Books Read in 2011

This is the list of the 116 books I read in 2011, in the order that I read them.

Looking back, I am pleased to see that I read a mix I am happy with -- I read some of my favorite authors, some books I've been meaning to get to for a long time, a couple of big classics, some vintage mysteries, plenty of prize winners, and some that were just pure fun. 

There is not much rhyme or reason to whether I review a book or not.  Some of my favorite books go without a review. For an explanation of my rating system, see here.

If you have reviewed any of the book I reviewed, and you would like your review listed on mine, please leave a comment on my review post for that book with a link to your review and I will add it.

2011 BOOKS

The Human Stain by Philip Roth (4.5/5; reviewed here)

The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James (3/5)

A Study in Scarlet by (Sherlock Holmes, No. 1) Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (4/5)

When Will There Be Good News? (Jackson Brodie, No. 3) by Kate Atkinson (4/5)

A Mind to Murder (Adam Dagliesh, No. 2) by P. D. James (3.5/5)

Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon (4/5; reviewed here)

Strangers and Brothers (aka George Passant) (Strangers and Brothers, No. 1) by C. P. Snow (3.5/5; reviewed here)

By the Rivers of Babylon by Nelson DeMille (3.5/5)

365 Thank Yous: The Year a Simple Act of Daily Gratitude Changed My Life  by John Kralik (3.5/5; reviewed here)

10 Lb. Penalty by Dick Francis (3/5)

Claude & Camille: A Novel of Monet by Stephanie Cowell (3/5)

G by John Berger (2/5; reviewed here)

The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu (3/5)

Shipwrecks, Monsters, and Mysteries of the Great Lakes by Ed Butts (3.5/5; reviewed here)

Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler (3/5; reviewed here)

Death in a Strange Country (Commissario Guido Brunetti, No. 2) by Donna Leon

99 Novels: The Best in English Since 1939 by Anthony Burgess (4.5/5; reviewed here)

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (4/5; reviewed here)

Blindfold Game by Dana Stabenow (3/5)

Bech: A Book by John Updike (4/5; reviewed here)

Bolt by Dick Francis (3.5/5)

Bad Things Happen (David Loogan, No. 1) by Harry Dolan (4/5; reviewed here))

Maps and Shadows by Krysia Jopek (3/5; reviewed here)

The Food of France by Waverley Root (4/5; reviewed here)

The League of Frightened Men (Nero Wolf, No. 2) by Rex Stout (3/5)

Indiscretions of Archie by P. G. Wodehouse (3/5)

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (Millennium Trilogy, No. 3) by Stieg Larsson (3.5/5)

Honolulu by Alan Brennert (3/5)

Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor (4/5)

Strip Jack (John Rebus, No. 4) by Ian Rankin (3.5/5)

The Sign of the Four (Sherlock Holmes, No. 2) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (3.5/5)

The Warden (Chronicles of Barsetshire, No. 1) by Anthony Trollope (4/5)

The Marvelous Album of Madame B: Being the Handiwork of a Victorian Lady of Considerable Talent by Elizabeth Siegel (4/5; reviewed here)

Started Early, Took My Dog (Jackson Brodie, No. 4) by Kate Atkinson (4/5; reviewed here)

One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way by Robert Maurer (3.5/5)

My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier (3.5/5)

Then She Found Me by Elinor Lipman (3/5)

Because You Might Not Remember by Don Colburn (4/5)

The Losing Role by Steve Anderson (3.5/5; reviewed here)

Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier (3/5; reviewed here)

Knots and Crosses (John Rebus, No. 1) by Ian Rankin (3.5/5)

Cause Celeb by Helen Fielding (3.5/5)

Banker by Dick Francis (4/5; reviewed here)

Clouds of Witness (Lord Peter Wimsey, No. 2) by Dorothy L. Sayers (4/5; reviewed here)

A Plague of Secrets (Dismas Hardy, No. 13, or San Francisco, No. 17) by John Lescroart (3.5/5; reviewed here))

The Master Butchers Singing Club by Louise Erdrich (3.5/5)

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson (4/5; reviewed here)

The Crime of the Century by Kinglsey Amis (3/5)

The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein (2.5/5)

Meet Me in Venice by Elizabeth Adler (3/5)

Brazzaville Beach by William Boyd (4/5; reviewed here)

The James Joyce Murder (Kate Fansler, No. 2) by Amanda Cross (3/5; reviewed here)

Marrying the Mistress by Joanna Trollope (3.5/5)

