Top Ten Favorites Reads of 2011

My final list for 2011 in alphabetical order.

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan.  If I were ranking this list, A Visit from the Goon Squad would be a contender for the number one spot.  Jennifer Egan's book tells a familiar story in a new way.  I loved it so much I read it twice in a row.

Hard Rain Falling by Don Carpenter.  A story about the underbelly of America that turned out to be touching in ways I did not expect.  Mr. Carpenter's novel takes the reader in unexpected directions and finds redemption in unlikely places.

High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes.  A group of innocent children are captured by pirates, and the pirates are never the same.  A clear-eyed look at childhood and the damage innocence can cause.

How the Two Ivans Quarelled by Nicolai Gogol.  Mr. Gogol looks at the foibles of the weathly land-owning class and finds hilarity.  Few authors can make me laugh like Nicolai Gogol.

Ivan and Mischa by Michael Alenyikov.  Mr. Alenyikov's book came to me as an Advanced Readers Copy and ended up being one of my favorite books this year.  This series of interlinked stories gave me two memorable characters.  I'm keeping this one for a re-read someday.

Jealousy by Alain Robbe-Grillet.  This is the year I foudn Alian Robbe-Grillet.  Jealousy is not so much a novel about jealousy as it is jealousy itself.  Reading it is to become immersed in the experience of being the emotion.  I was enthralled, disturbed, and entertained by it.

The Day Last More than a Hundred Years by Chingiz Aitmatov.  A man riding a camel in full regalia leads the funeral procession of his lifelong friend across the steppes of Central Asia during the early days of Soviet space exploration.  I loved this odd bit of science fiction from the Soviet Union.

The Death of the Author by Gilbert Adair.  Mr. Adair squiwers the lit-crit establishment in this funny spoof of academia.  Not just for former English majors, but it you are a former English major you really should read it.

The Story of a Crime by Maj Sajwoll and Per Wahloo.  I meant to read all ten volumes of this series this year, but only made it through book nine.  I'll get to book ten very soon.  This ground-breaking series of police procedurals set a very high bar for all those who followed.  Few have done as well as Ms. Sjowall and Mr. Wahloo.

Tristram Shandy by Lawrence Sterne.  Another year-long reading project that I haven't quite finished yet.  But with just the final two books of the novel left to go, I decided to include Mr. Lawrence's masterpiece in this year's list.  It's a wonderfully fun read.

Books that almost made the final list:  A Novel Bookstore by Laurence Cossee, In an Lonely Place by Dorothy Hughes, Acts of Passion by Georges Simenon, Animal Farm  by George Orwell, The Last Innocent Year by Jon Margolis, Double Indemnity by James M. Cain, The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas, The Beauty of Men by Andrew Holleran,   and Doghead by Morten Ramsland.

Happy new year everyone.