As in previous years, I’m posting a list of books I’d like to read in the coming year. This year instead of just listing lots and lots of books, I’m going to try a different approach. From experience, I’ve learned that on average I can read 5 (print) books a month for a total of 60 in a year. This year I’m going to create 12 groups of 5 books each organized around a theme. The hope is that I will start a group of five at the beginning of each month but I doubt it will remain that orderly. In addition to these 60 books I will try to read my annual Abraham Lincoln Day Book, books for my book clubs, and listen to some audiobooks. I’ll probably read many books not listed here and not finish some on this list as I try to adhere to Nancy Pearl’s Rule of 50.
I’ll keep track of all the books I actually read in 2011 at the bottom of this page. You can also check out how I did the last couple of years on my Book Lists ‘08, Book Lists ’09 and Book Lists ’10 pages. Visit Library Thing to see every book I’ve ever read as well as my 100 favorite books of all time.
Books To Read in 2011
Around the World For A Good Book
- Algeria:Fantasia : An Algerian Cavalcade by Assia Djebar
- Colombia: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
- Denmark: Smilla’s Sense of Snow by Peter Høeg
- Israel: To the end of the land by David Grossman
- North Korea: The Aquariums of Pyongyang by Kang Chol-Hwan
Boston By Foot Research
- The Bone Garden by Tess Gerritsen
- The Crime of the Century by Stephanie Schorow
- The Pox and the Covenant by Tony Williams
- The Underboss by Gerard Neill
- Boston Riots by Jack Tager
Getting Around
- Bicycle Diaries by David Byrne (Commute By Bike review)
- Fighting Traffic by Peter D. Norton
- The Lost Art of Walking by Geoff Nicholson
- Pedaling Revolution by Jeff Mapes
- Waiting on a Train by James McCommons
Holdovers from 2010
- The Archaeology of Home by Katharine Greider
- The Big Short by Michael Lewis
- Boilerplate : history’s mechanical marvel by Paul Guinan
- Revolutionaries by Jack Rakove
- Sixty Feet, Six Inches by Bob Gibson & Reggie Jackson
Human Artifacts
- The Big Necessity by Rose George
- Culture Club: The Curious History of the Boston Athenaeum by Katherine Woldd
- The F-Word by Jesse Sheidlower
- A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage
- Rubbish! The Archaeology of Garbage by William Rathje
Kids These Days
- The Boneshaker by Kate Milford
- The Brightening Glance: Imagination and Childhood by Ellen Handler Spitz
- Get Out!: 150 Easy Ways for Kids & Grown-Ups to Get Into Nature and Build a Greener Future by Judy Molland
- Free Range Kids by Lenore Skenazy
- A Thousand Days of Wonder by Charles Fernyhough
The Personal is Political
- Cheesemonger: A Life on the Wedge by Gordon Edgar
- Feminism is for everybody by Bell Hooks
- How to Be an Explorer of the World: Portable Life Museum by Keri Smith
- Moral Clarity: A Guide for Grown-Up Idealists by Susan Neiman
- The Whites of Their Eyes by Jill Lepore
Rereading My 100 Favorite Books of All Time
- Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown
- The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
- Iron and Silk by Mark Salzman
- The Iowa Baseball Confederacy: A Novel W.P. Kinsella
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Scientific Perspective
- Cruisin’ the Fossil Freeway by Kirk Johnson
- Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
- How Music Works by John Powell
- The Thoreau You Don’t Know by Robert Sullivan
- The Tree: A Natural History of What Trees Are, How They Live, and Why They Matter by Colin Tudge
Soccer
- Beastly Fury by Robert Sanders
- Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics by Jonathan Wilson
- Once in a lifetime : the incredible story of the New York Cosmos by Gavin Newsham
- Soccer in a football world : the story of America’s forgotten game by David Wangerin
- Soccernomics by Simon Kuper and Stefan Syzmanksi
Spiritual and Religious Readings for Lent
- Ambassadors of Reconciliation by Ched Myers
The Human Poetry of Faith by Michael Paul Gallagher(could not locate)- Poverty of Spirit by Johannes B. Metz
- Tattoos on the Heart by Gregory Boyle
- Why you can disagree– and remain a faithful Catholic by Philip S. Kaufman
Published in 2011
- One of Our Thursdays is Missing by Jasper Fforde
- The Pun Also Rises by John Pollack
- Triumph of the City by Edward L. Glaeser
- Bossypants by Tina Fey
- Nerd Do Well by Simon Pegg
- Maphead by Ken Jennings
Lincoln Day Book
- Lincoln: The Biography of a Writer by Fred Kaplan
Book Club Books for 2011
January: Tinkers by Paul Harding
February: The Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
March: One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd by Jim Fergus
April: The Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole & One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd by Jim Fergus
May: The Bone Garden by Tess Gerritsen
