2011 in review, book-wise

Ah, 2011. It seems like you just ended yesterday.

First, I’d like to again apologize for not keeping up the reviews like I should. I’ve had a few personal projects on the go, and I hope to return to a more regular output in 2012. This site may alter itself somewhat, but the reviews will continue.

But now, in lieu of said incisive literary commentary, I’ve had a close gander at what I’ve read over the course of the past 365 days, and I thought it would be a good time to bring the whole thing out into the open for a year-end Best Of list (the reason the Internet was created!).

In 2011, I reached what is probably a personal milestone: 107 books read from cover to cover. I’m not sure when the last time I broke three digits was, but I was likely still in short pants. So, pre-2006. That’s a lot of books, and going over them, I’ve had quite a good year. In 2010 I was intentionally hurting myself through a masochistic desire to read books almost destined to grate on me like steel wool against bare flesh (I weirdly miss the nad-shrinking prose of Chuck Norris, James Patterson, and Stephanie Meyer; what does that say about me?). 2011, I went with what I wanted to read, which was not only more soothing to the soul, but also lent me quite a large list of recommendations today.

So below is a sizable list, divided into sections for easy consumption. I have not paid attention to year of publication, and I have ignored books I reread. I’ve bolded those I’ve reviewed.

Favourite books of the year: 

• The Sisters Brothers (2011), Patrick DeWitt 
• A Book of Tongues (2010), A Rope of Thorns (2011), Gemma Files
• Room (2010), Emma Donoghue 
• The Time We All Went Marching (2011), Arley McNeney
• City of Truth (1990), James Morrow 
• Idaho Winter (2011), Tony Burgess
• The Magician King (2011), Lev Grossman 
•  The Blue Light Project (2011), Timothy Taylor 
•  An Ordinary Decent Criminal (2005), Your Friendly Neighbourhood Criminal (2008), Michael Van Rooy

Novels I’d read again in a second: 

• Curiosity (2010), Joan Thomas 
• Drive-by Saviours (2010), Chris Benjamin 
• Kalila (2011), Rosemary Nixon 
• Tide Road (2011), Valerie Compton
• The Guardians (2011), Andrew Pyper
• Because I Have Loved and Hidden It (2009), Elise Moser
• Sarah Court (2010), Craig Davidson
• The Three Fates of Henrik Nordmark (2010), Christopher Meades
• The Town that Drowned (2011), Riel Nason
• Major Karnage (2010), Gord Zajac
• Annabel (2010), Kathleen Winter
• One of Our Thursdays is Missing (2011), Jasper Fforde
• Low Town (2011), Daniel Polansky
• The Island of Doctor Moreau (1897), H.G. Wells 
• The Canterbury Trail (2011), Angie Abdou
• The Bookman (2010), Camera Obscura (2011), Lavie Tidhar
• Beauty Plus Pity (2011), Kevin Chong 
• John Dies at the End (2009), David Wong 
• The Alchemists of Kush (2011), Minister Faust
• Butterfly Winter (2011), W.P. Kinsella 
• Chasing the Dragon (2009), Nicholas Kaufman
• American Desert (2004), Percival Everett 
• True Grit (1968), Charles Portis
• This Hidden Thing (2010), Dora Dueck
• Jesus and the Eightfold Path (2011), Lavie Tidhar

Spectacular short fiction:

• This Cake is for the Party (2010), Sarah Selecky 
•  Light Lifting (2010), Alexander McLeod 
•  Crisp (2010), R.W. Gray 
•  The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities (2011), Ann & Jeff Vandermeer (eds.) 
•  The Hair Wreath and Other Stories (2010) - Halli Villegas 
•  Steampunk II: Steampunk Reloaded (2011), Ann & Jeff Vandermeer (eds.) 
•  The Urban Fantasy Anthology (2011), Peter S. Beagle & Joe R. Lansdale (eds.)

Great titles:

• Jesus and the Eightfold Path (2011), Lavie Tidhar 
• John Dies at the End (2009), David Wong
• Squid Pulp Blues (2008), Jordan Krall 
• The Ass Goblins of Auschwitz (2009), Cameron Pierce 
• Zombie Spaceship Wasteland (2011), Patton Oswalt 
• Why Not a Spider Monkey Jesus? (2010), A.G. Pasquella 
• Major Karnage (2010), Gord Zajac

Books that would make awesome movies:

• Sandman Slim (2009), Richard Kadrey 
• John Dies at the End (2009), David Wong (coming in 2012!) 
• Major Karnage (2010), Gord Zajac 
• The Sisters Brothers (2011), Patrick DeWitt 
• Chasing the Dragon (2009), Nicholas Kaufman
•  Brains (2010), Robin Becker 
•  Patient Zero (2009), Jonathan Mayberry

Disappointments (not the worst books, just personal disappointment):

• Damned (2011), Chuck Palahniuk - and that’s it for me, I can’t take another Palahniuk letdown
• Wet Work (1993), Philip Nutman - heard a lot about it, but it’s only okay
• The Fall (2011), Guillermo Del Toro & Chuck Hogan - it's a fun ride, but nowhere near as scary or suspenseful as some reviewers have said
• Amnesia Moon (1995), Jonathan Lethem - from Lethem, almost anything not a masterpiece is a disappointment
• Robopocalypse (2011), Daniel H. Wilson - killer robots should be fun, not boring