Posts Tagged ‘Favorite books 2011’

More Best Books of 2011

Sunday, January 22nd, 2012

  

Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton (2011)

This is simply a terrific book.  I couldn’t put it down, and basically read it cover-to-cover in one sitting.  Steve Hamilton, author of the Edgar award-winning Alex McKnight series, has created a uniquely compelling protagonist in The Lock Artist. Traumatized at the age of eight, Mike hasn’t spoken a word in ten years. As the result of a robbery at his uncle’s liquor store, Mike discovers by chance that he has a talent for lock-picking. Alternating between different time periods, we follow Mike’s trajectory as his talent draws him inexorably into a series of events he feels powerless to escape.  Hamilton gradually reveals the details of Mike’s childhood trauma and how they illuminate everything that follows. A gripping suspense story, a psychological thriller, and a love story you won’t soon forget.  One of the best books of 2011, a must-read.

Also available as an e-book.

 

The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt (2011)

In this picaresque Western fable, the notorious Sisters brothers, Eli and Charlie, are sent to hunt down an inventor named Hermann Kermit Warm for allegedly stealing from their boss, the fearsome Commodore.  Fans of historical accuracy may proceed with caution, but anyone seeking a ripping yarn that swings between feats of deadpan linguistic poetry and casually savage violence will enjoy this tremendously.  Reminiscent in tone of both Jim Jarmusch’s Dead Man (admittedly my favorite film) and HBO’s Deadwood (admittedly my favorite television series), The Sisters Brothers combines dark comedy, bursts of action, and a sense of melancholy that pursues the brothers across the Old West.  Highly recommended.

Also available in large print.

The Witch’s Daughter by Paula Brackston (2010)

Elizabeth Anne Hawksmith, or Bess as she’s known by those in her village, suffers the loss of her father, sister and brother only to watch helplessly as her mother is accused of witchcraft.  Before she’s hanged, her mother extracts a promise from Bess: if she is ever in danger, she must seek help from the Warlock Gideon Masters and his Book of Shadows.  Bess is forced to keep her promise, and though at first seduced by the power Gideon unleashes in her and her growing attraction to him, she is forced to flee when she realizes his true nature.  The ritual Gideon performed on Bess has made her immortal, and Gideon pursues her through time to the present, seeking to collect on his investment.  Fantasy isn’t always my cup of tea (though I’m following Game of Thrones on HBO and loved the first book in the series); The Witch’s Daughter is so vividly written and features such a charismatic heroine that I found it irresistible.  Definitely recommended.

B at the Main

 

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Favorite books of 2011

Friday, January 13th, 2012

I’ve read so many great books this year. Here are a couple of titles I recommend, and then a series:

 

 

When She Woke (2011) by Hillary Jordan is a near future dystopian take off on The Scarlet Letter. Hannah Payne, a good Christian girl, has innocent desires outside of the narrow confines of her life, which ultimately leave her susceptible to the advances of her church’s attractive, vibrant, and married young minister. She is caught after having an illegal abortion and refuses to name the father of her child. Instead of having to wear a scarlet letter like Hawthorne’s Hester Prynne, she is treated, like all criminals, with a virus that dyes her skin – in her case the chrome red that identifies her as a murderer. When she flees the abusive halfway house where strings had been pulled to gain her admittance, she discovers her every move is being tracked with a GPS device implanted in her. Forced into basic survival mode, Hannah discovers untapped strengths within herself. A great book-club choice.  

 

Annabel  (2010) by Kathleen Winter places an emotionally stark, but powerful story in an almost unmitigatedly spare setting in the rural Labrador coast of Canada. It’s 1968, and unbeknownst to anyone but the parents and midwife, an intersex child is born. Treadway Blake will have nothing other than a son, and does everything he can to ensure that Wayne learns the manly skills of survival on a winter trapline, and crushes every sign of feminine behavior he sees or imagines. Meanwhile, Wayne’s mother and her friend, Thomasina, the midwife, do what they can to quietly nurture the female identity that Wayne expresses. Unaware of his condition until he faces a medical emergency as a young teen, Wayne suddenly has much more than puberty and the pressures from his emotionally distant father to deal with. Winter explores the issues of gender identity and sexuality in a powerful and moving way.  

