1. "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee:
- Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1961)
- Presidential Medal of Freedom (2007)
2. "The Old Man and the Sea" by Ernest Hemingway:
- Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1953)
- Nobel Prize in Literature (1954)
3. "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel García Márquez:
- Nobel Prize in Literature (1982)
4. "Beloved" by Toni Morrison:
- Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1988)
- Nobel Prize in Literature (1993)
5. "Midnight's Children" by Salman Rushdie:
- Booker Prize (1981)
6. "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak:
- Michael L. Printz Award (2006)
7. "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker:
- Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1983)
- National Book Award for Fiction (1983)
8. "The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien:
- International Fantasy Award (1957)
9. "1984" by George Orwell:
- Hugo Award for Best Novel (1949)
10. "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison:
- National Book Award for Fiction (1953)