Best of 2011 - Macmillan Library

The New Yorker’s Favorites from 2011

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Ali Fisher

The reviewers at The New Yorker have selected their favorites from 2011 in both fiction and nonfiction and we're proud to see so many of our titles on their list!

NONFICTION

THE ANATOMY OF A MOMENT by Javier Cercas, translated by Anne McLean
THE CHAIRS ARE WHERE THE PEOPLE GO by Misha Glouberman, with Sheila Heti
MOLOTOV'S MAGIC LANTERN by Rachel Polonsky
ADVENTURES IN ORGASMATRON by Christopher Turner

FICTION AND POETRY

TOUCH by Henri Cole
TRAIN DREAMS by Denis Johnson
LIFE ON MARS by Tracy K. Smith
COMING TO THAT by Dorothea Tanning

Read the full list from The New Yorker here.

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Kirkus Reviews’ Best Nonfiction of 2011:

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Ali Fisher

We've already seen Kirkus Reviews' Best Fiction of 2011 list. Well, now they're talking nonfiction and we're very excited to see so many excellent Macmillan titles on their list!

COURAGE BEYOND THE GAME
The Freddie Steinmark Story
By Jim Dent

DEEP FUTURE
The Next 100,000 Years of Life on Earth
By Curt Stager
"Essential reading."

ELECTRIC EDEN
Unearthing Britain's Visionary Music
By Rob Young
"A breathtakingly accomplished, entertaining and illuminating epic."

HALFWAY TO HOLLYWOOD
Diaries 1980-1988
By Michael Palin

THE ORIGINS OF POLITICAL ORDER
From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution
By Francis Fukuyama
"Endlessly interesting."

TIGER, TIGER
A Memoir
By Margaux Fragoso
"A gripping, tragic and unforgettable chronicle of lost innocence and abuse."

WE MEANT WELL
How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People
By Peter Van Buren
"One of the rare, completely satisfying results of the expensive debacle in Iraq."

See Kirkus Reviews' full list of Best Nonfiction of 2011 here!

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School Library Journal’s Best Books of 2011

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Ali Fisher

We're proud to see two of our SFF titles amongst School Library Journal's Best Books of 2011!

Best Books 2011: Fiction

GLOW
Amy Kathleen Ryan

"Weighty issues of power and leadership, compassion and religion fuel this high-stakes, jet-propelled dystopian space opera."

Best Adult Books 4 Teens

AMONG OTHERS
Jo Walton

"As she recovers from the confrontation with her mother that killed her twin sister, Mori keeps a journal permeated by a love of reading in this mesmerizing fantasy novel."

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The New York Times’ 10 Best Books of 2011

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Ali Fisher

We've already seen The New York Times' 100 Notable Books of 2011 and now they've posted their top 10! We're proud to see two of our enlightening nonfiction tites on the list:

THE BOY IN THE MOON
A Father’s Journey to Understand His Extraordinary Son.
Ian Brown

"Brown combines a reporter’s curiosity with a novelist’s instinctive feel for the unknowable in this exquisite book"

Read an excerpt here.

THINKING, FAST AND SLOW
Daniel Kahneman

"In this comprehensive presentation of a life’s work, the world’s most influential psychologist demonstrates that irrationality is in our bones, and we are not necessarily the worse for it."

Read an excerpt here.

Also, did you see this absurdly awesome suit jacket that they made out of the top ten book jackets? Seems like it might wrinkle easily, though.

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The New York Times’ 100 Notable Books of 2011:

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Ali Fisher

The New York Times has weighed in with their list of 100 Notable Books of 2011 and there are quite a few excellent Macmillan reads in both the fiction and nonfiction sections:

Fiction & Poetry:

THE BARBARIAN NURSERIES by Héctor Tobar
BIG QUESTIONS by Anders Brekhus Nilsen
CANTI by Giacomo Leopardi
THE FREE WORLD by David Bezmozgis
THE LEFTOVERS by Tom Perrotta
LIFE ON MARS by Tracy K. Smith
THE MARRIAGE PLOT by Jeffrey Eugenides
PARALLEL STORIES by Peter Nadas
THE SUBMISSION by Amy Waldman
TALLER WHEN PRONE: Poems by Les Murray
TRAIN DREAMS by Denis Johnson

Nonfiction:

AND SO IT GOES by Charles J. Shields
THE BOY IN THE MOON by Ian Brown
EXAMINED LIVES by James Miller
IS THAT A FISH IN YOUR EAR? by David Bellos
MIDNIGHT RISING by Tony Horwitz
ONE DAY I WILL WRITE ABOUT THIS PLACE by Binyavanga Wainaina
THE ORIGINS OF POLITICAL ORDER by Francis Fukuyama
PULPHEAD by John Jeremiah Sullivan
RIGHTS GONE WRONG by Richard Thompson Ford
THINKING, FAST AND SLOW by Daniel Kahneman
WHY THE WEST RULES—FOR NOW by Ian Morris

See The New York Times' full list of notable books here.

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Publishers Weekly’s Best Books 2011:

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Ali Fisher

Let's kick off a new week with a look at all of the excellent Macmillan titles from Publishers Weekly's Best Books from 2011.

