Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Top 10 Favorite Books We Read in 2011

Question:  Top 10 Favorite Books We (Evan) Read in 2011


Answer:  What better way to close out 2011 than reviewing our favorites of the year.  With 126 books read since January this will require some serious reflection...


  1. The Well of Lost Plots (Jasper Fforde) – The Thursday Next series is one of our favorite science fiction / alternate history series of all time.  Book 3 was another gem and our favorite of the series.
  2. A Town Like Alice (Nevil Shute) – A great love story and a great novel about perseverance.  Have we mentioned before that we love Joe Harman?!
  3. Shutter Island (Dennis Lehane) – Delightfully Disturbing.  Had us guessing until the last 10 pages.    
  4. Les Misérables (Victor Hugo) – Jean Jaljean won the Two Bibliomaniacs Man of the Year award in 2011.  We apologize for complete lack of clout tied to this award.  Anyway, great story, a little long, but great story!
  5. The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins) – It took us a while to finally give this series a try, but once we started it barely took a weekend to finish!  Can’t wait for the upcoming movie.
  6. Mort (Terry Pratchett) – This is the novel that single handedly redeemed the Discworld series.  Now we’re fully drinking the Kool-Aid.
  7. The Waste Lands (Stephen King) – We started The Dark Tower series in 2011 and book 3 was momentous.  Can’t wait to find out what else lies ahead for Roland.
  8. The Princess Bride (William Goldman) – We weren’t sold on this one right out of the gate, but upon further reflection this book has to be in our top 10.  Such a fun reading experience.
  9. Three Men in a Boat (Jerome K. Jerome) – There wasn’t another book in 2011 that produced so many laughs.  Classic literature at its funniest!
  10. The Help (Kathryn Stockett) – The cast made this novel so memorable and several characters were nominated for the Two Bibliomaniacs Woman of the Year award in 2011.  Who won?  Considering this award didn’t exist five minutes ago, the judges are still deliberating....

Good luck closing out those last few 2011 reads and be sure to head on over to The Broke and the Bookish to join this week’s fun!

11 comments:

  1. Great books, I love Jasper Fforde and Hunger Games is one of my favourite series.

    Have a great new year : )

    Suz @ Under the Covers

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good selection! Also took me a while to get on the Hunger Games bandwagon. It's a great book. I have yet to read the next ones in the series haha. I've seen the Princess Bride on film and I loved it. I think I wanna read it next year.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I loved The Help and The Hunger Games too. I am hoping to read Les Miserables this year.

    ReplyDelete
  4. LOVED The Hunger Games :) And The Wastelands is SO good- probably not even my favourite of The Dark Tower series, so I definitely think there's more awesomeness to come with that!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I remember watching Shutter Island at my friend's house...yikes. However, your review of Les Mis was part of what convinced me to sign up for a Les Mis reading challenge next year! Thanks!

    PS: Don't be frightened to flirt with my faves of 2011 here. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  6. You made me curious about Three Man in a Boat. It's funny and classic literature? I should give it a go.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I've only read one on your list: Les Miserables. I'd have to agree - it is fantastic!

    I've had my eye on the Thursday Next series and have had Three Men in a Boat on my TBR for a few months now. Nice list!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I want to read Dennis Lehane books, but they are so twisty (like Shutter Island) and I've seen the movie versions already. Bummer.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I loved The Princess Bride, and I'm glad to see it grew on you.

    JASPER FFORDE OMG HE'S THE BEST EVER I LOVE HIS BOOKS AND THE WELL OF LOST PLOTS IS THE BEST IN THE SERIES DKGJSLGKJFLKJFGL!!!!!

    Ahem. Sorry about that. Fforde's one of my favorites. :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. I haven't started the Thursday Next series, but I really need to. The Eyre Affair is sitting on my shelf waiting for me.

    I really need to read Princess Bride again. I read more than 15 years ago. It's been too long!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I was late on the game for The Hunger Games to, but they really are great books. I defy anyone to truly hate them all. Book one was the best for me, but they are a respectable series overall. And I *adore* the Help. You definitely need to read the Night Circus.

    ReplyDelete