We are decidedly well into the year 2012. I like getting to this point in January. The days are noticeably longer, the holiday hubbub is over and we delude ourselves into thinking once this month passes, winter will be a breeze. This is also the time of year when I am plotting my reading journey for the next several months or so. This journey is the result of all of the “best of 2011” lists that we’ve been reading in review magazines, online blogs and websites. This is an annual rite of passage that we eagerly look forward to here at the Library. We compare the lists against what we have, we compare the lists against what we’ve read, we voice strong opinions about what books made what list and we make plans to read the books we somehow missed.

It’s best to take these lists with a grain of salt sometimes. They are compiled by “professional readers”, those paid to read and review. These people appear to lead different lives from most of us. The lists are almost always composed entirely of literary titles, not necessarily bestsellers or titles that have wide appeal. Sometimes the books on these lists are so obscure to the mainstream that you wonder what kind of pull these list compilers have sometimes. But all in all, the lists are fun to peruse and ponder and reading some of the books on the lists is a pleasure indeed.

Almost every year many of the same books make many different lists. This year The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach, 11/22/63 by Stephen King, Swamplandia by Karen Russell, The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides and Bossypants by Tina Fey made more than one list. These books tend to get on my list of “must reads” because I figure how can so many reviewers be wrong? Occasionally, though, even literary experts puzzle over some of the books included on the lists. This year’s puzzle was Tea Obrent’s The Tiger’s Wife. None of us have read it here. Husband has and he says he’s not sure what all the fuss is about. He says he's not sure what the book is about. There are always books that we learn about for the first time by reading these lists. We wonder how we missed them, but miss them we did. The books that fall into this category that have made my read list are The Call by Yannick Murphy and Volt by Alan Heathcock. Sometimes getting caught up in these lists is an exercise in torture because there is only so much time and there are just too many books. Many of the book lists compiled today are online and are visually pleasing to view. Just take a look at Publisher’s Weekly’s slide show and you’ll know what I’m talking about.

We’ve decided that we’re going to compile our own list of the best books we read in 2011. Some were actually published in 2011. Some were published in 2010 because we put them on our list after reading the best of lists for that year. Some were published long ago and for whatever reason we decided this was the year to get it read. That’s the beauty of the reading life. We know many books will get lost to us along the way, but just as many will be there waiting when we decide the time is right. And so here are our lists for 2011:

Lyn: