# What is Your Favorite Book of 2011?



## Cuechick (Oct 28, 2008)

Mine was an easy choice, The Night Circus was easily my favorite book in a while and I am not even done yet (about 10%) left! I also highlighted a few other favs for 2011 in this blog post. I did a search and was a little surprised that there were no threads on this book. It has mystery, romance, magic and is one of the most beautifully written books I have read in ages...



It is already been optioned for a movie (I just pray there will be no one named Kristen playing the lead) and many think it could be the next big series. Very exciting stuff for first time author Erin Morgenstern.... I love her blog by the way.

So what is your top, number one pick for 2011?


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## Cuechick (Oct 28, 2008)

Really, no one has a favorite yet?


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## hs (Feb 15, 2011)

Do you mean favorite book that I read in 2011 or favorite book that was published in 2011?
The best book I've read this year (and for the past several years) is The Hunger Games.
My favorite book published in 2011 is Ernest Cline's Ready Player One.


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## chipotle (Jan 1, 2010)

I have to divide my faves into categories.   

Fiction - Saving Ceecee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman

Contemporary Romance - My One and Only by Kristan Higgins

Historical Romance - Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas

Nonfiction - Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer


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## MLPMom (Nov 27, 2009)

I actually have a page on my blog dedicated to my favorite reads of the year.
I probably need to update it but for the most part those are the books that stood out to me the most this year.

http://myguiltyobsession.blogspot.com/p/favorite-reads-of-2011.html


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## Seanathin23 (Jul 24, 2011)

A Dance With Dragons, but I kind of knew that going in.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

So far, Stephen King's _11/22/63_ gets my vote.


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## djgross (May 24, 2011)

Have to divide mine into categories as well....

Fiction top three for 2011:

  

Nonfiction:


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## mistyd107 (May 22, 2009)

not sure I can name just one but so far here are my top 10 and I suspect 11/22/63 may change the list shortly ( sorry I couldn't narrow it down to just 1 I've read quite a few great books this year it was hard to even narrow it down to these) 

1. Angry Housewives Eating Bonbons-Lorna Landvik
2. Night Road- Kristin Hannah
3. The First Day of The Rest of my Life-Cathy Lamb
4. The flipside of Here(charybdis,#5)-KA Thompson
5. Saving Ceecee Honeycutt-Beth Hoffman
6. Water for Elephants-Sara Gruen
7. The Detective Wade Jackson series(excluding the latest one out this week)- LJ Sellers
8. Its Not about the Cookies-KA Thompson
9. The Love Goddess' Cooking School-Melissa Senate
10.The Thirteenth Tale-Diane Setterfield


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## Trophywife007 (Aug 31, 2009)

Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning. Great conclusion to a five book series.


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## R J Askew (Dec 4, 2011)

LIFE AND FATE ... vasily grossman ... a modern day WAR AND PEACE ... a beautifully observed story, packed with humanity in the direst circumstances that most of us will never encounter ... full of philosophical flashes of plain common sense ... has recently found favour on the BBC ... here's a dab ... 

Human groupings have one main purpose: to assert everyone's right to be different, to be special, to think, feel and live in his or her own way. People join together in order to win or defend this right. But this is where a terrible, fateful error is bor, the belief that these grouping in the name of a race, a God, a party or a State are the very purpose of life and not simply a means to an end. No! The only true and lasting meaning of the struggle for life lies in the individual, in his modest peculiarities and in his right to these peculiarities.


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## LeahSpiegel (Dec 16, 2011)

Hunger Games!!


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## romac (Jun 23, 2010)

Honestly so far it's http://www.amazon.com/Forsaken-Boy-werewolf-novel-ebook/dp/B0046A9V8M/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2

Not a huge name or anything, but a fantastic book in my opinion.

I'm still not finished with Dance (George RR), it's just not holding my interest like the others.


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## Harry Shannon (Jul 30, 2010)

Probably Feast Day for Fools by James Lee Burke.


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## Nicki Leigh (Aug 25, 2011)

I was very slow to start reading this year, as in reading something new. I reread some of my old favorites, but from those I read this year, I really liked the last indie book I read titled "The Gossamer Gate" by Wendy Callahan. It wasn't at all what I expected. When I read, I tend to do it in small spurts, but I had no problem reading her debut novel over the course of one day.

