This is my favorite time of the year, when all of the year-end “best of” lists come out.  Here are my five picks for the best fiction titles published in 2011:

The Cat’s Table
by Michael Ondaatje

Parentless children having seafaring adventures? Yes, please.  Also try Ondaatje’s memoir Running in the Family.

Nightwoods
by Charles Frazier

Try this if you like Night of the Hunter, the North Carolina mountains, or Dan Chaon.

In Zanesville
by Jo Ann Beard

A 1970’s childhood, perfectly rendered.

What Alice Forgot
by Liane Moriarty

This literary chick lit, reminiscent of It’s a Wonderful Life, is addictive and thought-provoking.

Rules of Civility
by Amor Towles

The life of a single girl in New York City in the 1930’s.

-Beth

2 Responses to “Best of 2011: Fiction”

1. Librarian Bryan says:

   December 15, 2011 at 1:10 pm

   I’m going to steer my book club in the direction of The Cat’s Table in the coming weeks. In Zanesville needs to be shoehorned into my reading sometime but I don’t know know if it can make the cut. I’m going to try though.

   Reply
2. L.C. says:

   January 5, 2012 at 11:04 am

   If Zanesville is all orange and pink mod sheet sets then
   Rules of Civility call to mind peach satin bed jackets
   and icey chrome bar sets.
   Both are wonderfully mezmerizing period piece reads whether you are lounging on a bean bag chair or reclining on the penthouse chaise lounge.

   Reply