The twice-monthly book review magazine, Kirkus Reviews, recently released its Best Books of 2011 list, and more than a few popular titles from the previous year made the cut. This list is worth a look because the folks at Kirkus Reviews know their books. In a typical year, the magazine spotlights nearly 5,000 books, including works of fiction, nonfiction, children’s fantasy, mystery, sci-fi, translations and young adult books.
This year’s Best of 2011 was divided into five categories – Best Fiction, Best Nonfiction, Best Children, Best Teen and Best Indie. Eighty-eight books were named to the Best Fiction list, and 63 books made the Best Nonfiction list. The lists are arranged in alphabetical order.
Below you’ll find complete lists of the books that made the Best Fiction and Best Nonfiction lists. To read more about these books and to see those recognized in the Best Children, Best Teen and Best Indie categories, visit www.kirkusreviews.com/best-of/2011/fiction.
BEST FICTION OF 2011:
1. 11/22/63 by Stephen King
2. 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
3. AMERICAN MASCULINE by Shann Ray
4. ANNABEL by Kathleen Winter
5. THE ART OF FIELDING by Chad Harbach
6. BACK OF BEYOND by C.J. Box
7. BLOODMONEY by David Ignatius
8. BRIGHT AND DISTANT SHORES by Dominic Smith
9. THIS BURNS MY HEART by Samuel Park
10. BUZZ ALDRIN, WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU IN ALL THE CONFUSION? by Johan Harstad
11. THE CALL by Yannick Murphy
12. CLOSE YOUR EYES by Amanda Eyre Ward
13. THE COMPLAINTS by Ian Rankin
14. A CUPBOARD FULL OF COATS by Yvvette Edwards
15. DEAD DOGS AND ENGLISHMEN by Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli
16. DRAWING CONCLUSIONS by Donna Leon
17. ECHOES OF THE DEAD by Sally Spencer
18. EMBASSYTOWN by China Miéville
19. THE EMPTY FAMILY by Colm Tóibín
20. EYES WIDE OPEN by Andrew Gross
21. FAITH by Jennifer Haigh
22. THE FAMILY FANG by Kevin Wilson
23. WITH FATE CONSPIRE by Marie Brennan
24. THE FORGOTTEN WALTZ by Anne Enright
25. GALORE by Michael Crummey
26. THE GENTLEMEN'S HOUR by Don Winslow
27. THE GRIEF OF OTHERS by Leah Hager Cohen
28. GUILT BY ASSOCIATION by Marcia Clark
29. THE HUM AND THE SHIVER by Alex Bledsoe
30. THE INFERNALS by John Connolly
31. THE INFORMANT by Thomas Perry
32. THE KING OF DIAMONDS by Simon Tolkien
33. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN by Adam Ross
34. LAST MAN IN TOWER by Aravind Adiga
35. THE LEFTOVERS by Tom Perrotta
36. IN THIS LIGHT by Melanie Rae Thon
37. LUCIFER'S TEARS by James Thompson
38. THE MAGICIAN KING by Lev Grossman
39. THE MARRIAGE PLOT by Jeffrey Eugenides
40. THE MIGHTY WALZER by Howard Jacobson
41. MISTERIOSO by Arne Dahl
42. A MOMENT IN THE SUN by John Sayles
43. MOONDOGS by Alexander Yates
44. THE NIGHT CIRCUS by Erin Morgenstern
45. NOW YOU SEE ME by S.J. Bolton
46. ONCE UPON A TIME, THERE WAS YOU by Elizabeth Berg
47. OPEN CITY by Teju Cole
48. ORIENTATION AND OTHER STORIES by Daniel Orozco
49. OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY by Justin Cartwright
50. THE OUTLAW ALBUM by Daniel Woodrell
51. THE PARIS WIFE by Paula McLain
52. PARTITIONS by Amit Majmudar
53. PICTURES OF YOU by Caroline Leavitt
54. THE PRAGUE CEMETERY by Umberto Eco
55. THE QUANTUM THIEF by Hannu Rajaniemi
56. REAMDE by Neal Stephenson
57. RED ON RED by Edward Conlon
58. THE RICHEST HILL ON EARTH by Richard S. Wheeler
59. RIZZO'S FIRE by Lou Manfredo
60. THE ROCK HOLE by Reavis Z. Wortham
61. RULE 34 by Charles Stross
62. SCHOLAR by L.E. Modesitt Jr.
63. THE SCRAPBOOK OF FRANKIE PRATT by Caroline Preston
64. THE SECRET HISTORY OF COSTAGUANA by Juan Gabriel Vásquez
65. THE SENSE OF AN ENDING by Julian Barnes