The story itself follows the main character, who's a 25 year old pagan priestess. It covers a lot of the lore about the world of the fea, along with a very different love triangle and an ending that still has me thinking about it.


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## hsuthard (Jan 6, 2010)

Ooh, good thread!

Without a doubt, my favorite is Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny. Amazing book, a mystery that had me sobbing it was so beautiful.

I also loved The Drop by Michael Connelly much more than I expected, and I had high expectations for that one.


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## BRONZEAGE (Jun 25, 2011)

Nonfiction: _*Empire of Blue Water, Celtic From The West.*_
Fiction -- difficult to choose. _*Clara And Mr. Tiffany, Ivory From Paradise, An Atlas of Impossible Longing, Lost Books Of The Odyssey,*_

and Lisa Yarde's _*Sultana*_ Series as notable indie historical fiction.


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## cheriereich (Feb 12, 2011)

Well, it'd be nearly impossible to pick just one book. A few of my favorites from this year are:
ACROSS THE UNIVERSE by Beth Revis
BECOME by Ali Cross
TANGLED TIDES by Karen Amanda Hooper
CREEP by Jennifer Hillier
11/22/63 by Stephen King


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

Divergent by Veronica Roth


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## mscottwriter (Nov 5, 2010)

My favorite read of 2011 was 

I think my favorite book that came out in 2011 is


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## Tamara Rose Blodgett (Apr 1, 2011)

_Beautiful Disaster_ by Jamie McGuire...awesome, flawed and relevant!


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## flipside (Dec 7, 2011)

I have several!

Teeth edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling
Above/Below by Stephanie Campisi/Ben Peek
Brave New Worlds edited by John Joseph Adams
Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti by Genevieve Valentine
Heartbreak & Magic by Ian Rosales Casocot
A Dance With Dragons by George R. R. Martin
Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord
Kobold Guide to Board Game Design edited by Mike Selinker
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
After the Apocalypse by Maureen F. McHugh
The Freedom Maze by Delia Sherman
Three Mesasges and a Warning edited by Eduardo Jiménez Mayo & Chris. N. Brown


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## amiblackwelder (Mar 19, 2010)

I liked Divergent and Eve


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

I've had to think about this one.

Favourite? I'll say Dave Duncan's POCK'S WORLD. http://www.amazon.com/Pocks-World-ebook/dp/B006K5PEC8/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AZC9TZ4UC9CFC

Most anticipated? Jim Butcher's Ghost Story


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## DH_Sayer (Dec 20, 2011)

It's embarrassing how little I've read that came out this year. From that small pool, The Art of Fielding was not too shabby.


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## drenfrow (Jan 27, 2010)

Cuechick said:


> Mine was an easy choice, The Night Circus was easily my favorite book in a while and I am not even done yet (about 10%) left!


_The Night Circus_ was my #2 for the year. I listened to it as an audiobook with an incredible narrator. Loved it.
My #1 read of the year was _Unbroken_.


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## mscottwriter (Nov 5, 2010)

drenfrow said:


> _The Night Circus_ was my #2 for the year. I listened to it as an audiobook with an incredible narrator. Loved it.
> My #1 read of the year was _Unbroken_.


I've had Night Circus on hold at the library seemingly forever! It's one I've been looking forward to quite a bit after hearing so much about it on different forums.


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## Cuechick (Oct 28, 2008)

Thanks for all the great responses, I have already downloaded a few samples... 

also I don't care if it came out this year or 100 years ago, just your fav you read this year...


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## Neekeebee (Jan 10, 2009)

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.  I can't believe it took me so long to get to it!  

And it was published 100 years ago, 1911 according to Goodreads. 

N


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## Cuechick (Oct 28, 2008)

That is funny Neekeebee, I can still remember picking that book out at a book store, it was a bit of splurge for my Mom at the time. I was about 10 and  I devoured it. It was the book that made me love reading!


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## bordercollielady (Nov 21, 2008)

Has to be "11-22-63".  Loved that book - enough that I want to reread it.  Also turned me back into a Stephen King fan after many years of ignoring his work.


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## Geemont (Nov 18, 2008)

And Audio Version Only: 

Correction, new direct Polish to English translation, for Kindle now available for $4.99


Not sure yet, but I think 1Q84 may make the cut as one of the best of 2011.


