction
The Secret Life of Saeed: The Pessoptimist
Emile Habibi· 1974
Editorial Score30/100
#80
historical-fiction
Mornings in Jenin
Susan Abulhawa· 2006
Editorial Score30/100
#81
literary-fiction
Son of Man
Augusto Roa Bastos· 1960
Editorial Score30/100
#82
mystery-thriller
Red April
Santiago Roncagliolo· 2006
Editorial Score30/100
#83
literary-fiction
The Blue Hour
Alonso Cueto· 2005
Editorial Score30/100
#84
historical-fiction
Baltasar and Blimunda
José Saramago· 1982
Editorial Score30/100
#85
biography-memoir
Down These Mean Streets
Piri Thomas· 1967
Editorial Score30/100
#86
literary-fiction
Wolves of the Crescent Moon
Yousef Al-Mohaimeed· 2003
Editorial Score30/100
#87
literary-fiction
Radiance of Tomorrow
Ishmael Beah· 2014
Editorial Score30/100
#88
biography-memoir
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
Ishmael Beah· 2007
Editorial Score30/100
#89
graphic-novel
The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye
Sonny Liew· 2015
Editorial Score30/100
#90
biography-memoir
Necropolis
Boris Pahor· 1967
Editorial Score30/100
#91
literary-fiction
Links
Nuruddin Farah· 2003
Editorial Score30/100
#92
childrens
The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly
Hwang Sun-mi· 2000
Editorial Score30/100
#93
literary-fiction
Night Train to Lisbon
Pascal Mercier· 2004
Editorial Score30/100
#94
literary-fiction
No Knives in the Kitchens of This City
Khaled Khalifa· 2013
Editorial Score30/100
#95
literary-fiction
Death is Hard Work
Khaled Khalifa· 2016
Editorial Score30/100
#96
literary-fiction
Notes of a Desolate Man
Chu T’ien-wen· 1994
Editorial Score30/100
#97
literary-fiction
The Blind Earthworm in the Labyrinth
Veeraporn Nitiprapha· 2015
Editorial Score30/100
#98
literary-fiction
The Oldest Orphan
Tierno Monénembo· 2000
Editorial Score30/100
#99
literary-fiction
The Ardent Swarm
Yamen Manai· 2017
Editorial Score30/100
#100
historical-fiction
Memed, My Hawk
Yaşar Kemal· 1955
Editorial Score30/100
#101
mystery-thriller
The Black Book
Orhan Pamuk· 1990
Editorial Score30/100
#102
short-stories
Tropical Fish: Stories out of Entebbe
Doreen Baingana· 2005
Editorial Score30/100
#103
literary-fiction
Fieldwork in Ukrainian Sex
Oksana Zabuzhko· 1996
Editorial Score30/100
#104
literary-fiction
The Great American Novel
Philip Roth· 1973
Editorial Score30/100
#105
literary-fiction
Paradise of the Blind
Dương Thu Hương· 1988
Editorial Score30/100
#106
literary-fiction
Annie John
Jamaica Kincaid· 1985
Editorial Score30/100
#107
short-stories
An Evening in Guanima
Patricia Glinton-Meicholas· 1992
Editorial Score30/100
#108
historical-fiction
The King of Kahel
Tierno Monénembo· 2008
Editorial Score30/100
#109
childrens
Dawa: The Story of a Stray Dog in Bhutan
Kunzaang Choden· 2004
Editorial Score30/100
#110
literary-fiction
A Louca de Serrano
Germano Almeida· 1998
Editorial Score30/100
#111
biography-memoir
Tales from the Heart: True Stories from My Childhood
Camara Laye· 1994
Editorial Score30/100
#112
history
The Congo: Plunder and Resistance
David Van Reybrouck· 2014
Editorial Score30/100
#113
mystery-thriller
Passage of Tears
Abdourahman A. Waberi· 2009
Editorial Score30/100
#114
literary-fiction
The Unseen City
Afonso Henriques· 2015
Editorial Score30/100
#115
historical-fiction
The Ultimate Tragedy
Abdulai Sila· 1995
Editorial Score30/100
#116
biography-memoir
The House at Sugar Beach
Helene Cooper· 2008
Editorial Score30/100
#117
biography-memoir
Sana: An Autobiography
Michael Somare· 1975
Editorial Score30/100
#118
literary-fiction
The Red Thread
Astrid Roemer· 1995
Editorial Score30/100
#119
religion-spirituality
The Light of Faith
Pope Francis· 2013
Editorial Score30/100
#120
religion-spirituality
The Joy of the Gospel
Pope Francis· 2013
Editorial Score30/100
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