| Autobiography | | Hardcover | Lauren Bacall by Myself, Lauren Bacall | | Paperback | And I Worked at the Writer's Trade: Chapters of Literary History 1918–1978, Malcolm Cowley |
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| Biography | | Hardcover | The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, Edmund Morris | | Paperback | Max Perkins: Editor of Genius, A. Scott Berg |
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| Children's Books | | Hardcover | A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal, Joan W. Blos | | Paperback | A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Madeleine L'Engle |
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| Current Interest | | Hardcover | Julia Child and More Company, Julia Child | | Paperback | The Culture of Narcissism, Christopher Lasch |
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| Fiction | | Hardcover | Sophie's Choice, William Styron | | Paperback | The World According to Garp, John Irving |
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| First Novel | Birdy, William Wharton |
| General Nonfiction | | Hardcover | The Right Stuff, Tom Wolfe | | Paperback | The Snow Leopard, Peter Matthiessen |
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| General Reference Books | | Hardcover | Congressional Quarterly's Guide to the U.S. Supreme Court, Elder Witt, editor | | Paperback | The Complete Directory of Prime Time Network TV Shows: 1946–Present, Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh |
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| History | | Hardcover | The White House Years, Henry A. Kissinger | | Paperback | A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century, Barbara W. Tuchman |
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| Mystery | | Hardcover | The Green Ripper, John D. MacDonald | | Paperback | Stained Glass, William F. Buckley, Jr. |
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| Poetry | Ashes, Philip Levine |
| Religion/Inspiration | | Hardcover | The Gnostic Gospels, Elaine Pagels | | Paperback | A Severe Mercy, Sheldon Vanauken |
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| Science | | Hardcover | Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, Douglas Hofstadter | | Paperback | The Dancing Wu Li Masters: An Overview of the New Physics, Gary Zukav |
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| Science Fiction | | Hardcover | Jem, Frederik Pohl | | Paperback | The Book of the Dun Cow, Walter Wangerin, Jr. |
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| Translation | Cesare Pavese's Hard Labor, William Arrowsmith |
| Osip E. Mandelstam's Complete Critical Prose and Letters, Jane Garry Harris and Constance Link |
| Western | Bendigo Shafter, Louis L'Amour |