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## Polarwolf (Dec 21, 2011)

My favorite book this year was:

DAEMON - Daniel Suarez
(And the second part: DARKNET - in english: FREEDOM(TM))


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## Todd Young (May 2, 2011)

The best I read was The Magus by John Fowles. A slow beginning, but an absolutely incredible book.


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## teeitup (Nov 1, 2008)

Cuechick said:


> That is funny Neekeebee, I can still remember picking that book out at a book store, it was a bit of splurge for my Mom at the time. I was about 10 and I devoured it. It was the book that made me love reading!


I also love The Secret Garden and remember so clearly when I got it at our library when I was about 10. I always think of it as the book that defined my obsession with reading. I re-read it last year, 50+ years after the first time, and it still rang true as a favorite.

My favorites this year were Unbroken and The Millenium Trilogy (loved the series).


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## Kathleen Valentine (Dec 10, 2009)

_The Paris Wife
The Sea Captain's Wife
Opal: The Journal of an Understanding Heart
The Day the Falls Stood Still_


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## davidhburton (Mar 11, 2010)

Three-way tie.


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## AllisonKraft (Sep 13, 2011)

Hard to choose just one. So my top 3 are:

Ready Player One
Shadowfever
Divergent

With 11/22/63 as runner-up.


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## jpb (Dec 22, 2011)

My favorite is Inheritance by Christopher Paolini! I read all of the books in the series and each one just got better and better! I definitly recommend!


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## Colin Taber (Apr 4, 2011)

Hi,

I didn't get through as many books I'd normally do in a year, but the two that stood out for me were:



and


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## Guest (Dec 24, 2011)

For me, it was Amy Kinzer's "Girl Over the Edge". Needs another edit/proofread, but nothing major enough to stop the book from knocking my proverbial socks off. (I never wear socks, actually. I live in Florida. Maybe knocked my flip flops off would work better!)


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## michaelabayomi (Dec 13, 2011)

Favorite book that came out this year: Stephen King - 11/22/63
Favorite book I read this year: Philip K. Dick - The Man in the High Castle


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## hs (Feb 15, 2011)

Here are my top 10:

1. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
2. Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
3. Feed - Mira Grant
4. Unwind - Neal Shusterman
5. MockingJay - Suzanne Collins
6. Ready Player One - Ernest Cline
7. John Dies at the End - David Wong
8. Smoke and Mirrors - Neil Gaiman
9. Severance Package - Duane Swierczynski
10. The Scorch Trials - James Dashner

I also posted the list on my blog: http://hswriting.blogspot.com/2011/12/favorite-reads-of-2011.html


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

I posted my favorite e-books of 2011 yesterday on my blog. These are not by any means all published in 2011, but were all read for the first time by me this year.


_Death and the Penguin_, by Andrey Kurkov: a quirky look at post-Soviet life in the Ukraine, difficult to describe in one sentence but well worth a look.
_Snuff_, by Terry Pratchett: the latest Discworld installment; not Pratchett's best, which still puts it well above most of the stuff out there.
_The Dark Side Of The Sun_, by Terry Pratchett: one of Sir Terry's first novels, providing an interesting preview of some of the themes and names that would show up later in his better known books.
_Broken Mirrors_, by T.A. Pratt: another entry in this urban fantasy series that I believe deserves more attention than it has received.
_The Name of the Wind_ and _The Wise Man's Fear_, by Patrick Rothfuss: the first was a fresh entry in the fantasy genre, original and well written. The second book didn't hold up quite as well for me, but was still a very good read.
_Collider: The Search for the World's Smallest Particles_, by Paul Halpern: a very interesting look into the history and current status of high energy particle physics.
_Halting State_, by Charles Stross: a near-future sci-fi mystery with lots of good stuff going on, slightly offset by the use of second person present tense throughout - which while I could see a reason for using it, still found it to be a bit off-putting.


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## Nancy Beck (Jul 1, 2011)

Fave books this year? To paraphrase the Lays potato chips ad, couldn't read just one.  

The Color of Magic, Terry Prachett. Lots of wild, wacky fun (just my speed!). Big thanks to NogDog!

The Disappeared: A Retrieval Artist Novel, Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Fell in love with the characters and writing of this first of the series. Liked it so much, I purchased the next one (finished it), and now I've got the 3rd one (will have to wait because I'm reading something else).

