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Best of 2011

Posted by Steve the Bookstore Guy On Friday, December 30, 2011

It was our New Year's Resolution for 2011 to make sure that our Best of 2011 post actually made it into 2011. And yeah, we totally nailed it! (Barely)

This year was just unreal. How do you pick the best books when there were so many freaking amazing ones? The answer?

Dart-board...........OK not really. Maybe. And like usual, we cheat if an author had more than one book out.

***

BEST OF 2011--These were our collective favorite reads of the year.

I DON'T WANT TO KILL YOU - Dan Wells
THE SCARAB PATH - Adrian Tchaikovsky
THIRTEEN YEARS LATER and THE THIRD SECTION - Jasper Kent
THE CRIPPLED GOD - Steven Erikson
VARIANT - Robison Wells
THE CURIOUS CASE OF THE CLOCKWORK MAN - Mark Hodder
AMONG OTHERS - Jo Walton
THE HEROES - Joe Abercrombie
THE DRAGON'S PATH and LEVIATHAN WAKES - Daniel Abraham, James S. A. Corey
DEMONSTORM and RAVENSOUL - James Barclay
EMBASSYTOWN - China Miéville
READY PLAYER ONE - Ernest Cline
HARD MAGIC and SPELLBOUND - Larry Correia
IRON JACKAL - Chris Wooding

HONORABLE MENTIONS--any other year these would have made our "Best Of" list (and that list is already crazy awesome and long!!!!!):

THE ALLOY OF LAW - Brandon Sanderson
STONEWIELDER - Ian C. Esslemont
THE SOUL MIRROR - Carol Berg
CHILDREN OF THE SKY - Vernor Vinge
THE GIRL WHO CIRCUMNAVIGATED FAIRYLAND IN A SHIP OF HER OWN MAKING and DEATHLESS - Catherynne M. Valente
WITH FATE CONSPIRE - Marie Brennan
DEADLINE by Mira Grant

Yeah...as you can see this year was just AMAZING. The books above are a mix of all the reviewers' various picks. We feel absolutely horrible for leaving off any other awesome books, but we had to cut it off somewhere.

***

COMING IN 2012...

After the year we just had, you'd think we'd be jaded. No freaking way. 2012 is set to blow our (and therefore, your) minds!

REPUBLIC OF THIEVES by Scott Lynch (for real this time)
THE KING'S BLOOD by Daniel Abraham
CALIBAN'S WAR by James S. A. Corey
EXPEDITION TO THE MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON by Mark Hodder
BLUE REMEMBERED EARTH by Alastair Reynolds
THE SKYBOUND SEA by Sam Sykes
THE GAMES by Ted Kosmatka
FORGE OF DARKNESS by Steven Erikson
A MEMORY OF LIGHT by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
THE DAEMON PRISM by Carol Berg
A RED COUNTRY by Joe Abercrombie
MONSTER HUNTER LEGION by Larry Correia
THE SEA WATCH by Adrian Tchaikovsky
ORB SCEPTRE THRONE by Ian C. Esslemont
THE BONEYARDS by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
THE CHOSEN SEED by Sarah Pinborough
BLACKOUT by Mira Grant
THE DUSK WATCHMAN by Tom Lloyd


There are a bajillion other books coming out next year that we didn't list. Let's face it, we are book readers. There are probably dozens more books coming out y our favorite authors that we don't even know are coming out yet. That's the nature of the game.

So, sound off in the comments below about your own choices for best of the year and which ones you are the most excited for.

7 comments

  1. William Said,

    I actually haven't read many 2011-books, except for Erikson's Crippled God. Of course, I liked that one, but mayhap that just fanboyism.

    There's just so much "old" stuff out there that I haven't read. I've read most of Edgar Allen Poe's stories this year, which are great; re-read nineteen-eighty four & animal farm; started with the Malazan tales a year ago (and recently finished them with the Crippled God); read myself halfway through the published books of A Song of Ice and Fire.

    There's just too much out there.

    Posted on December 30, 2011 at 11:17 AM

     
  2. Unknown Said,

    Awesome!!! I didn't know that
    REPUBLIC OF THIEVES by Scott Lynch was coming out for real this year!!!! Yay!!

    LOVE your snarky & frank reviews. This is where the majority of my reading material comes from. :D You have excellent taste!!

    Posted on December 30, 2011 at 4:43 PM

     
  3. Unknown Said,

    Interesting list - The Crippled God was my biggest disappointment of the year, but there are some great reads here.

    Posted on December 30, 2011 at 7:47 PM

     
  4. William Said,

    @Bob:

    I think there's an interesting discussion there, as The Crippled God had a very mixed reception in my group of friends as well. Why did you feel it did not live up to your expectations?

    For me, the book was still good; it may not have been among the best in the series, but it certainly gave me a good read.

    Posted on January 2, 2012 at 3:20 AM

     
  5. mtbikemom Said,

    Early review on Soul Mirror: Really fast-paced, building on but not adding to the earlier, wonderful character development. Big surprises, imagination-explosions like we who love Carol have come to expect and a very satisfying ending. Caveat: Carol is more sexually explicit than usual in two pivotal scenes. She kinda went Stephen King on me, which was surprising. Despite that, Carol Berg just gets better and better.

    Posted on January 23, 2012 at 2:50 PM

     
  6. mtbikemom Said,

    Oh, and I wondered why Rothfuss didn't make the list. I didn't love all of it, but I thought Wise Man's Fear was pretty great.

    Posted on January 23, 2012 at 2:53 PM

     
  7. mtbikemom Said,

    Oops, I meant Daemon Prism above, not Soul Mirror. Just caught that.

    Posted on January 24, 2012 at 4:30 AM

     

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