| 100% | HEAR | 4 | Haruki Murakami's first novel "___ the Wind Sing" |
| 63% | SING | 4 | "Hear the Wind ___," 1979 novel by Haruki Murakami that is the first of the "Trilogy of the Rat" series |
| 51% | MIMI | 4 | Fictional Siamese cat from Haruki Murakami's novel "Kafka on the Shore" |
| 43% | BIRD | 4 | "The Wind-Up ____ Chronicle," 1995 novel by Haruki Murakami which received the Yomiuri Literary Award |
| 40% | WEST | 4 | Haruki Murakami's "South of the Border, ___ of the Sun" |
| 38% | MOONSTONE | 9 | Wilkie Collins's The __, the first detective novel |
| 38% | HERMANWOUK | 10 | Author of 1971 novel The Winds of War |
| 38% | PICKWICK | 8 | Charles Dickens' first novel, The __ Papers |
| 37% | WOUK | 4 | Herman —, author of 1971 novel The Winds of War |
| 37% | OPIONEERS | 9 | First novel of the Great Plains trilogy |
| 36% | OUTOFTHE | 8 | & 22A 1938 C S Lewis novel; first part of the Space Trilogy |
| 35% | SOVIET | 6 | The first S in USSR |
| 35% | CASINO | 6 | The first James Bond novel: "__ Royale" |
| 35% | INHERITANCE | 11 | First novel in 39-Across's "The Lost Bride" romance series |
| 34% | ASHLEY | 6 | Scarlett's first love in "Gone With the Wind" |
| 34% | BEAN | 4 | "The ___ Trees" (Barbara Kingsolver's first novel) |
| 34% | GUN | 3 | The —, 1933 novel by C S Forester |
| 34% | SHIP | 4 | The —, 1943 novel by C S Forester |
| 34% | REDDRAGON | 9 | The first novel in the Hannibal Lecter saga |
| 34% | CHERRY | 6 | The Runaways sang first about this fruit bomb |
| 34% | ARE | 3 | First word sung in "Footsteps in the Dark" |
| 34% | PAMPERO | 7 | S American wind that blows across the plains |
| 34% | SELF | 4 | The first "S" in S.A.S.E. |
| 34% | SOV | 3 | The first "S" in S.S.R.: Abbr. |
| 34% | MLK | 3 | First president of the S.C.L.C. |
| 33% | UNEVIE | 6 | Maupassant's first novel |
| 33% | NAUSEA | 6 | Sartre's first novel |
| 33% | TYPEE | 5 | Melville's first novel |
| 33% | SHEEP | 5 | "A Wild ____ Chase," 1982 novel by Haruki Murakami which won the Noma Literary Newcomer's prize |