FAVORITES FOR 2011

Previous Years:

2011 |2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998

___________________

Favorite Reads  in 2011

Our Top Picks are based on the books that we read in a given year. Our selections are not limited to those that we reviewed or those published in 2011. This makes the list broader than the few books we were able to review this year and also keeps within our philosphy that a good book never goes out of style. The MostlyFiction  team always likes to review the new books as they come out — it is exciting to see what our favorite authors are up to — and to discover new ones– but we never want to pass up a good read, no matter when it was written!

(Note: Go here to see ALL the books we reviewed in 2011.)

___________________

POORNIMA APTE

  1. ELEGIES FOR THE BROKENHEARTED by Christie Hodge
  2. THE FAMILY FANG by Kevin Wilson
  3. THE TIGER’S WIFE by Tea Obreht
  4. THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE DAMNED: A PORTRAIT OF THE NEW INDIA by Siddhartha Deb
  5. THE FREE WORLD by David Bezmozgis
  6. GREAT RAILWAY JOURNEYS OF THE WORLD — a collection of essays
  7. JUST MY TYPE: A BOOK ABOUT FONTS by Simon Garfield
  8. YOU DESERVE NOTHING by Alexander Maksik

___________________

GUY SAVAGE

  1. IN A STRANGE ROOM by Damon Galgut
  2. STARTED EARLY, TOOK MY DOG by Kate Atkinson
  3. THE OLD ROMANTIC by Louise Dean
  4. CALLING MR. KING by Ron de Feo
  5. THE TERRIBLE PRIVACY OF MAXWELL SIM by Jonathan Coe
  6. LADIES’ MAN by Richard Price
  7. CRY OF THE OWL by Patricia Highsmith
  8. TRICK OF THE DARK by Val McDermid

___________________

ELEANOR BUKOWSKY

  1. THE SNOWMAN by Jo Nesbo
  2. THE TROUBLED MAN by Henning Mankell
  3. THE DROP by Michael Connelly
  4. A DROP OF THE HARD STUFF by Lawrence Block
  5. THE INFORMANT by Thomas Perry
  6. TURN OF MIND by Alice LaPlante
  7. THE VAULT by Ruth Rendell
  8. ALL CRY CHAOS by Leonard Rosen
  9. THE KEEPER OF LOST CAUSES by Jussi Adler-Olsen
  10. PORTRAIT OF A SPY by Daniel Silva

___________________

BONNIE BRODY

  1. THE LAST BROTHER by Nathacha Appanah
  2. GHOST LIGHT by Joseph O’Connor
  3. YOU KNOW WHEN THE MEN ARE GONE by Siobhan Fallon
  4. THE GIRL WHO FELL FROM THE SKY by Heidi W. Durrow
  5. CARIBOU ISLAND by David Vann
  6. THE DEVIL ALL THE TIME by Donald Ray Pollack
  7. WIDOW: STORIES by Michelle Latiolais
  8. NORTHWEST CORNER John Burnham Schwartz
  9. THE KEEPER OF LOST CAUSES by Jussi Adler-Olsen
  10. BIRDS OF PARADISE by Diana Abu-Jaber
  11. THE STORM AT THE DOOR by Stefan M. Merrill

___________________

DOUG BRUNS

  1. TINKERS by Paul Harding
  2. THE PALE KING by David Foster Wallace
  3. ALTHOUGH OF COURSE YOU END UP BECOMING YOURSELF by David Lipsky
  4. JUST KIDS by Patti Smith
  5. THE EVOLUTION OF BRUNO LITTLEMORE by Benjamin Hale


___________________

BETSEY VAN HORN

  1. A STUDENT OF WEATHER by Elizabeth Hay
  2. THE MEMORY OF LOVE by Aminatta Forna
  3. LIGHTNING PEOPLE by Christopher Bollen
  4. THE LIZARD CAGE by Karen Connelly
  5. NORTHWEST CORNER John Burnham Schwartz
  6. THE ECHO CHAMBER by Luke Williams
  7. THE DEVIL ALL THE TIME by Donald Ray Pollack
  8. AMERICAN MUSIC by Jane Mendelsohn
  9. SO MUCH PRETTY by Cara Hoffman
  10. ENOUGH ABOUT LOVE by Herve Le Tellier
  11. LAKESHORE LIMITED by  Sue Miller

___________________

JILL I. SHTULMAN

  1. VISITATION by Jenny Erpenbeck
  2. THE LIZARD CAGE by Karen Connelly
  3. AMERICAN MUSIC by Jane Mendelsohn
  4. LIGHTNING PEOPLE by Christopher Bollen
  5. THE DEVIL ALL THE TIME by Donald Ray Pollack
  6. WIDOW: STORIES by Michelle Latiolais
  7. NORTHWEST CORNER John Burnham Schwartz
  8. THE LAST MAN IN THE TOWER by Aravind Adiga
  9. ENOUGH ABOUT LOVE by Herve Le Tellier
  10. THE TRAGEDY OF ARTHUR by Arthur Phillips

