Best Books of 2011

Best Books of 2011

It's time for my list of what I've read in 2011 and my best books of 2011.

It's been an interesting year. Due to a new job, among other things, my reading has been drastically reduced for the last part of the year. I've freely set aside anything that hasn't interested me, though, which made for more quality books in the long run.

Top Fiction - in no particular order. (If I put two books by the same author on this list I've just listed the books together.)

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

Northwest Corner by John Burnham Schwartz

In the Walled City: Stories and Emily, Alone by Stewart O'Nan,

River of the Brokenhearted and The Friends of Meager Fortune  by David Adams Richards

Doc by Mary Doria Russell

Perdido Street Station and Un Lun Dun  by China Miéville

Ibid: A Life by Mark Dunn

City of Saints and Madmen by Jeff VanderMeer

Amaryllis in Blueberry by Christina Meldrum

Top Nonfiction

 

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by  Anne Fadiman

In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson

Atlantic by Simon Winchester

Strange Relation by Rachel Hadas

Inside a Cutter's Mind by Jerusha Clark, with Dr. Earl R Henslin

Packing for Mars by Mary Roach

Truth and Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett

Ava's Man by Rick Bragg

2011 Books:

98 books; 37,166 pages,

* denotes very highly recommended books

(book, author, pages, date reviewed, rating)

January - 11 books, 4,600 pages

*1. The Doomsday Key by James Rollins, 448 pages, 1/2/11, very highly recommended 

*2. City of Saints and Madmen by Jeff VanderMeer, 704 pages, 1/6/11, very highly recommended

3. Shriek: An Afterword by Jeff VanderMeer, 352 pages, 1/8/11, highly recommended
4. Finch by Jeff VanderMeer, 339 pages, 1/9/11, very highly recommended

*5. The Lost City of Z  by David Grann, 448 pages, 1/18/11, very highly recommended

*6. Ibid: A Life by Mark Dunn, 270 pages, 1/19/11, very highly recommended
*7. Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane, 336 pages, 1/21/11, very highly recommended

*8. Strange Relation by Rachel Hadas, 240 pages, 1/23/11, very highly recommended

9. The Hunt for Atlantis by Andy McDermott, 544 pages, 1/24/11, highly recommended

10. Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds, 592 pages, 1/30/11, highly recommended

11. Jamestown by Matthew Sharpe, 327 pages, 1/31/11, so-so

February - 9 books, 4367 pages

*12. Redemption Ark by Alastair Reynolds, 704 pages, 2/4/11 very highly recommended

13. Absolution Gap by Alastair Reynolds, 768 pages, 2/8/11, recommended

14. Ancients by David L. Golemon, 480 pages, 2/11/11, recommended (in series)

15. Leviathan by David L. Golemon, 368 pages, 2/14/11, highly recommended

16. The Pesthouse by Jim Crace, 255 pages, 2/16/11, highly recommended

17. Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell, 272 pages, 2/19/11, highly recommended

18. The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas, 496 pages, 2/22/11, not recommended

19. Deeper Than the Dead by Tami Hoag, 560 pages, 2/25/11, highly recommended

20. Secrets to the Grave by Tami Hoag, 464 pages, 2/27/11, highly recommended

March - 15 books, 5101 pages

21. Gideon's Sword by Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child, 352 pages, 3/1/11, highly recommended

*22. In the Walled City: Stories by Stewart O'Nan, 170 pages, 3/2/11, very highly recommended

*23. Comes the Darkness, Comes the Light: A Memoir of Cutting, Healing, and Hope by Vanessa Vega, 240 pages, 3/5/11, very highly recommended
24. When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris, 336 pages, 3/4/11, highly recommended

*25. Inside a Cutter's Mind by Jerusha Clark, with Dr. Earl R Henslin, 240 pages, 3/6/11, very highly recommended

26. The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly, 432 pages, 3/7/11, highly recommended

27. The Slynx by Tatyana Tolstaya, 288 pages, 3/10/11, highly recommended

28. Salvation City by Sigrid Nunez, 288 pages, 3/13/11, highly recommended

*29. River of the Brokenhearted by David Adams Richards, 381 pages, 3/16/11, very highly recommended

30. Into the Looking Glass  by John Ringo, 366 pages, 3/18/11, highly recommended

31. Reality Is Broken by Jane McGonigal, 388 pages, 3/20/11, recommended 

*32. Packing for Mars by Mary Roach, 334 pages, 3/22/11, very highly recommended

33. Feed by Mira Grant, 608 pages, 3/24/11, highly recommended

34. Georgia Bottoms by Mark Childress, 288 pages, 3/25/11, recommended

35. Deep Black: Death Wave by Stephen Coonts and William H. Keith, 390 pages, 3/28/11, recommended

(not counted) LaRue Across America by Mark Teague,  40 pages, 3/29/11, childrens book

April - 12 books, 4384 pages

*36. Perdido Street Station by China Miéville, 720 pages, 4/2/11, very highly recommended

37. Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire, 352 pages, 4/6/11, recommended

*38. Truth and Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett, 272 pages, 4/8/11, very highly recommended

39. Stealing the Marbles by E. J. Knapp, 302 pages, 4/10/11, highly recommended

*40. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn, 272 pages, 4/12/11, very highly recommended

*41. Dark Places by Gillian Flynn, 368 pages, 4/14/11, very highly recommended

*42. The City and the City by China Miéville, 336 pages, 4/16/11, very highly recommended

