I know we have had threads about the books that we were curently reading but this book thread covers all the books you read in 2011 and those that you would especially recommend to others. You can either list all the books you read or just the one's that you would recommend or even the ones you wouldn't recommend.
I read 50 books and for the first time in many years I read more fiction that non-fiction.
Non-fiction
1) Marriage and Family in the Middle Ages - Frances and Joseph Gies
2) Love on Trial: An American Scandal in Black and White - Earl Lewis and Heidi Ardizzone
3) Children of the Storm: The True Story of the Pleasant Hill Bus Tragedy - Ariana Harner and Clark Secrest
4) Island of the Colourblind and Cycad Island - Oliver Sacks
5) Secret Daughter; A Mixed-Race Daughter and the Mother Who Gave Her Away - June Cross
6) Survival: the inspirational story of the Thredbo disaster’s sole survivor - Stuart Diver with Simon Bouda
7) After Port Arthur: Personal stories of courage and resilience ten years on from the tragedy that shocked the nation - Carol Altmann
8) 33 Men: Inside the Miraculous Survival and Dramatic Rescue of the Chilean Miners - Jonathan Franklin
9) The Phone Book: The Curious History of the Book That Everyone Uses But No One Reads - Ammon Shea
10) Africa Counts: Number and Pattern in African Culture - Claudia Zaslavsky
11) Clara’s Kitchen: Wisdom, Memories and Recipes from the Great Depression - Clara Cannucciari
12) The Circus Fire: A True Story of an American Tragedy - Stewart O’Nan
13) Nine Years Among the Indians - by Herman Lehmann
14) In the Sea There are Crocodiles - Fabio Geda
15) The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating - Elisabeth Tova Bailey
16) Unlikely Friendships - Jennifer Holland
17) The Mary Ellen Wilson Child Abuse Case and the Beginning of Children’s Rights in 19th Century America - Eric Shelma and Stephen Lazoritz
18) 2:46: Aftershocks: Stories from the Japanese Earthquake
Fiction
1) Death’s Inheritance - E and MA Radford
2) The Road - Cormac McCarthy
3) Room - by Emma Donaghue
4) Carnivore - Guy N. Smith
5) The Killer’s Art - Mari Jungstedt
6) The Cat Who Smelled a Rat - Lilian Jackson Braun
7) Missing - Karin Alvtegen
8) Shadow - Karin Alvtegen
9) A Golden Age - Tahmima Anam
10) Snow Angels - James Thompson
11) The Good Muslim - Tahmima Anam
12) Outrage - Arnaldur Indridason
13) Last Rituals - Yrsa Sigurdardottir
14) The Coroner’s Lunch - Colin Cotterill
15) 1222- Anne Holt
16) Thirty Three Teeth - Colin Cotterill
17) The Caller - Karin Fossum
18) Dust - Arthur Slade
19) The Mill River Recluse - Darcie Chan
20) My Soul to Take - Yrsa Sigurdardottir
21) Disco for the Departed - Colin Cotterill
22) Ashes to Ashes - Yrsa Sigurdardottir
23) A Clash of Kings - George RR Martin
24) Anarchy and Old Dogs - Colin Cotterill
25) A Storm of Swords - George RR Martin
26) A Feast of Crows - George RR Martin
27) The Day is Dark - Yrsa Sigurdardottir
28) A Dance with Dragons - George RR Martin
29) The Private Life of a Cat Who - Lilian Jackson Braun
30) Curse of the Pogo Stick - Colin Cotterill
31) Once Upon a More Enlightened Time: More Politically Correct Bedtime - James Finn Garner
32) The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
Of the non-fiction the two books I would recommend the most are
1) The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey
Amazon describe it as follows
2) The Phone Book: The Curious History of the Book That Everyone Uses But No One Reads by Ammon Shea
Amazon description
As far as fiction is concerned I would recommend the George RR Martin Song of Ice and Fire series to fanasy lovers but I expect that most have already read them.
For lovers of cosy mysteries I would recommend Colin Cotterill's Dr Siri series which starts with The Coroner's Lunch. These books are set in Laos in the 1970s. The communists have taken over, most of the doctors have fled to Thailand and an elderly Dr Siri, who has spent most of his adult life treating communist rebels in the jungle, is made coroner. Dr Siri doesn't have the expertise to be a coroner, has very little equipment, and find the job to be quite a struggle.
I would also recommend the two books by Tahmima Anam. These books are set in Bangladesh during and after the Bangladeshi War of Independence.