___________________

ROGER BRUNYATE

  1. ADIOS, HAPPY HOMELAND by Ana Menéndez
  2. VISITATION by Jenny Erpenbeck
  3. THE LAKE SHORE LIMITED by Sue Miller
  4. THE LAST BROTHER by Nathacha Appanah
  5. STATE OF WONDER by Ann Patchett
  6. CALEB’S CROSSING by Geraldine Brooks
  7. ITALIAN SHOES by Henning Mankell
  8. ON CANAAN’S SIDE by Sebastian Barry
  9. THE LAND AT THE END OF THE WORLD by Antonio Lobo Antunes

___________________

FRIEDERIKE KNABE

  1. THE LAST BROTHER by Nathacha Appanah
  2. VISITATION by Jenny Erpenbeck
  3. OIL ON  WATER by  Helon Habila
  4. ITALIAN SHOES by Henning Mankell
  5. STUDENT OF WEATHER by Elizabeth Hay
  6. AFTER MIDNIGHT  by Irmgard Keun
  7. KAMCHATKA by Marcelo Figueras
  8. THE WEEKEND by Bernhard Schlink

___________________

BILL BRODY

  1. THE DEVIL ALL THE TIME by Donald Ray Pollack
  2. EMBASSYTOWN by China Mieville
  3. WIDOW: STORIES by Michelle Latiolais
  4. THE LAST BROTHER by Nathacha Appanah
  5. THE LIZARD CAGE by Karen Connelly
  6. RESERVATION ROAD by John Burnham Schwartz
  7. BOLTZMANN’S TOMB: TRAVELS IN SEARCH OF SCIENCE by Bill Green

___________________

CHUCK BARKSDALE

  1. MISERY BAY by Steve Hamilton
  2. DOPE THIEF by Dennis Tafoya
  3. WALKING THE PERFECT SQUARE by Reed Farrel Coleman
  4. DIE A LITTLE by Megan Abbott
  5. THE CUT by George Pelecanos

___________________

TEREZ ROSE

  1. THE MADONNAS OF ECHO PARK by Brando Skyhorse
  2. THE INVERTED FOREST by John Dalton
  3. THE MURDERER’S DAUGHTERS by Randy Susan Meyers
  4. KINGS OF EARTH by John Clinch
  5. THE MEMORY KEEPER’S DAUGHTER by Kim Edwards
  6. THE COOKBOOK COLLECTOR by Allegra Goodman

___________________

DEVON SHEPHERD

  1. THE POSSIBILITY OF AN ISLAND by Michel Houellebecq
  2. SWAMPLANDIA by Karen Russell
  3. YOU DESERVE NOTHING by Alexander Maksik
  4. A WEEK AT THE AIRPORT by Alain De Boton
  5. YOU ARE NOT A GADGET by Jaron Lanier
  6. GRYPHON by Charles Baxter
  7. THE STRANGERS IN THE HOUSE by George Simenon
  8. STONER by John Williams

___________________

KIRSTIN MERRIHEW

  1. BACK ON MURDER by J. Mark Bertrand
  2. A TRICK OF THE LIGHT by Louise Penny
  3. THE KITCHEN MADONNA by Rumer Godden
  4. THE KEEPER OF LOST CAUSES by Jussi Adler-Olsen
  5.  THE MISSING OF THE SOMME by Geoff Dye
  6. THE INFORMATIONIST by Taylor Stevens
  7. DOC by Mary Doria Russell

___________________

LYNN HARNETT

  1. SWAMPLANDIA by Karen Russell
  2. LORD OF MISRULE by Jaime Gordon
  3. THE FREE WORLD by David Bezmozgis
  4. QUIRK by Hannah Holmes
  5. 22 BRITANNIA ROAD by Amanda Hodgkinson
  6. THE WINTER GHOSTS by Kate Mosse

___________________

MAGGIE HILL

  1. AND YET THEY WERE HAPPY  by Helen Phillips
  2. A WIDOW’S STORY by Joyce Carol Oates
  3. SLOW LOVE by Dominique Brown
  4. TINKERS by Paul Harding

___________________

KATHERINE PETERSEN

  1. THE DRAGON’S PATH by Daniel Abraham
  2. THE HELP by Kathyrn Stockett
  3. DEMON SONG by Cat Adams
  4. HEART OF THE BEAST by Joyce Weatherford
  5. EVENTIDE by Kent Haruf

___________________

JUDI CLARK, EDITOR

  1. STATE OF WONDER by Ann Pratchett
  2. THE FAMILY FANG by Kevin Wilson
  3. SWAMPLANDIA by Karen Russell
  4. A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD by Jennifer Egan
  5. SING THEM HOME by Stephanie Kallos
  6. THE MIRACLE LIFE OF EDGAR MINT by Brady Udall
  7. YOU DESERVE NOTHING by Alexander Maksik
  8. THE KEEPER OF LOST CAUSES by Jussi Adler-Olsen
  9. THE BIG MACHINE by Victor Lavalle
  10. EXTRA INDIANS by Eric Gansworth

___________________

HONORABLE MENTIONS

TOP PICKS by year:

2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.