66. THE SISTERS by Nancy Jensen
67. THE SLY COMPANY OF PEOPLE WHO CARE by Rahul Bhattacharya
68. THE SNOWMAN by Jo Nesbø
69. SNUFF by Terry Pratchett
70. SPELLBOUND by Blake Charlton
71. STATE OF WONDER by Ann Patchett
72. STEALING MONA LISA by Carson Morton
73. THE STRANGER YOU SEEK by Amanda Kyle Williams
74. THE SUBMISSION by Amy Waldman
75. THICK AS THIEVES by Peter Spiegelman
76. TRACKERS by Deon Meyer
77. THE TRAGEDY OF ARTHUR by Arthur Phillips
78. THE TRINITY SIX by Charles Cumming
79. TROPHY by Michael Griffith
80. THE TROUBLED MAN by Henning Mankell
81. TURN OF MIND by Alice LaPlante
82. UNTIL THE DAWN'S LIGHT by Aharon Appelfeld
83. VERY BAD MEN by Harry Dolan
84. WE THE ANIMALS by Justin Torres
85. WE OTHERS by Steven Millhauser
86. WHEN THE SAINTS by Dave Duncan
87. THE WOODCUTTER by Reginald Hill
88. THE YEAR WE LEFT HOME by Jean Thompson
BEST NONFICTION OF 2011:
1. 1493 by Charles C. Mann
2. 1861 by Adam Goodheart
3. 33 REVOLUTIONS PER MINUTE by Dorian Lynskey
4. ARRIVAL CITY by Doug Saunders
5. ASSASSINS OF THE TURQUOISE PALACE by Roya Hakakian
6. THE BEAUTY AND THE SORROW by Peter Englund
7. THE BEGINNING OF INFINITY by David Deutsch
8. BENTO'S SKETCHBOOK by John Berger
9. BLOOD, BONES, AND BUTTER by Gabrielle Hamilton
10. BLUE NIGHTS by Joan Didion
11. THE BODY POLITIC by Jonathan D. Moreno
12. BORN IN AFRICA by Martin Meredith
13. BOTTOM OF THE 33RD by Dan Barry
14. THE BRILLIANT DISASTER by Jim Rasenberger
15. CHARLES DICKENS by Claire Tomalin
16. COURAGE BEYOND THE GAME by Jim Dent
17. DEADLY CHOICES by Paul A. Offit
18. DEATH IN THE CITY OF LIGHT by David King
19. DEEP FUTURE by Curt Stager
20. THE DESTINY OF THE REPUBLIC by Candice Millard
21. THE ECSTASY OF INFLUENCE by Jonathan Lethem
22. ELECTRIC EDEN by Rob Young
23. EVERYONE LOVES YOU WHEN YOU'RE DEAD by Neil Strauss
24. FIRST CONTACT by Marc Kaufman
25. FOUNDING GARDENERS by Andrea Wulf
26. IN THE GARDEN OF BEASTS by Erik Larson
27. THE GREATER JOURNEY by David McCullough
28. GREEN IS THE NEW RED by Will Potter
29. HALFWAY TO HOLLYWOOD by Michael Palin
30. HEARTS TOUCHED BY FIRE by Harold Holzer
31. HERE ON EARTH by Tim Flannery
32. THE HONORED DEAD by Joseph Braude
33. HOT by Mark Hertsgaard
34. HOWARD COSELL by Mark Ribowsky
35. INFERNO by Max Hastings
36. THE INFLUENCING MACHINE by Brooke Gladstone
37. INSIDE SCIENTOLOGY by Janet Reitman
38. JANE FONDA by Patricia Bosworth
39. JERUSALEM, JERUSALEM by James Carroll
40. IS JOURNALISM WORTH DYING FOR? by Anna Politkovskaya
41. LENNON by Tim Riley
42. THE LONGEST WAR by Peter L. Bergen
43. LOST IN SHANGRI-LA by Mitchell Zuckoff
44. LOVE AND CAPITAL by Mary Gabriel
45. THE MAN IN THE ROCKEFELLER SUIT by Mark Seal
46. THE MEMORY PALACE by Mira Bartók
47. MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD by David S. Reynolds
48. THE ORIGINS OF POLITICAL ORDER by Francis Fukuyama
49. IN THE PLEX by Steven Levy
50. SMOKING TYPEWRITERS by John McMillian
51. THE SOCIAL ANIMAL by David Brooks
52. THE STORM OF WAR by Andrew Roberts
53. THE SWERVE by Stephen Greenblatt
54. THE THOUSAND-YEAR FLOOD by David Welky
55. THE THREAT MATRIX by Garrett M. Graff
56. TIGER, TIGER by Margaux Fragoso
57. TOLSTOY by Rosamund Bartlett
58. TOWNIE by Andre Dubus III
59. AN UNQUENCHABLE THIRST by Mary Johnson
60. WE MEANT WELL by Peter Van Buren
61. WENDY AND THE LOST BOYS by Julie Salamon
62. WITNESS TO AN EXTREME CENTURY by Robert Jay Lifton
63. YOUR VOICE IN MY HEAD by Emma Forrest
In the end, how many of these books have you had the chance to read? Which did you like or dislike and why? Which would you recommend and why? Let us know in the comments section below.
No comments:
Post a Comment