Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Looking Forward: The Books of 2011

If you've visited my blog before, you probably know that I love making lists. I'm a sucker for a list of books. I love lists of books almost as much as I love books themselves. Yes, it's a neurosis, I know. But a fairly harmless one.

At the beginning of every year, I usually make a list of upcoming books that look interesting to me. Originally, I kept the lists in my reading journals, and in recent years I've started turning them into simple computer databases. Much easier to keep track of, and searchable! But this year I thought, why not just keep my list on my blog? Even more convenient.

So here's my list of new books to look out for in 2011. These are not, by any means, all the books that will be published in the US in 2011. They're just the ones I think sound interesting. Of course, I'll only be reading a tiny fraction of the titles on this list. But in a perfect world, a world in which I could read a book or two per day, this is what I'd be reading this year.
  • January

    Cecelia Ahern. The Book of Tomorrow (novel)
    Jennie Bentley. Mortar and Murder (cozy mystery)
    Elizabeth Buchan. Separate Beds (novel)
    Barbara D'Amato. Other Eyes (mystery)
    Sharon Fiffer. Backstage Stuff (a Jane Wheel mystery)
    Lee Goldberg. Mr. Monk on the Road (mystery)
    Detlef Hilmer, et al. Postcards of the Wiener Werkstatte (art history)
    Alice Hoffman. The Red Garden (novel)
    Jennifer Homans. Apollo's Angels: A History of Ballet (cultural history)
    Erin Kelly. The Poison Tree (novel)
    Michael Koryta. Cypress House (historical novel)
    Don Lattin. The Harvard Psychedelic Club (cultural history)
    Jane McLoughlin. Shadow of a Doubt (mystery)
    Brad Meltzer. The Inner Circle (thriller)
    Fern Michaels. Home Free (novel)
    J.J. Murphy. Murder Your Darlings (historical novel)
    Amy Myers. Murder on the Road (mystery)
    Joyce Carol Oates. Give Me Your Heart: Tales of Mystery and Suspense (short fiction)
    Leonard Pitt. Paris: A Journey Through Time (history, travel; reissue)
    James Rubart. Book of Days (novel)
    Kenneth Slawenski. J.D. Salinger: A Life (biography)
    Andrew Taylor. The Anatomy of Ghosts (historical mystery; read in January)
    Charles Todd. A Lonely Death (historical novel)
    Susan Vreeland. Clara and Mr. Tiffany (historical novel)
    Jill Paton Walsh. The Attenbury Emeralds (historical mystery)
    Jo Walton. Among Others (novel)

  • February

    Mark Alpert. The Omega Theory (thriller)
    Nancy Atherton. Aunt Dimity and the Family Tree (cozy mystery)
    M.C. Beaton. Death of a Chimney Sweep (a Hamish Macbeth mystery)
    Rene Belletto. Coda: A Novel (novel)
    Ben Bova. Leviathans of Jupiter (sci-fi)
    Kevin Brockmeier. The Illumination (novel)
    Joyce Dennys. Henrietta Sees It Through (epistolary novel)
    Theodor Fontane. Irretrievable (novel)
    Julia P. Gelardi. From Splendor to Revolution: The Romanov Women, 1847-1928 (history)
    Martha Grimes. Fadeaway Girl (mystery)
    Keigo Higashino. The Devotion of Suspect X (mystery)
    Rebecca Hunt. Mr. Chartwell (historical novel)
    Chris Knopf. Bad Bird (mystery)
    Amanda Lee (aka: Gayle Trent). Stitch Me Deadly (mystery)
    Sandor Marai. Portraits of a Marriage (novel)
    Craig McDonald. One True Sentence (historical mystery)
    Kate Mosse. The Winter Ghosts (historical novel)
    Joyce Carol Oates. A Widow's Story (memoir)
    Michael Palmer. A Heartbeat Away (thriller)
    Darwin Porter, Roy Moseley. Damn You, Scarlett O'Hara: The Private Lives of Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier (biography)
    Douglas Preston / Lincoln Child. Gideon's Sword (thriller)
    Jonathan Rabb. The Second Son (historical novel)
    David Rosenfelt. On Borrowed Time (thriller)
    Elena Mauli Shapiro. 13, rue Therese (historical novel)
    Mel Starr. A Trail of Ink (historical mystery)
    Barbara Steffen, ed. Vienna 1900 (art history)
    Elizabeth Stuckey-French. The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady (novel)
    Alexander Theroux. The Strange Case of Edward Gorey (biography; reissue)
    Dan Vyleta. The Quiet Twin (historical novel)