Top 10:

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
One Day I Will Write About This Place by Binyavanga Wainaina

Mystery/Thriller:

A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny

Poetry:

Touch by Henri Cole
Life on Mars by Tracy K. Smith

Comics:

Hark! A Vagrant! by Kate Beaton
Big Questions by Anders Nilsen

Nonfiction:

One Day I Will Write About This Place by Binyavanga Wainaina
The Convert by Deborah Baker
The Anatomy of a Moment by Javier Cerca
The Beautiful and the Damned by Siddhartha Deb
Tiger, Tiger by Margaux Fragoso
A Book of Secrets by Michael Holroyd

See Publishers Weekly's full list of best books here.

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Library Journal’s Best Books 2011:

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Ali Fisher

And wrapping up our week of annual best books lists is Library Journal's Best Books of 2011! Here are all of the Macmillan titles you should check out (library pun totally intended):

The Top Ten

Midnight Rising by Tony Horwitz
Tides of War by Stella Tillyard

More of the Best

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
Pulphead: Essays by John Jeremiah Sullivan
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

Women's Fiction

Summer Rental by Mary Kay Andrews

Historical Fiction

Pacific Glory by P.T. Deutermann
The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin

Thrillers

You’re Next by Gregg Hurwitz
Strong at the Break by Jon Land

Excellent picks, Library Journal! If you readers want to see all of Library Journal's great picks from 2011, you can see their "best of" lists right here.

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Kirkus Reviews’ Best Fiction of 2011:

Posted on November 16, 2011 by Ali Fisher

As previously mentioned, we're in that magical time of year when we get our year-end "best of" lists and our to-read/holiday wish lists expand exponentially!

Today we're taking a look at Kirkus Reviews' excellent list of the Best Books of 2011 in fiction. There are quite a few Macmillan gems on this list (if I do say so myself!). But you don't have to take my word for it...

AMERICAN MASCULINE by Shann Ray
BACK OF BEYOND by C.J. Box
THE HUM AND THE SHIVER by Alex Bledsoe
THE LEFTOVERS by Tom Perrotta
THE KING OF DIAMONDS by Simon Tolkien
THE MARRIAGE PLOT by Jeffrey Eugenides
ORIENTATION AND OTHER STORIES by Daniel Orozco
NOW YOU SEE ME by S.J. Bolton
PARTITIONS by Amit Majmudar
RIZZO'S FIRE by Lou Manfredo
THE QUANTUM THIEF by Hannu Rajaniemi
SCHOLAR by L.E. Modesitt Jr.
THE SISTERS by Nancy Jensen
THE SLY COMPANY OF PEOPLE WHO CARE by Rahul Bhattacharya
SPELLBOUND by Blake Charlton
STEALING MONA LISA by Carson Morton
THE TRINITY SIX by Charles Cumming
THE SUBMISSION by Amy Waldman
WHEN THE SAINTS by Dave Duncan
WITH FATE CONSPIRE by Marie Brennan

Minotaur was very enthusiastic about this list!

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Amazon’s Best Books of 2011:

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Ali Fisher

It's that time of year again when we get the annual round-ups of top titles. Today we're highlighting Amazon's Best Books of 2011:

From the Top 20

THE MARRIAGE PLOT by Jeffrey Eugenides
THE LOVER'S DICTIONARY by David Levithan

(Fun fact: THE LOVER'S DICTIONARY was picked for both the Literature & Fiction category and the Quirky & Strange category!).

From the Top 100

THE SUBMISSION by Amy Waldmann
THINKING, FAST AND SLOW by Daniel Kahneman
ORIENTATION: AND OTHER STORIES by Daniel Orozco
RIVER OF SMOKE by Amitav Ghosh
PULPHEAD: ESSAYS by John Jeremiah Sullivan
MY KOREAN DELI by Ben Ryder Howe
ONWARD by Howard Schultz
THE LEFTOVERS by Tom Perrotta
HARK! A VAGRANT by Kate Beaton

UPDATE: In my rush to post this, I missed a few titles! All set now.

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Monday Fun Day! (11/14/2011 Edition)

Posted on November 14, 2011 by Ali Fisher

Happy Monday, librarian friends!

- School Library Journal highlighted ACROSS MANY MOUNTAINS in their Adult Books 4 Teens section. They said,

"The author illuminates the lives of refugees, for whom safety in India is coupled with poverty and hard work, as well as on-going efforts to bring the Tibetan cause to the attention of world leaders. This book will appeal to teens interested in Tibetan Buddhism, as well as student activists interested in the Free Tibet movement."

- SFF twitter users rejoice! Today (Monday 11/14) Brandon Sanderson (@BrandSanderson) will be chatting with Tor (@torbooks) on Twitter at 1PM EST and you're invited. Just use the hastag #TorChat and jump on in with questions!

- Major congratulations to author Esi Edugyan for winning Canada’s 2011 Giller Prize. Picador will publish HALF-BLOOD BLUES this coming February.

- Kirkus Reviews has posted their 2011 Best of Fiction and we are proud to see quite a few Macmillan gems on the list. Take a peek at their full list here.

- And finally, on your lunch break, check out Nancy Pearl's Book Lust interview with Jeffrey Eugenides! Video hosted here.

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NONFICTION

FICTION AND POETRY

Best Books 2011: Fiction

Best Adult Books 4 Teens

Fiction & Poetry:

Nonfiction:

Top 10:

Mystery/Thriller:

Poetry:

Comics:

Nonfiction:

The Top Ten

More of the Best

Mystery

SF/Fantasy

Street Lit

Women's Fiction

Historical Fiction

Thrillers

From the Top 20

From the Top 100