I read sixty books in 2011, counting novels and short story collections and graphic novels and audiobooks (yes, I do count listening to a book the same as reading a book). I enjoyed many of those books. Below are the books that I really enjoyed, in no particular order except in which I read/listened to them. Novels:
- BEAT THE REAPER by Josh Bazell
- THE CARETAKER OF LORNE FIELD by Dave Zeltserman
- SWAMPLANDIA! by Karen Russell
- EVERY SHALLOW CUT by Tom Piccirilli
- EMILY, ALONE by Stewart O’Nan
- RUN by Blake Crouch
- THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins
- FUN AND GAMES by Duane Swierczynski
- THE GROVE by John Rector
- BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS by Kurt Vonnegut
- READY PLAYER ONE by Ernest Cline
- DEATH WISHING by Laura Ellen Scott
- THE IMPERFECTIONISTS by Tom Rachman (under novels, but it's really a novel-in-stories)
Stories:
- MAD TO LIVE by Randall Brown
- STORIES FOR NIGHTTIME AND SOME FOR THE DAY by Ben Loory
Audiobooks:
- THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN by Garth Stein, read by Christopher Evan Welch
- 61 HOURS by Lee Child, read by Dick Hill
- WORTH DYING FOR by Lee Child, read by Dick Hill
- FEAST DAY OF FOOLS, by James Lee Burke, read by Will Patton
Nonfiction:
- MICROSTYLE: THE ART OF WRITING LITTER by Christopher Johnson
(I'm also currently reading 11/22/63 by Stephen King, about only 200 pages in. It's good so far, and practically everyone who has read it says it's amazing, and while it might be, I won't prematurely add it to the list. Hopefully it will be on next year's list.)
Note: I also purposely made sure there were more male authors on this list so that it creates a big hoopla that will occupy people's minds for a few days and then dissipate as they become enraged at something else just as asinine. (Okay, not really.)
So how about you? What books did you read this year that you really enjoyed?