Best Books for 2011 ... the lists so far

Not coincidentally, the "best book" list season and the holiday shopping have begun. The editors and reviewers of New York Times, Publishers Weekly and Amazon have had it out and have come up with their lists of best books of 2011 for your gift giving or personal reading pleasure. Every December we poll the staff at Halifax Public Libraries for their favourites of the year - so keep an eye out for that one - there are always surprises on the list. We'd love to hear from YOU as well. What was your favourite book published in 2011? We'd love to do a 2011 Halifax Reader Readers' Picks.

Here's a small sampling of the best of the best for 2011.

Included in the New York Times Holiday Gift Guide is their 100 Notable Books of 2011.

The Angel Esmeralda (M)
by Don Delillo

The London Train (M)
by Tessa Hadley

Swamplandia (M)
by Karen Russell

Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness (M)
by Alexandra Fuller

Pauline Kael: a life in the dark (M)
by Brian Kellow


Publishers Weekly:

Marriage Plot (M)
by Jeffrey Eugenides

Devil All the Time (M)
by Donald Ray Pollock

State of Wonder (M)
by Ann Patchett

Bossypants (M)
by Tina Fey

Catherine the Great: portrait of a woman (M)
by Robert K. Massie


Amazon:

The Art of Fielding (M)
by Chad Harbach

1Q84 (M)
by Haruki Murakami

What It Is Like to Go to War (M)
by Karl Marlantes

In the Garden of Beasts: love, terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin (M)
by Erik Larsen

Daughter of Smoke and Bone (M)
by Laini Taylor