  • March

    Catherine Aird. Past Tense: A Sloan and Crosby Mystery (mystery)
    Kate Atkinson. Started Early, Took My Dog (detective novel)
    Jean M. Auel. The Land of Painted Caves (an Earth's Children novel)
    David Bezmozgis. The Free World (novel)
    C.J. Box. Cold Wind (a Joe Pickett novel)
    Alan Bradley. A Red Herring Without Mustard (historical novel)
    Chelsea Cain. The Night Season (mystery)
    C.S. Challinor. Murder on the Moor (a Rex Graves mystery)
    Jonathan Coe. The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim (novel)
    Charles Cumming. The Trinity Six (novel)
    Mary Daheim. The Alpine Vengeance (an Emma Lord mystery)
    E.L. Doctorow. All the Time in the World: New and Selected Stories (short fiction)
    Carola Dunn. Anthem for Doomed Youth: A Daisy Dalrymple Mystery (historical mystery)
    Paul Elwork. The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead (novel)
    Linda Fairstein. Silent Mercy (an Alex Cooper mystery)
    Joshua Foer. Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything (non-fiction; science)
    E.M. Forster. The Journals and Diaries of E.M. Forster (autobiography, travel)
    Lisa Gardner. Love You More (a D.D. Warren mystery)
    John Harding. Florence and Giles (historical novel)
    Mat Johnson. Pym (historical novel)
    Jonathan Kellerman. Mystery (an Alex Delaware mystery)
    Linda Francis Lee. Emily and Einstein (novel)
    Gail Levin. Lee Krasner: A Biography (biography)
    Elizabeth Loupas. The Second Duchess (historical mystery)
    Paula McLain. The Paris Wife (historical novel)
    Rae Meadows. Mothers and Daughters (novel)
    Ian Morson. Falconer and the Death of Kings (a William Falconer mystery)
    John Julius Norwich. Absolute Monarchs: A History of the Papacy (history)
    Tea Obreht. The Tiger's Wife (novel)
    Rohan O'Grady. Let's Kill Uncle (novel)
    S.J. Parris. Prophecy (historical novel)
    Georges Perec. The Art of Asking Your Boss for a Raise (novel)
    Thomas Pletzinger. Funeral for a Dog (novel)
    Michael Robertson. The Brothers of Baker Street (mystery)
    Luis M. Rocha. The Pope's Assassin (thriller)
    Anne Roiphe. Art and Madness: A Memoir of Lust Without Reason (memoir)
    Ann B. Ross. Miss Julia Rocks the Cradle (cozy mystery)
    Simon Tolkien. The King of Diamonds (historical mystery)
    Laura Wilson. An Empty Death (historical mystery)

  • April

    Chris Adrian. The Great Night (novel)
    David Albahari. Leeches (novel)
    Ella Barcelo. The Goldsmith's Secret (historical novel)
    Louis Bayard. The School of Night (historical novel)
    William Boyd. Nat Tate: An American Artist: 1928-1960 (fictional biography)
    Rita Mae Brown. Hiss of Death (Mrs Murphy mystery #19)
    Cassandra Clark. The Law of Angels (historical novel)
    Stuart Clark. The Sky's Dark Labyrinth (historical novel)
    Anna Dean. A Gentleman of Fortune. Or, the Suspicions of Miss Dido Kent (historical novel)
    P.C. Doherty. Nightshade (historical novel)
    Jessica Fletcher, Donald Bain. Murder, She Wrote: Skating on Thin Ice (mystery)
    Mary Gordon. The Love of My Youth (novel)
    James Hamiliton. Arthur Rackham: A Life with Illustration (art history; biography)
    Donna Leon. Drawing Conclusions (a Commissario Guido Brunetti mystery)
    David Lodge. A Man of Parts (historical novel)
    Debbie Macomber. A Turn in the Road (a Blossom Street novel)
    Wendy McClure. The Wilder Life (nonfiction)
    Chris Paling. Nimrod's Shadow (historical novel)
    Anne Perry. Treason at Lisson Grove (a Charlotte & Thomas Pitt mystery)
    Arthur Phillips. The Tragedy of Arthur (novel)
    Rebecca Rasmussen. The Bird Sisters (historical novel)
    Alexandra Styron. Reading My Father (memoir)
    Frank Tallis. Vienna Twilight (historical novel)
    Carol Wallace. Leaving Van Gogh (historical novel)
    Katherine Webb. The Unseen (historical novel)
    Meg Wolitzer. The Uncoupling (novel)