The Emperor's Edge, Lindsey Buroker. The first in this fantasy/steampunk series...and the reason why I haven't yet read the 3rd book in the Retrieval Artist series. Great writing, a fantastic plot (with a twist I didn't see coming), and...there's something about steampunk that fascinates me. Can't explain why.


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## Grace Elliot (Mar 14, 2011)

OK, not a high-brow choice but I'm still recovering from reading The Hunger Games - so in terms of making the biggest impact, defo my book of 2011.


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## bookhound78 (Dec 28, 2011)

My favorite book of 2011 was _Liquid Fear_ by Scott Nicholson, hands down. I've loved Scott's work since I first read _The Red Church_, and I really like the new direction his career is taking with the thrillers.


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## DaveCullen (Sep 13, 2010)

Far and away, my favorite was

The Architect of Flowers by William Lychack.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Architect-of-Flowers-ebook/dp/B004S3NUXE/ref=ntt_at_ep_edition_2_2?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2

Here's the description I gave to a magazine asking for a quote on my favorite:

"Lychack invigorates "ordinary" characters with telling insights and dazzling images exhaled into every line. Conjures up Denis Johnson and Nabokov-lyrical beauty with an edge."

BTW, it is a short story collection.


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## DaveCullen (Sep 13, 2010)

My runner-up was Denis Johnson's *Train Dreams.*


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## Nick Steckel (Sep 2, 2010)

*checks list of what I read in 2011*

Hmmm, a lot bigger selection than I thought. Indie book, probably Steven Konkoly's _The Jakarta Pandemic_.


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## planet_janet (Feb 23, 2010)

My favorite book that I read in 2011 is definitely Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. I recommend this book to everyone I know (and anyone who will listen!).


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## 41352 (Apr 4, 2011)

I read a lot and a year is a long time, but I did love among others:


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## Meka (Sep 8, 2011)

For me that would be "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett. I absolutely loved it.


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## Joseph_Evans (Jul 24, 2011)

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead came out in the UK in 2011 (though I think earlier in the US) and I really enjoyed that one.


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## purplepen79 (May 6, 2010)

Although it didn't come out in 2011, my favorite read of 2011 was Laini Taylor's . 
Three spooky and poetic novellas in one book -- I found her story lines highly original and I look forward to reading her latest release (which did come out in 2011):


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## jumbojohnny (Dec 25, 2011)

Initially, early in 2011, it was that Senior Moments book; it's been out a few years now but I got it as a present. But despite nearly bursting my lungs laughing, it didn't stay too long at No. 1 in my head, as it was overtaken by Scriveners Moon by Philip Reeve, another fantastic tale from the world of Mortal Engines.


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## J R McLemore (Apr 2, 2011)

I really dig crime fiction, especially the hard-boiled stuff. I've read a couple of novels by Victor Gischler and would recommend _Gun Monkeys_ or _The Deputy_. I also discovered Charlie Huston's Hank Thompson series and would recommend any of those, but mainly _A Dangerous Man_. And then there is Duane Swierczynski's _The Wheelman_. If you like action-packed crime fiction, I think those would be worth reading.


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## journeymama (May 30, 2011)

I loved The Tiger's Wife and State of Wonder.

I really really want to read The Night Circus. Soon, I hope!


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## GGKeets (Jan 2, 2012)

After watching the HBO show Game of Thrones I picked up the first novel of the same name in the series. I never gave the series much attention because the covers were so dull.

I also picked up Mike Brown's biography How I Killed Pluto and Why it had it Coming. That was the most surprising favorite of the year


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## Randy Kadish (Feb 24, 2010)

_Destiny of the Republic._ I'm a non-fiction reader.


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## oceaneagle (Jan 13, 2012)

Without a doubt Forgotten Emeralds.


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## Dawn McCullough White (Feb 24, 2010)

Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier


Dawn


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## Meb Bryant (Jun 27, 2011)

My favorite novel for 2011 is Water for Elephants. 

I'm currently reading 11/22/63 by Stephen King...might be my 2012 choice.


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## Claudine Gueh (Jan 9, 2012)

A middle-grade novel really stood out for me: Uri Orlev's The Song of the Whales (I read it last year, though it was published many years ago.)

Melissa Sweet's Balloons Over Broadway (published in 2011) was also excellent.


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