Year in Review: My Favorites of 2011

I read 442 books in 2011! I am pleased with that number. It is not as much as in previous years, but I am fine with that.

My top five picture books are:

Hooray for Amanda & Her Alligator. Mo Willems. 2011. HarperCollins. 72 pages.
Is Everyone Ready for Fun by Jan Thomas. 2011. Simon & Schuster. 40 pages.
My Side of the Car. Kate Feiffer. Illustrated by Jules Feiffer. 2011. Candlewick. 32 pages.
The Princess and the Pig. Jonathan Emmett. Illustrated by Poly Bernatene. 2011. Walker. 32 pages.
The Best Birthday Party Ever. Jennifer LaRue Huget. Illustrated by LeUyen Pham. 2011. Random House. 40 pages.

My top three children's books are:

Clementine and the Family Meeting. Sara Pennypacker. Illustrations by Marla Frazee. 2011. Hyperion. 164 pages.
Should I Share My Ice Cream: An Elephant and Piggie Book. Mo Willems. 2011. Hyperion. 64 pages.
Toys Come Home. Emily Jenkins. Illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky. 2011. Random House. 144 pages.

My top nonfiction picture book is:

If Rocks Could Sing: A Discovered Alphabet. Leslie McGuirk. 2011. Random House. 48 pages.

My top poetry picture book is:

Emma Dilemma: Big Sister Poems. Kristine O'Connell George. Illustrated by Nancy Carpenter. 2011. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 47 pages.

My top five middle grade books are:

Doggirl. Robin Brande. 2011. Ryer Publishing. 269 pages.
The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic. Jennifer Trafton. With illustrations by Brett Helquist. 2010. Penguin. 352 pages.
Small Acts of Amazing Courage. Gloria Whelan. 2011. Simon & Schuster. 224 pages.
The Light Princess. George MacDonald. 1864. 110 pages.
Heidi. Johanna Spyri. 1880/2009. Puffin Classics/Penguin.  320 pages.

My top five young adult books are:

Divergent. Veronica Roth. 2011. May 2011. HarperCollins. 496 pages.
Pathfinder. Orson Scott Card. 2010. November 2010. Simon & Schuster. 662 pages.
Withering Tights. Louise Rennison. 2011. HarperCollins. 288 pages.
I'll Be There. Holly Goldberg Sloan. 2011. Little, Brown. 392 pages.
The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan (#1 Heroes of Olympus) 2010. Hyperion. 576 pages.

My top twelve adult books are:

The Help by Kathryn Stockett. 2009. Thorndike Press. 722 pages.
The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb. Melanie Benjamin. 2011. Random House. 425 pages.
Strong Poison. Dorothy L. Sayers. 1930/1995. HarperCollins. 272 pages.
Our Mutual Friend. Charles Dickens. 1864/1865. 880 pages.
The Sunne in Splendour: "A fascinating portrait of the controversial King Richard III--a monarch betrayed in life by his allies and betrayed in death by history." by Sharon Kay Penman. 1982. 944 pages.
The Woman in White. Wilkie Collins. 1860. 672 pages.
The Virginian. Owen Wister. 1902. Penguin Classics. 370 pages.
Some Buried Caesar. Nero Wolfe Mystery. Rex Stout. 1938. Random House. 288 pages.
Kinfolk. Pearl S. Buck. 1945/2004. Moyer Bell. 408 pages.
The Small House at Allington. Anthony Trollope. 1864. 752 pages.
North and South. Elizabeth Gaskell. 1854-1855. 452 pages.
The Moving Finger. Agatha Christie. 1942/2007. Black Dog & Leventhal. 208 pages.

My top five Christian fiction books are:

The Colonel's Lady. Laura Frantz. 2011. Revell. 412 pages.
City of Tranquil Light. Bo Caldwell. 2010. Henry Holt. 304 pages.
Mine is the Night. Liz Curtis Higgs. 2011. Waterbrook. 464 pages
Bathsheba. (The Wives of King David #3) Jill Eileen Smith. 2011. Revell. 350 pages.
The Merchant's Daughter. Melanie Dickerson. 2011. Zondervan. 285 pages.

My top five Christian nonfiction books are:

Jesus + Nothing = Everything. Tullian Tchividjian. 2011. Crossway Books. 220 pages.
Note to Self: The Discipline of Preaching to Yourself. Joe Thorn. Foreword by Sam Storms. 2011. Crossway Books. 144 pages.
Slave: The Hidden Truth About Your Identity in Christ. John MacArthur.
Through Gates of Splendor. Elisabeth Elliot. 1956/2005. Tyndale. 296 pages.
Lit: A Christian Guide to Reading Books. Tony Reinke. 2011. Crossway Books. 208 pages.


© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews