As the annual judging draws to a close, a small set of grand prize award finalists is announced for the Eric Hoffer Award for Books. This small list or "short list" of finalists is an honored distinction of its own and is announced publicly during the spring of each award year prior to the category winners. Below are the current and previous short-listed entires in alphabetical order by book:

2008
* A Life Unburdened, Richard Morris, New Trends Publishing
* Clown Girl, Monica Drake, Hawthorne Books
* Crossing the Sands, Ariane Audouin-Dubreuil, Dalton Watson Fine Books
* Discipline, Paco Ahlgren, Greenleaf Book Group
* Dismal Rock, Davis McCombs, Tupelo Press
* How Big Is Your God, Paul Coutinho, S.J., Loyola Press
* In New Mexico Light, Douglas Kent Hall, Museum of New Mexico Press
* Lasting Contribution, Tad Waddington, Agate B2 Books
* One Man's War, Dan A. Baker & Tommy LaMore, Taylor Trade Publishing
* Priscilla McDoodleNut DoodleMcMae Asks Why?, Janet Mary Sinke, My Grandma and Me Publishers
* Reflections in a Critical Eye, Jan Whitt, University Press of America
* Scribal Culture and the Making of the Hebrew Bible, Karel van der Toorn Harvard University Press
* The Roman Triumph, Mary Beard, Belknap Press
* Thinking Organized for Parents and Children, Rhona M. Gordon, Thinking Organized Press
* Thought to Exist in the Wild, Derrick Jensen, Photographs by Karen Tweedy-Holms, No Voice Unheard

2007
* A Woman at War: Marlene Dietrich Remembered, J. David Riva, Wayne State University Press
* Diabetes: Sugar-Coated Crisis, David Spero, New Society Publishers
* Greene's Summer, Thomas E. Kennedy, Wynkin De Worde
* The Lewis & Clark Trail American Landscapes, Richard Mack, Quiet Light Publishing
* Under Kilimanjaro, Ernest Hemingway, The Kent State University Press