I read 50 books and for the first time in many years I read more fiction that non-fiction.
Non-fiction
1) Marriage and Family in the Middle Ages - Frances and Joseph Gies
2) Love on Trial: An American Scandal in Black and White - Earl Lewis and Heidi Ardizzone
3) Children of the Storm: The True Story of the Pleasant Hill Bus Tragedy - Ariana Harner and Clark Secrest
4) Island of the Colourblind and Cycad Island - Oliver Sacks
5) Secret Daughter; A Mixed-Race Daughter and the Mother Who Gave Her Away - June Cross
6) Survival: the inspirational story of the Thredbo disaster’s sole survivor - Stuart Diver with Simon Bouda
7) After Port Arthur: Personal stories of courage and resilience ten years on from the tragedy that shocked the nation - Carol Altmann
8) 33 Men: Inside the Miraculous Survival and Dramatic Rescue of the Chilean Miners - Jonathan Franklin
9) The Phone Book: The Curious History of the Book That Everyone Uses But No One Reads - Ammon Shea
10) Africa Counts: Number and Pattern in African Culture - Claudia Zaslavsky
11) Clara’s Kitchen: Wisdom, Memories and Recipes from the Great Depression - Clara Cannucciari
12) The Circus Fire: A True Story of an American Tragedy - Stewart O’Nan
13) Nine Years Among the Indians - by Herman Lehmann
14) In the Sea There are Crocodiles - Fabio Geda
15) The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating - Elisabeth Tova Bailey
16) Unlikely Friendships - Jennifer Holland
17) The Mary Ellen Wilson Child Abuse Case and the Beginning of Children’s Rights in 19th Century America - Eric Shelma and Stephen Lazoritz
18) 2:46: Aftershocks: Stories from the Japanese Earthquake
Fiction
1) Death’s Inheritance - E and MA Radford
2) The Road - Cormac McCarthy
3) Room - by Emma Donaghue
4) Carnivore - Guy N. Smith
5) The Killer’s Art - Mari Jungstedt
6) The Cat Who Smelled a Rat - Lilian Jackson Braun
7) Missing - Karin Alvtegen
8) Shadow - Karin Alvtegen
9) A Golden Age - Tahmima Anam
10) Snow Angels - James Thompson
11) The Good Muslim - Tahmima Anam
12) Outrage - Arnaldur Indridason
13) Last Rituals - Yrsa Sigurdardottir
14) The Coroner’s Lunch - Colin Cotterill
15) 1222- Anne Holt
16) Thirty Three Teeth - Colin Cotterill
17) The Caller - Karin Fossum
18) Dust - Arthur Slade
19) The Mill River Recluse - Darcie Chan
20) My Soul to Take - Yrsa Sigurdardottir
21) Disco for the Departed - Colin Cotterill
22) Ashes to Ashes - Yrsa Sigurdardottir
23) A Clash of Kings - George RR Martin
24) Anarchy and Old Dogs - Colin Cotterill
25) A Storm of Swords - George RR Martin
26) A Feast of Crows - George RR Martin
27) The Day is Dark - Yrsa Sigurdardottir
28) A Dance with Dragons - George RR Martin
29) The Private Life of a Cat Who - Lilian Jackson Braun
30) Curse of the Pogo Stick - Colin Cotterill
31) Once Upon a More Enlightened Time: More Politically Correct Bedtime - James Finn Garner
32) The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
Of the non-fiction the two books I would recommend the most are
1) The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey
Amazon describe it as follows
This is one of the most interesting, informative and uplifting books I have ever read.
2) The Phone Book: The Curious History of the Book That Everyone Uses But No One Reads by Ammon Shea
Amazon description
I never thought that such a topic would be so interesting.
As far as fiction is concerned I would recommend the George RR Martin Song of Ice and Fire series to fanasy lovers but I expect that most have already read them.
For lovers of cosy mysteries I would recommend Colin Cotterill's Dr Siri series which starts with The Coroner's Lunch. These books are set in Laos in the 1970s. The communists have taken over, most of the doctors have fled to Thailand and an elderly Dr Siri, who has spent most of his adult life treating communist rebels in the jungle, is made coroner. Dr Siri doesn't have the expertise to be a coroner, has very little equipment, and find the job to be quite a struggle.
I would also recommend the two books by Tahmima Anam. These books are set in Bangladesh during and after the Bangladeshi War of Independence.
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