43. Solomon Spring by Michelle Black, 314 pages, 4/19, recommended

*44. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by  Anne Fadiman, 360 pages, 4/22, very highly recommended

45. Death of a Chimney Sweep  by M. C. Beaton, 247 pages, 4/23, highly recommended

*46. The Friends of Meager Fortune by David Adams Richards, 377 pages, 4/27/11, very highly recommended

47. Juniper Tree Burning by Goldberry Long, 464 pages, 4/30/11, highly recommended

May - 9 books, 3138 pages

48. Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks, 306 pages, 5/4/11, highly recommended

49. Tabloid City by Pete Hamill, 278 pages, 5/6/11, highly recommended 

50. Pitch Dark by Steven Sidor, 320 pages, 5/8/11, recommended

51. Zor: Philosophy, Spirituality and Science by J. B., 268 pages, 5/9/11, highly recommended

*52. You're Next by Gregg Hurwitz, 406 pages, 5/12/11, very highly recommended53. Exponential Apocalypse by Eirik Gumeny, 200 pages, 5/17/11, highly recommended

*54. Pulse by Jeremy Robinson, 336 pages, 5/20/11, very highly recommended 

*55. Flood by Stephen Baxter, 496 pages, 5/27/11, very highly recommended

56. Rules of Betrayal by Christopher Reich, 528 pages, 5/31/11, recommended

June - 3 books, 1136 pages

57. The Sister by Poppy Adams, 304 pages, 6/2/11, highly recommended

*58. In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson, 464 pages, 6/7/11, very highly recommended 

59. Embassytown by China Miéville, 368 pages, 6/11/11, highly recommended

July - 10 books, 3635 pages

*60. Ark by Stephen Baxter, 544 pages, 7/5/11, very highly recommended

61. Dry Ice by Bill Evans and Marianna Jameson,  320 pages, 7/9/11, recommended

*62. As Silver Refined by Kay Arthur, pg 356, 7/12/11, very highly recommended

*63. It Came from The '70s by Connie Corcoran Wilson, 260 pages, 7/13/11, very highly recommended 

*64. State of Wonder by Ann Patchett, 368 pages, 7/15/11, very highly recommended

*65. Doc by Mary Doria Russell, 416 pages, 7/17/11, very highly recommended
66. The Memory of All That by Katharine Weber, 267 pages, 7/20/11 recommended

67. The Ledge by Jim Davidson and Kevin Vaughan, 288 pages, 7/24/11, highly recommended 

*68. Instinct by Jeremy Robinson, 368 pages, 7/27/11, very highly recommended

69. Meg: Hell's Aquarium by Steve Alten, 448 pages, 7/28/11, highly recommended

August - 8 books, 2965

70. A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, 352 pages, 8/2/11, highly recommended

*71. Un Lun Dun by China Miéville, 496 pages, 8/8/11, very highly recommended

72. Valley of Day-Glo by Nick DiChario, 240 pages, 8/10/11, highly recommended

*73. Northwest Corner by John Burnham Schwartz, 304 pages, 8/11/11, very highly recommended

*74. Due Preparations for the Plague by Janette Turner Hospital, 401 pages, 8/14/11, very highly recommended

75. A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick, 291 pages, 8/16/11, highly recommended

76. Germ by Robert Liparulo, 496 pages, 8/22/11, recommended

77. Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson, 385 pages, 8/27/11, highly recommended

September - 8 books, 2991 pages

78. Kraken by China Miéville, 528 pages, 9/5/11, highly recommended

79. Model Home by Eric Puchner, 360 pages, 9/6/11, highly recommended

80. Carry Yourself Back to Me by Deborah Reed, 303 pages, 9/11/11, recommended

*81. Ava's Man by Rick Bragg, 272 pages, 9/14/11, very highly recommended

82. Love At Absolute Zero by Christopher Meeks, 312 pages, 9/21/11, highly recommended

*83. Mystic River by Dennis Lehane, 416 pages, 9/22/11, very highly recommended

*84. Boundaries by Dr. Henry Cloud , Dr. John Townsend, 304 pages, 9/26/11, very highly recommended

85. My God, What Have We Done? by Susan V. Weiss, 496 pages, 9/29/11,  highly recommended

October - 4 books, 1552 pages

*86. Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King, 384 pages, 10/4/11, very highly recommended

*87. Emily, Alone by Stewart O'Nan, 272 pages, 10/8/11, very highly recommended

*88. Atlantic by Simon Winchester. 512 pages, 10/22/11, very highly recommended

*89. Amaryllis in Blueberry by Christina Meldrum, 384 pages, 10/29/11, very highly recommended

November - 5 books, 1520 pages

90. King Rat by China Miéville, 320 pages, 11/4/11, highly recommended

*91.Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel, 224 pages, 11/6/11, very highly recommended

92.Tunnel Vision by Gary Braver, 384 pages, 11/12/11, highly recommended

93. The Accidental Activist by Alon Shalev, 272 pages, 11/16/11, recommended

94. Rollback by Robert Sawyer, 320 pages, 11/20/11, highly recommended

December - 4 books, 1777 pages

95. Laughing Through Life by Connie Corcoran Wilson, 180 pages, 12/1/11, recommended

96. So Far Away by Christine W. Hartmann, 224 pages, 12/14/11, highly recommended

97. 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami, 944 pages, 12/17/11, highly recommended

98. Micro by Michael Crichton and Richard Preston, 429 pages, 12/21/11, highly recommended