2007
* Fiction: "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy
* General Nonfiction: "The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11" by Lawrence Wright
* Biography: "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
* History: "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West" by Dee Brown (reissued edition)
* Poetry: "The Spirit Level: Writing from the 1970s" by Stephen Dunn
* Drama: "Rabbit Hole" by David Lindsay-Abaire
2008
* Fiction: "The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao" by Junot Díaz
* General Nonfiction: "The World Without Us" by Alan Weisman
* Biography: "John Adams" by David McCullough
* History: "The American War: A History" by Andrew Bacevich
* Poetry: "The Shadow of Sirius" by Adrienne Rich
* Drama: "August: Osage County" by Tracy Letts