Great Reads of 2011
by chuckofish
The two books I raved about all year and wanted to hand out to people like candy were Karl Marlantes’s fabulous
and Hilary Mantel’s
I haven’t read anything better than these two books in ages. Yes, Matterhorn is a war novel and, yes, it’s unpleasant, but why shouldn’t it be? This book goes way beyond the typical war story; it is wonderfully nuanced and manages to give every point of view. As for Wolf Hall, well, my dual personality introduced me to it (for which I am very grateful) so I don’t have to go into great detail about why it’s wonderful. As I blogged earlier, the book made me love Thomas Cromwell!
Honorable mentions go to two re-reads:
A favorite of mine since middle school, T.E. Lawrence’s
and a more recent find that I just keep going back to, Alistair MacLeod’s lyrical and elegaic
What were your favorite books of 2011?
dual personalities 
First of all, two posts in one day–BOMB spot! Way to go!
My favorite books of 2011 were:
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
The Moonflower Vine by Jetta Carleton
The Big Sky by A.B. Guthrie and
The Way West by A.B. Guthrie
Best re-read:
The Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler
I’m not sure it was my favorite but I’d say my most “important” (to make a typical professorial distinction between the two categories) read of 2011 was Joyce’s Ulysses. I CAN’T BELIEVE I READ THE WHOLE THING!
Rabelais’ Gargantua and Pantagruel, while a harder read, is also pretty hilarious. A much easier read, and equally hilarious, is Bill Bryson’s Notes From a Small Island.
I’d say my favorite re-read of the year (and I’ve re-read it many times) is The Long Goodbye by Ray Chand. After watching the horrible Elliot Gould/Robert Altman film version, I read through it to restore my jilted love of the story. It truly is great and the movie totally butchers the story. One of my greatest regrets is that I will never drink a gimlet as I have told myself so many times I’d have to do.