| Year | Category | Title | Author | Result |
| 2004 | Adult Fiction | The Da Vinci Code | Dan Brown | Winner |
| The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time | Mark Haddon | Honor |
| The Master Butchers Singing Club | Louise Erdrich |
| Mrs. Kimble | Jennifer Haigh |
| The Time Traveler's Wife | Audrey Niffenegger |
| Adult Nonfiction | Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books | Azar Nafisi | Winner |
| The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America | Erik Larson | Honor |
| Flyboys: A True Story of Courage | James Bradley |
| Michelangelo & The Pope's Ceiling | Ross King |
| Mountains Beyond Mountains | Tracy Kidder |
| Children's Literature | Eragon | Christopher Paolini | Winner |
| Artemis Fowl and the Eternity Code | Eoin Colfer | Honor |
| Inkheart | Cornelia Funke |
| The Second Summer of the Sisterhood | Ann Brashares |
| The Tale of Despereaux | Kate DiCamillo and Timothy Basil Ering (illus.) |
| Children's Illustrated | How I Became a Pirate | Melinda Long and David Shannon (illus.) | Winner |
| Diary of a Wombat | Jackie French and Bruce Whatley (illus.) | Honor |
| Diary of a Worm | Doreen Cronin and Harry Bliss (illus.) |
| Old Turtle and the Broken Truth | Douglas Wood and Jon J. Muth (illus.) |
| Olivia ... and the Missing Toy | Ian Falconer |
| Paperback | The Secret Life of Bees | Sue Monk Kidd | Winner |
| Atonement | Ian McEwan | Honor |
| The Dive from Clausen's Pier | Ann Packer |
| Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal | Christopher Moore |
| Life of Pi | Yann Martel |
| 2005 | Adult Fiction | Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell | Susanna Clarke | Winner |
| Eventide | Kent Haruf | Honor |
| The Birth of Venus | Sarah Dunant |
| The Plot Against America | Philip Roth |
| The Shadow of the Wind | Carlos Ruiz Zafon |
| Adult Nonfiction | Shadow Divers: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II | Robert Kurson | Winner |
| Candyfreak | Steve Almond | Honor |
| The Complete Cartoons of the New Yorker | Robert Mankoff (ed.) |
| Magical Thinking | Augusten Burroughs |
| Truth & Beauty: A Friendship | Ann Patchett |
| Children's Literature | Chasing Vermeer | Blue Balliett and Brett Helquist (Illus.) | Winner |
| Becoming Naomi Leon | Pam Muñoz Ryan | Honor |
| Ida B ... and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World | Katherine Hannigan |
| Peter and the Starcatchers | Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson |
| The Sea of Trolls | Nancy Farmer |
| Children's Illustrated | Duck for President | Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin (Illus.) | Winner |
| Kitten's First Full Moon | Kevin Henkes | Honor |
| Knuffle Bunny | Mo Willems |
| Mister Seahorse | Eric Carle |
| Wild About Books | Judy Sierra |
| 2006 | Adult Fiction | The Historian: A Novel | Elizabeth Kostova | Winner |
| Kafka on the Shore | Haruki Murakami | Honor |
| The March: A Novel | E. L. Doctorow |
| Saturday | Ian McEwan |
| Snow Flower and the Secret Fan | Lisa See |
| Adult Nonfiction | Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything | Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner | Winner |
| The Glass Castle | Jeannette Walls | Honor |
| The Lost Painting: The Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece | Jonathan Harr |
| Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog | John Grogan |
| The Tender Bar: A Memoir | J.R. Moehringer |
| Children's Literature | Inkspell | Cornelia Funke | Winner |
| A Dog's Life: The Autobiography of a Stray | Ann M. Martin | Honor |
| Eldest | Christopher Paolini |
| Flush | Carl Hiaasen |
| The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy | Jeanne Birdsall |
| Children's Illustrated | Zen Shorts | Jon J Muth | Winner |
| Diary of a Spider | Doreen Cronin and Harry Bliss (Illus.) | Honor |
| Leaf Man | Lois Ehlert |
| Leonardo, the Terrible Monster | Mo Willems |
| Seen Art? | Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith (Illus.) |
| 2007 | Adult Fiction | Water for Elephants | Sara Gruen | Winner |
| The Brief History of the Dead | Kevin Brockmeier | Honor |
| The Inheritance of Loss | Kiran Desai |
| The Road | Cormac McCarthy |
| Suite française | Irène Némirovsky |
| Adult Nonfiction | I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman | Nora Ephron | Winner |
| The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid | Bill Bryson | Honor |
| Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War | Nathaniel Philbrick |
| Thunderstruck | Erik Larson |
| The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl | Timothy Egan |
| Children's Literature | The Book Thief | Markus Zusak | Winner |
| The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: Traitor to the Nation, Volume One: The Pox Party | M. T. Anderson | Honor |
| Eats, Shoots & Leaves: Why, Commas Really Do Make a Difference! | Lynne Truss |
| New Moon | Stephenie Meyer |
| Peter and the Shadow Thieves | Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson |
| Children's Illustrated | Owen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship | Paul Kahumbu, Isabella Hatkoff and Dr. Paul Kahumbu | Winner |
| Fancy Nancy | Jane O'Connor and Robin Preiss Glasser (illus.) | Honor |
| Flotsam | David Wiesner |
| Library Lion | Michelle Knudsen and Kevin Hawkes (illus.) |
| Pirateology: A Pirate Hunter's Companion | Captain William Lubber and Nghiem Ta (designer) |
| 2008 | Adult Fiction | A Thousand Splendid Suns | Khaled Hosseini | Winner |
| The Yiddish Policemen's Union | Michael Chabon | Honor |
| Bridge of Sighs | Richard Russo |
| Away | Amy Bloom |
| Run | Ann Patchett |
| Adult Nonfiction | Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life | Barbara Kingsolver, with Steven L. Hopp and Camille Kingsolver | Winner |
| The World Without Us | Alan Weisman | Honor |
| Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life | Steve Martin |
| The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War | David Halberstam |
| The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible | A. J. Jacobs |
| Children's Literature | The Invention of Hugo Cabret | Brian Selznick | Winner |
| The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian | Sherman Alexie | Honor |
| Eclipse | Stephenie Meyer |
| Diary of a Wimpy Kid | Jeff Kinney |
| The Arrival | Shaun Tan |
| Children's Illustrated | Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity | Mo Willems | Winner |
| Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy | Jane O'Connor and Robin Preiss Glasser (Illus.) | Honor |
| Pirates Don't Change Diapers | Melinda Long and David Shannon (Illus.) |
| The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain | Peter Sis |
| Llama Llama Mad at Mama | Anna Dewdney |
| 2009 | Best Indie Buzz Book (Fiction) | The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society | Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows | Winner |
| Best Conversation Starter (Nonfiction) | The Wordy Shipmates | Sarah Vowell |
| Best Author Discovery | The Story of Edgar Sawtelle | David Wroblewski |
| Best Indie Young Adult Buzz Book (Fiction) | The Graveyard Book | Neil Gaiman |
| Best New Picture Book | Bats at the Library | Brian Lies |
| Most Engaging Author | Sherman Alexie | |
| 2010 | Adult Fiction | Cutting for Stone | Abraham Verghese |
| Adult Nonfiction | The Lost City of Z | David Grann |
| Adult Debut | The Help | Kathryn Stockett |
| Young Adult | Catching Fire | Suzanne Collins |
| Middle Reader | When You Reach Me | Rebecca Stead |
| New Picture Book | The Lion & the Mouse | Jerry Pinkney |
| Most Engaging Author | Kate DiCamillo | |
| 2011 | Adult Fiction | Room | Emma Donoghue |
| Adult Nonfiction | Unbroken | Laura Hillenbrand |
| Adult Debut | Matterhorn | Karl Marlantes |
| Young Adult | Revolution | Jennifer Donnelly |
| 2012[1][2] | Adult Fiction | The Marriage Plot | Jeffrey Eugenides |
| Adult Nonfiction | Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef | Gabrielle Hamilton |
| Adult Debut | The Tiger’s Wife | Téa Obreht |
| Young Adult | Between Shades of Gray | Ruta Sepetys |
| Most Engaging Author | Ann Patchett | |
| Middle Reader | The Apothecary | Maile Meloy and Ian Schoenherr (Illus.) |
| Middle Reader | Wildwood | Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis (Illus.) |
| Picture Book | I Want My Hat Back | Jon Klassen |
| 2013[3][4] | Adult Fiction | The Round House | Louise Erdrich |
| Adult Nonfiction | Wild | Cheryl Strayed |
| 2014[5][6] | Adult Fiction | Life After Life | Kate Atkinson |
| Adult Nonfiction | The Boys in the Boat | Daniel James Brown |
| Adult Debut | A Constellation of Vital Phenomena | Anthony Marra |
| Young Adult | Eleanor & Park | Rainbow Rowell |
| Indie Champion | James Patterson | |
| 2015 | Adult Fiction | All the Light We Cannot See | Anthony Doerr |
| Adult Nonfiction | Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End | Atul Gawande |
| Adult Debut | The Martian | Andy Weir |
| Young Adult | The Darkest Part of the Forest | Holly Black |
| Indie Champion | Neil Gaiman | |
| Amanda Palmer | |
| 2016[7] | Adult Fiction | Fates and Furies | Lauren Groff | Winner |
| City on Fire | Garth Risk Hallberg | Honor |
| Get in Trouble | Kelly Link |
| A Little Life | Hanya Yanagihara |
| The Sympathizer | Viet Thanh Nguyen |
| Welcome to Braggsville | T. Geronimo Johnson |
| Adult Nonfiction | Between the World and Me | Ta-Nehisi Coates | Winner |
| Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania | Erik Larson | Honor |
| Don't Suck, Don't Die: Giving Up Vic Chesnutt | Kristin Hersh |
| H Is for Hawk | Helen Macdonald |
| Hold Still: A Memoir With Photographs | Sally Mann |
| Where the Dead Pause, and the Japanese Say Goodbye: A Journey | Marie Mutsuki Mockett |
| Adult Debut | Kitchens of the Great Midwest: A Novel | J. Ryan Stradal | Winner |
| Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen | Mary Norris | Honor |
| Dragonfish | Vu Tran |
| The Meursault Investigation | Kamel Daoud |
| Our Endless Numbered Days | Claire Fuller |
| The Turner House | Angela Flournoy |
| Young Adult | Anna and the Swallow Man | Gavriel Savit | Winner |
| Nimona | ND Stevenson |
| Dumplin’ | Julie Murphy | Honor |
| More Happy Than Not | Adam Silvera |
| Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda | Becky Albertalli |
| Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad | M. T. Anderson |
| Indie Champion | Richard Russo | | Winner |
| Dave Eggers | | Honor |
| Louise Erdrich | |
| Loren Long | |
| Celeste Ng | |
| Maggie Stiefvater |