 

Kage Baker’s steampunk, sci-fi series, The Company Novels, which starts with In the Garden of Iden (1997), features a group of cyborgs created by the Company in the 24th century. The cyborgs are sent back in time to various periods and places (including California during different eras) where the company can ensure future profits by secreting away various items that they know will become valuable treasures in the future. However, there are competing forces within the company who will use everything they can, including the very lives of the cyborgs, as tools to gain the upper hand. These larger-than-life stories will captivate readers.

Nancy at Main

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Favorite books

Monday, January 9th, 2012

More favorite books of 2011:

 

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin by Erik Larson (2011)

Fascinating true story about the somewhat naïve American ambassador to Germany in the years after Hitler’s rise to power.  He and his family try to keep an open mind about the Nazis but events soon demonstrate that their worst fears are more than justified.

Blaine

 

 

A Band of Misfits by Andrew Baggarly (2011)

My favorite book of 2011 is A Band Of Misfits by Andrew Baggarly. This book tells the unlikely story of the 2010 San Francisco Giants, dubbed “castoffs and misfits” by their manager Bruce Bochy, who made a late-season run for the World Series championship. Baggarly spotlights several key players and describes their various idiosyncracies and eccentricities (from Brian Wilson’s beard to Aubrey Huff’s rally thong), which make this underdog story all the more fascinating and worth retelling. Recommended to baseball fans and Bay Area sports fans interested in revisiting this history-making season.

DP in Preservation

 

Bellwether by Connie Willis (1996)

I discovered this book because Nancy Pearl recommended it highly, and I have yet to fail to enjoy any of her selections.  In Bellwether, Connie Willis wields a wicked sense of humor in a story involving fads, chaos theory, sheep and one of the most ridiculous workplaces ever created.  Sandy Foster is a scientist working at Hi-Tek, researching the origins of fads – including the bobbed hair craze of the 1920s.  She meets fellow scientist Bennett O’Reilly by accident when she tries to return a wrongly delivered package meant for his department.  Bennett is working on chaos theory, via the study of animal behavior; thanks to a chain of misadventures revolving around the world’s most unrepentantly incompetent office assistant, Flip, they end up collaborating, and from there nature takes its course.  Funny, informative and sweet, this surprising little book is a treat.  Can’t wait to read the rest of Willis’ work.

B at the Main

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Favorite books of 2011

Thursday, January 5th, 2012

This month, we asked our contributors to tell us their favorite book of 2011.  Here are the first responses:

 

Where things come back  by John Corey Whaley (2011)

Loss and obsession.  Those are the themes of this book, so don’t be fooled by the nicely designed woodpecker on the cover and think you’re getting just a cute book marketed to teens.  Sure, the woodpecker matters; a long-thought extinct bird becomes “rediscovered” and brings some attention to a nowhere town.  All that attention, though, isn’t going to Gabriel, the narrator’s brother who has disappeared.  The parallel story of a young missionary who goes to Ethiopia might confuse you at first, but it all comes together in a shocking way.  This book wrenched my heart, and I think it helps prove the point that authors who are directing books to teens are writing some of the best prose out there.   

Greg – Teen Librarian  

 

To Be With Her by Syed Afzal Haider (2010)

Told with humor and melancholy, To Be With Her  is a gripping tale of quest for self-evaluation by a young man from Pakistan. Of Muslim background, the narrator deals with his attachment to his culture and people, and commitment to his first love, while he gives the reader a charming love story between him and his Jewish girlfriend in Chicago in the 60s as the Vietnam War and Civil Rights Movement change everyone.      

MS at Main

 

The most they ever had by Rick Bragg (2009)   

A colleague recommended  this labor saga about textile workers in Alabama in the 1920s.  This may be seen as a gloomy topic, but it is the writing that makes it special.  Not since Tillie Olsen, has someone found the right touch to make the story of these down-trodden workers compelling.  Rick Bragg is a treasure.  Now I have to read all of his books.  Not technically a 2011 book, this marvel should not be missed.

CB at Main

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