Top Ten Books of 2011

Pamela Tracy here, and it’s that time again. Time when the Top Ten Books of 2011 start popping up on various blogs and magazine places. Early this morning (think 5:50 a.m. EEK) I found Amazon’s offerings first.

The Art of Fielding (baseball)
IQ84 (I had trouble even typing it. It’s about two people who need to meet each other.
What It Is Like to Go to War (by a marine and what it is like in brutal jungles)
In the Garden of Beasts (I think this is faction about the life and times of the past ambassador to Nazi Germany)
The Marriage Plot (Three women, 1980’s, their lives)
Daughter of Smoke and Bone (YA, magical world, heartache, choices)
Before I go to Sleep (Suspense with amnesia)
Steve Jobs (‘nuff said)
Lost in Shangri-La (WWII, another military in the jungle)
The Tiger’s Wife (Quest for answers after a relative’s death).

At about 5:30, I found Publisher Weekly's life.

The Marriage Plot (see above)
The Devil All the Time (American rural life – albeit sensationalize - )
State of Wonder (Two females, both questing. Sounds like the movie Medicine Man with Sean Connery)
After the Apocalypse (An anthology with various offerings)
Bossy Pants (Tina Fey’s story)
Catherine the Great (Catherine the Great’s story)
There But For The (man comes for the party but refuses to go home. The blurb reminded me of Bartleby)
Hemingway’s Boat (Hemingway’s story)
One Day I will Write About this Place (Coming of age in Kenya)
Arguably: Essay ( Anthology by a political critic)


Usually, I’ve read one or two (once I managed three) of the choices. This year: none. Of Amazon’s list, the only one that even crossed my mind was Steve Jobs, and that’s because he’s been in the news so often.

Of Publisher Weekly’s, I’d considered BossyPants and probably will read it. Since the only book to appear on both lists is The Marriage Plot, I might seek it out. Then, too, I like biographies from the past. Catherine the Great is a possibility.

So, what about you? Looking at the above two lists, have you read any of them? Which ones appeal to you?