| 2025 | James | American Book Awards source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Winner · Book | |
| 2025 | James | Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Winner · Fiction | |
| 2025 | James | Hurston/Wright Legacy Award source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Winner · Fiction | |
| 2025 | James | Pulitzer Prize for Fiction source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Winner · Fiction | |
| 2025 | James | British Book Awards source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Winner · Fiction Book of the Year | |
| 2025 | James | Dayton Literary Peace Prize source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Finalist · Fiction | |
| 2025 | James | PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Finalist · Fiction | |
| 2025 | James | Aspen Words Literary Prize source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Shortlist · Fiction | |
| 2025 | James | Dublin Literary Award source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Shortlist · Fiction | |
| 2024 | James | Barnes & Noble Book of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Winner · Book of the Year | |
| 2024 | James | Kirkus Prize source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Winner · Fiction | |
| 2024 | James | National Book Awards source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Winner · Fiction | |
| 2024 | James | National Book Critics Circle Awards source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Finalist · Fiction | |
| 2024 | James: A Novel | Los Angeles Times Book Prizes source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Finalist · Fiction | |
| 2024 | James | Waterstones Book of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Shortlist · Book of the Year | |
| 2024 | James | Booker Prize source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Shortlist · Fiction | |
| 2024 | James | The Orwell Prize (book prizes) source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Shortlist · Political Fiction | |
| 2024 | James | Goodreads Choice Awards source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Nominee · Audiobook | |
| 2024 | James | Goodreads Choice Awards source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Nominee · Historical Fiction | |
| 2024 | James | Washington Post Best Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · 10 Best Books | |
| 2024 | James | TIME Best Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · 100 Must-Read | |
| 2024 | James | Booklist Editors' Choice source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Adult Books: Fiction | |
| 2024 | James | The Atlantic Best Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Best Books | |
| 2024 | James | Chicago Tribune Best Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Best Books | |
| 2024 | James | Esquire Best Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Best Books | |
| 2024 | James | Los Angeles Times Best Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Best Books | |
| 2024 | James | The Telegraph Best Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Best Books | |
| 2024 | James | NPR Books We Love source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Books We Love | |
| 2024 | James | The Irish Times Best Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Books of the Year | |
| 2024 | James | The New Yorker Best Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Essential Reads | |
| 2024 | James | Barack Obama's Favorite Books source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Favorite Books | |
| 2024 | James | Barnes & Noble Best Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Fiction | |
| 2024 | James | BookPage Best Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Fiction | |
| 2024 | James | The Boston Globe Best Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Fiction | |
| 2024 | James | The Economist Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Fiction | |
| 2024 | James | The Globe and Mail Globe 100 source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Fiction | |
| 2024 | James | Kirkus Best Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Fiction | |
| 2024 | James | New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Fiction | |
| 2024 | James | Paste Best Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Fiction | |
| 2024 | James | TIME Best Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Fiction | |
| 2024 | James | New York Times 100 Notable Books source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Fiction & Poetry | |
| 2024 | James | Library Journal Best Books source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Literary Fiction | |
| 2024 | James: A Novel | Chicago Public Library Best of the Best source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Must-Read Books: Fiction | |
| 2024 | James: A Novel | Chicago Public Library Best of the Best source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Our Favorite Books | |
| 2024 | James: A Novel | Chicago Public Library Best of the Best source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Our Favorite Books: Top 10 | |
| 2024 | James | Barack Obama's Favorite Books source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Summer Reading | |
| 2024 | James | BookPage Best Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Top 10 | |
| 2024 | James | Publishers Weekly Best Books source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Top 10 | |
| 2024 | James | Amazon Editors' Best Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Top 20 | |
| 2023 | Dr. No | PEN America Literary Awards source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Winner · PEN/Jean Stein Book Award | |
| 2023 | The Trees | Dublin Literary Award source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Shortlist · Fiction | |
| 2022 | The Trees | Hurston/Wright Legacy Award source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Winner · Fiction | |
| 2022 | Dr. No | National Book Critics Circle Awards source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Finalist · Fiction | |
| 2022 | The Trees: A Novel | PEN America Literary Awards source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Finalist · PEN/Jean Stein Book Award | |
| 2022 | The Trees | Booker Prize source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Shortlist · Fiction | |
| 2022 | The Trees | PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Longlist · Fiction | |
| 2022 | Dr. No | The New Yorker Best Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Also Recommended | |
| 2022 | Dr. No: A Novel | Chicago Public Library Best of the Best source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Best Books | |
| 2022 | Dr. No: A Novel | NPR Books We Love source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Books We Love | |
| 2022 | Dr. No | Kirkus Best Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Fiction | |
| 2022 | Dr. No | Publishers Weekly Best Books source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Fiction | |
| 2022 | The Trees | The Economist Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Fiction | |
| 2022 | Dr. No | New York Times 100 Notable Books source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Fiction & Poetry | |
| 2022 | Dr. No | Washington Post Best Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Notable Fiction | |
| 2021 | Telephone | Hurston/Wright Legacy Award source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Winner · Fiction | |
| 2021 | Telephone | Pulitzer Prize for Fiction source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Finalist · Fiction | |
| 2021 | The Trees | TIME Best Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · 100 Must-Read | |
| 2021 | The Trees | Chicago Tribune Best Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Best Books | |
| 2021 | The Trees: A Novel | Chicago Public Library Best of the Best source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Best Books | |
| 2021 | The Trees: A Novel | NPR Books We Love source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Books We Love | |
| 2021 | Damned If I Do | The Irish Times Best Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Books of the Year | |
| 2021 | The Trees | New York Times 100 Notable Books source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Fiction & Poetry | |
| 2017 | So Much Blue | Vulture / New York Magazine Best Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Best Books | |
| 2017 | So Much Blue | Los Angeles Times Best Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Fiction | |
| 2015 | Percival Everett by Virgil Russell | Dublin Literary Award source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Longlist · Fiction | |
| 2015 | Half An Inch Of Water: Stories | NPR Books We Love source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Books We Love | |
| 2014 | Percival Everett by Virgil Russell | PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Finalist · Fiction | |
| 2013 | Percival Everett by Virgil Russell | Los Angeles Times Book Prizes source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Finalist · Fiction | |
| 2013 | Assumption | Dublin Literary Award source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Longlist · Fiction | |
| 2013 | Percival Everett by Virgil Russell | Publishers Weekly Best Books source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Fiction | |
| 2010 | I Am Not Sidney Poitier | Hurston/Wright Legacy Award source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Winner · Fiction | |
| 2007 | The Water Cure | Washington Post Best Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Notable Fiction | |