June: Kate Vaiden by Reynolds Price
July: Kate Vaiden by Reynolds Price
August:No meeting
September: Consequences by Penelope Lively
October: Zeitoun by Dave Eggers
November: No meeting
December: The Professor and the Madman by Simon Wincheste
Audiobooks to Listen To in 2011
• At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson
• Atmospheric Disturbances by Rivka Galchen
• The Beekeeper’s Apprentice: Or On the Segregation of the Queen by Laurie R. King
• The big burn : Teddy Roosevelt and the fire that saved America by Timothy Egan
• This Book Is Overdue!: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All by Marilyn Johnson
• Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture by Ellen Ruppel Shell
• Dancing in the Dark: A Cultural History of the Great Depression by Morris Dickstein
• Dangerously funny by David Bianculli
• The Dead Hand by David E. Hoffman
• The fiery trial : Abraham Lincoln and American slavery by Eric Foner
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
• Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv
• Manhood for Amateurs: The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father, and Son by Michael Chabon
• The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam by Barbara W. Tuchman
• Proust Was a Neuroscientist by Jonah Lehrer
• Reset: How This Crisis Can Restore Our Values and Renew America by Kurt Andersen
• A Saint on Death Row: The Story of Dominique Green by Thomas Cahill
• Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend by Larry Tye
• Washington Rules: America’s Path to Permanent War by Andrew Bacevich
• Willie Mays : the life, the legend by James S. Hirsch
Books Read in 2011
January
- Tinkers by Paul Harding (A)
- Revolutionaries by Jack Rakove
- The Dead Hand by David E. Hoffman (A)
- The Big Short by Michael Lewis
- Atmospheric Disturbances by Rivka Galchen (A)
- Boilerplate : history’s mechanical marvel by Paul Guinan
February
- The Archaeology of Home by Katharine Greider
- The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (A)
- The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman
- Lincoln: The Biography of a Writer by Fred Kaplan
- Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery (A)
March
- The Far Side of the World by Patrick O’Brian (A)
- One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd by Jim Fergus
- Sixty Feet, Six Inches by Bob Gibson & Reggie Jackson
- Tattoos on the Heart by Gregory Boyle
April
- 23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism by Ha-Joon Chang
- Take Time For Paradise by A. Bartlett Giamatti
- Ambassadors of Reconciliation by Ched Myers
- Poverty of Spirit by Johannes B. Metz
- Why you can disagree– and remain a faithful Catholic by Philip S. Kaufman
- As It Was In The Beginning by Robert McClory
May
- Beastly Fury by Robert Sanders
- Soccer in a football world : the story of America’s forgotten game by David Wangerin
- Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics by Jonathan Wilson
- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (A)
- The Whites of Their Eyes by Jill Lepore
- The Bone Garden by Tess Gerritsen
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (A)
- Once in a lifetime : the incredible story of the New York Cosmos by Gavin Newsham
June
- Annoying: The Science of What Bugs Us by Joe Palca & Flora Lichtman (A)
- Soccernomics by Simon Kuper and Stefan Syzmanksi
- One of Our Thursdays is Missing by Jasper Fforde
- The Crime of the Century by Stephanie Schorow
- The Underboss by Gerard Neill
- Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (A)
July
- The Pox and the Covenant by Tony Williams
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
- The Beekeeper’s Apprentice: Or On the Segregation of the Queen by Laurie R. King (A)
- Taking the Field by Howard Megdal
- The F-Word by Jesse Sheidlower
- Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (A)
- Cruisin’ the Fossil Freeway by Kirk Johnson
- Proust Was a Neuroscientist by Jonah Lehrer (A)
August
- Kate Vaiden by Reynolds Price
- Selected Shorts: Lots of Laughs! by Symphony Space (A)
- Dangerously funny by David Bianculli (A)
- Buzz Aldrin, What Happened to You in All the Confusion by Johan Harstad
- Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson (A)
- Get Out!: 150 Easy Ways for Kids & Grown-Ups to Get Into Nature and Build a Greener Future by Judy Molland
- The Boneshaker by Kate Milford
- Bicycle Diaries by David Byrne
September
- Boston Riots by Jack Tager
- At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson (A)
- Consequences by Penelope Lively
- The Pun Also Rises by John Pollack
- Triumph of the City by Edward L. Glaeser
- Bossypants by Tina Fey
- Zeitoun by Dave Eggers
- Dancing in the Dark: A Cultural History of the Great Depression by Morris Dickstein (A)
- Nerd Do Well by Simon Pegg
December
- Maphead by Ken Jennings
- The Lost Art of Walking by Geoff Nicholson
Panorama of the Mountains 