The Chatham School Affair by Thomas H. Cook (3/5; reviewed here)

The Bookman's Promise by John Dunning (3/5)

Knockdown by Dick Francis (3.5/5)

Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy (4/5)


The Hidden Target by Helen McInnes (3/5)

Break In by Dick Francis (3.5/5)

Supreme Courtship by Christopher Buckley (3.5/5)

Evening Class by Maeve Binchy (3.5/5)

Spinning the Law: Trying Cases in the Court of Public Opinion by Kendall Coffey (2.5/5)

Locations by Jan Morris (4/5; reviewed here)

The Rebel Angels (Cornish Trilogy, No. 1) by Robertson Davies (4/5; reviewed here)

Treasure Hunt (Wyatt Hun, No. 2, or San Francisco, No. 18) by John Lescroart (3/5)

American Terroir: Savoring the Flavors of Our Woods, Waters, and Fields by Rowan Jacobsen (4/5; reviewed here)

Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer (3/5)

A Friend From England by Anita Brookner (3.5/5)

Decider by Dick Francis (3.5/5)

42 States of Grace: A Woman's Journey by Maureen Hovenkotter (3.5/5; reviewed here)

Very Bad Men (David Loogan, No. 2) by Harry Dolan (4/5; reviewed here)

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (4/5; reviewed here)

Hide and Seek (John Rebus, No. 2) by Ian Rankin (3.5/5)

One Was a Soldier (Clare Fergusin, No. 7) by Julia Spencer-Fleming (3.5/5; reviewed here)

Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal: War Stories From the Local Food Front by Joel Salatin (3.5/5; reviewed here)

On Beauty by Zadie Smith (3/5; reviewed here)

Unnatural Death (Lord Peter Wimsey, No. 3) by Dorothy L. Sayers (3.5/5)

Don't Vote It Just Encourages the Bastards by P. J. O’Rourke (3.5/5)

The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie (4/5)

Unnatural Causes (Adam Dagliesh, No. 3) by P. D. James (3.5/5)

The Reluctant Detective (Faith Morgan, No. 1) by Martha Oakley (3/5; reviewed here)

Nat Tate: An American Artist, 1928 – 1960 by William Boyd (3.5/5; reviewed here)

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (2.5/5; reviewed here)


The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan (4.5/5)

Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope (4/5)

Past Perfect by Susan Isaacs (3/5)

Speak, Memory: An Autobiography Revisited by Vladimir Nabokov (3.5/5)

Nine Simple Patterns for Complicated Women by Mary Rechner (3.5/5; reviewed here)

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery (2/5)

Carry Yourself Back to Me by Deborah Reed (4/5; reviewed here)

Girl from the South by Joanna Trollope (3/5)

Real Women, Real Wisdom: A Journey into the Feminine Soul, edited by Maureen Hovenkotter (4/5; reviewed here)

The Anti-Death League by Kingsley Amis (2.5/5; reviewed here)

Shakespeare Wrote for Money by Nick Hornby (3.5/5)

Drood by Dan Simmons (3/5; reviewed here)

4 Blondes by Candace Bushnell (3/5)

The Finishing School by Muriel Spark (3.5/5)

Solar by Ian McEwan (3.5/5)

The Girl on the Boat by P. G. Wodehouse (3/5)

Cathedral by Nelson DeMille (4.5/5; reviewed here)

All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren (4.5/5; reviewed here)

French Spirits: A House, a Village, and a Love Affair in Burgundy by Jeffrey Greene (3/5)

With a Jug of Wine by Morrison Wood (3.5/5)

61 Hours (Jack Reacher, No. 14) by Lee Child (3.5/5)

Odds Against by Dick Francis (3.5/5)

Crooked House by Agatha Christie (3.5/5)

Therapy by David Lodge (3.5/5; reviewed here)

The Hair of Harold Roux by Thomas Williams (4/5; reviewed here)

Tooth and Nail (John Rebus, No. 3) by Ian Rankin (2.5/5)

Bleak House by Charles Dickens (4/5)

Delights and Prejudices: A Memoir with Recipes by James Beard (5/5; reviewed here)

The Man Who Knew Too Much by G. K. Chesterton (3/5)

Dear Money by Martha McPhee (3.5/5)

Worth Dying For (Jack Reacher, No. 15) by Lee Child (3.5/5; reviewed here)

Tinkers by Paul Harding (2.5/5)

An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (Cordelia Gray, No. 1) by P. D. James (3.5/5)