Top 25 List: Beth's Favorite Reads of 2011

by Beth Carswell

Each year, I try to keep track of every book I read (and every movie I watch). Partly, it serves as an easy way to think of gifts and suggestions for people who ask (when you work in the book industry, people frequently ask for reading recommendations), partly for my own interest; and mostly so I can look back and go “oh, that’s where my time went”. When I see proof of time well-spent, it helps keep me from curling into the fetal position because time goes too fast and I am quietly growing old before my eyes.

This year so far, with 6+ weeks left in 2011 (as of my writing this), I have read 45 books. Not my best, quantity-wise – I usually manage to average at least one book a week. But it’s been a busy year. See above neurosis about time slipping away.

But this year’s ratio of “loved-it” to “loathed-it” is very good. Perhaps I’m improving at knowing my own taste, perhaps I’m becoming less hung-up on the books I feel I should read (classics; philosophy; poetry; biographies of important people, disaster-preparedness tomes etc.) and more happily embracing the books I want to read (contemporary fiction, graphic novels, tales of horror and the paranormal, comedian biographies, books about cats etc.). Whatever the reason, I wholeheartedly enjoyed a higher percentage of my reads than usual in 2011.

So, in the spirit of one big recommendation, here's a look at the 25 books I enjoyed most this year. They’re across the board – some new, some old ones I’d been meaning to read for ages.  Mostly fiction, but not all, some funny, some sad, some literary, some pulpy.

Some of the books that didn’t make the top-25 included Summer Sisters by Judy Blume – I worshiped Blume as a child, and wanted a crack at her more grown-up writing. I enjoyed this fine, and would have loved it if I’d read it at 18, but into my 30s it felt too indulgently summer-campish to take seriously. Roseannearchy by Roseanne Barr was left off, as well – what could have been a funny, revealing insight into what makes Barr tick – her business sense, her belief systems, her experiences in the comedy industry – was too often derailed by disjointed, barely coherent and occasionally paranoid asides and ranting. It’s entertaining, to be sure, but I felt a bit like a rubbernecker watching a car crash at times.

 A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan was a decent enough read, but I found many of the characters (it’s one of those one-character-leads-to-another series of vignettes books) so blasé, shallow, and cynical that I had difficulty connecting much to them.  The writing was skilled, and the flow and pacing kept me reading, but I wasn’t sad to let go of the characters at the end.

But overall, this year was pleasingly devoid of real lemons – though I must confess, it’s disappointing not to have even one absolute stinker to sarcastically lampoon. I do love a good lampooning.

One of the books I loved best was The Book of Small, by Northwest Canadian artist and writer Emily Carr.  Carr was born here in Victoria in 1871, and her vivid depictions of early British Columbia life were riveting and delightful to me living here now – many of the streets and areas she described are still the same, if only in name. The Book of Small is a collection of short stories about Carr’s childhood, and she captures the joy and wistfulness of being little just beautifully.

Another worth mentioning in detail is Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. For me, this book is a classic example of why it’s important not to paint oneself into a corner, genre-wise – a good book is a good book. I am indifferent to sports, and reading about them bores me to tears. I dislike war books as a rule, and prefer fiction to true account. So when someone enthusiastically recommended Unbroken  to me, I thought. “Oh, good. A non-fiction account of an Olympic-grade runner being shot down during the war and ending up in a Japanese POW camp, from the author of the horse-racing book Seabiscuit.” Fully expecting to snore within minutes, I reluctantly embarked.

And then I was completely entranced from the very beginning, irritated at pesky necessities like food and sleep. I thought about it at work. I actually gasped aloud a few times while reading. It still had the detailed bits about sports, and the horribly upsetting passages about war atrocities, but Hillenbrand’s writing is so skilled, so strong and so balanced that I was captivated with every word. Fantastically done, and has actually convinced me to put Seabiscuit on my 2012 list.

So, here are my favorite 25 books I read in 2011. And because I need to start stocking my shelves with 2012's fare, please be sure to leave a comment at the bottom and your own suggestions from recent reads.

Beth's Best Books of 2011

 

What was your best read of 2011?

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