  • May

    Jeffrey Archer. Only Time Will Tell (historical novel)
    John Boyne. Noah Barleywater Runs Away (for young readers)
    Martin Davies. The Year After (historical novel)
    Essie Fox. The Somnambulist (historical novel)
    Tessa Hadley. The London Train (novel)
    Jane Harris. Gillespie and I (historical novel)
    Ursula Hegi. Children and Fire (historical novel)
    Dany LaFerriere. I Am a Japanese Writer (novel)
    Jo Nesbo. The Snowman (a Harry Hole mystery)
    Stefanie Pintoff. Secret of the White Rose (historical mystery)
    John Sandford. Buried Prey (a Lucas Davenport mystery)
    Lisa See. Dreams of Joy (novel)
    Lynn Sheene. The Last Time I Saw Paris (historical novel)
    Enrique Vila-Matas. Never Any End to Paris (novel)
    Katie Ward. Girl Reading (historical novel)
    Betty White. If You Ask Me (And Of Course You Won't) (memoirs)

  • June

    S.J. Bolton. Now You See Me (mystery)
    Kate Christensen. The Astral (novel)
    Clive Cussler, Grant Blackwood. The Kingdom (a Fargo adventure novel)
    Elizabeth Aston Edmondson. Stone and Shadows (historical novel)
    David Kaiser. How the Hippies Saved Physics: Science, Counterculture, and the Quantum Revival (nonfiction)
    Felix J. Palma. The Map of Time (novel)
    Ann Patchett. State of Wonder (novel)
    James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge. Now You See Her (thriller)
    Marcus Sakey. The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes (mystery novel)
    Earl Swift. The Big Roads: The Untold Story of the Engineers, Visionaries, and Trailblazers Who Created the American Superhighways (nonfiction)
    S.J. Watson. Before I Go to Sleep (novel)

  • July

    Catherine Coulter. Split Second (FBI series) (thriller)
    Barbara Delinsky. Escape (suspense novel)
    Barbara Erskine. Whispers in the Sand (historical novel)
    Cristina Garcia. Dreams of Significant Girls (YA novel)
    Tess Gerritsen. The Silent Girl (suspense novel)
    John Hart. Iron House (thriller)
    Gregory Murphy. Incognito (historical novel)
    Janet Reitman. Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion (nonfiction)
    Anne Rivers Siddons. Burnt Mountain (novel)
    Elizabeth Speller. The Return of Captain John Emmett (historical novel)
    Chevy Stevens. Never Knowing (suspense novel)
    Alexander Theroux. Estonia: A Ramble Through the Periphery (nonfiction)
    Nicola Upson. Two for Sorrow (historical novel)
    John Verdon. Shut Your Eyes Tight (thriller)
    Richard Zimler. The Warsaw Anagrams (historical novel)

  • August

    C.J. Box. Back of Beyond (thriller)
    Robert Olen Butler. A Small Hotel (novel)
    Edmund deWaal. The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance (nonfiction)
    Tess Gerritsen. Call After Midnight (suspense novel)
    Lev Grossman. The Magician King (novel)
    Michael Kazin. American Dreamers: How the Left Changed a Nation (nonfiction)
    Christobel Kent. A Murder in Tuscany (mystery novel)
    Louise Penny. A Trick of the Light (mystery novel; Chief Inspector Gamash series)
    Marisha Pessl. Night Film (novel)
    Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Cold Vengeance (thriller; Pendergast series #11)
    Helen Schulman. This Beautiful Life (novel)

  • September

    Haruki Murakami. 1Q84 (novel)

  • October

    Anne Enright. The Forgotten Waltz (novel)

  • November

    Joan Didion. Blue Nights (memoir)
    James Garner. The Garner Files (memoir)
    Michel Houellebecq. The Map and the Territory (novel)
    Diane Keaton. Then Again (memoir)

  • December

Sources:
About.com
Amazon.com
Book Browse
Bookmarks Magazine
Conversational Reading
The Cozy Mystery List
GoodReads
Historical Novel Society
Library Journal
Macmillan.com (U.S.)
The Millions.com: 2011 Book Preview
Murder, Mystery and Mayhem: A Resource for Readers
New York Times Book Reviews
The Penguin Publishing Group Online Catalogs
Shelf Awareness

2 comments:

  1. Smart Move! I had a list and some of them had notes about bloggers who recommended the book which I kept in a works database. Over a 1000 books!! My laptop crashed and I lost everything. At least I have all the books I've read for the last 2 years on my blog. Somewhere I do have a backup of my books I've read for before that. I'm just bummed out about my list as I too am a list lover. Have a good week and happy reading.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Man, this is quite a list! I really need to keep a similar one of my own.

    ReplyDelete

Welcome and thanks for leaving me a comment. I love to hear from visitors.

Also, please note that while I appreciate the thought, I don't play the blog awards game. I think you all deserve awards! But you might think about becoming a follower of my blog -- that would really be the best award.