What I Read in 2011
These are ranked in order of what I would recommend to a general audience.
You can see how I ranked them on Goodreads here.
I’d be curious to learn your favorite books from 2011 (comment below).
(These links are Amazon affiliate links, meaning that if you click the link to purchase, Amazon will give me a few cents but it doesn’t cost you any extra.)
- FreedomShift: 3 Choices to Reclaim America’s Destiny by Oliver DeMille
- Same Kind of Different as Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together by Ron Hall & Denver Moore
- L.I.F.E. Living Intentionally For Excellence by Chris Brady & Orrin Woodward
- The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
- The Help by Kathryn Stockett
- The Book Thief by Markus Zuzak
- Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life by Byron Katie
- Aspire!: Discovering Your Purpose Through the Power of Words by Kevin Hall
- Resolved: 13 Resolutions for LIFE by Orrin Woodward
- I Am the Messenger by Markus Zuzak
- Prentice Alvin (Tales of Alvin Maker, #3) by Orson Scott Card
- Alvin Journeyman (Tales of Alvin Maker, #4) by Orson Scott Card
- Heartfire (Tales of Alvin Maker, #5) by Orson Scott Card
- The Crystal City (Tales of Alvin Maker #6) by Orson Scott Card
- Do the Work by Steven Pressfield
- The Way of the Wild Heart: A Map for the Masculine Journey by John Eldredge
- What difference do it make? – Stories of Hope and Healing by Ron Hall & Denver Moore
- The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
- The Grace of Great Things: Creativity and Innovation by Robert Grudin
- Beyond Capitalism & Socialism: A New Statement of an Old Ideal edited by Tobias Lanz
- The Servile State by Hilaire Belloc
- The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick) by Seth Godin
- One Second After by William Forstchen
- The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea by Bob Burg
- Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
- The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell
- The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement by David Brooks
- What All The World’s A-Seeking The Vital Law of True Life, True Greatness Power and Happiness by Ralph Waldo Trine
- Story: Substance, Structure, Style and The Principles of Screenwriting by Robert McKee
- Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain by David Eagleman
- Out of Our Minds: Learning to Be Creative by Ken Robinson
- The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1) by Suzanne Collins
- Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2) by Suzanne Collins
- Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3) by Suzanne Collins
- There Is No Death: The Extraordinary True Experience by Sarah Lanelle Menet
- A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
- Dune (Dune Chronicles, #1) by Frank Herbert
- Foundation and Empire (Foundation, #2) by Isaac Asimov
- The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver
- Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver
- Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry
- The Art of Money Getting: Golden Rules for Making Money by P.T. Barnum
- Fire in the Soul: 100 poems for human rights edited by Dinyar Godrej
- Poem a Day Volume 3 edited by Retta Bowen
- Five Minds for the Future by Howard Gardner
- The Intentional Family: Simple Rituals to Strengthen Family Ties by William J. Doherty
- Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
- The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
- Room by Emma Donoghue
- The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of Oil, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First
- Century by James Howard Kunstler
- Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
- Unzipped: A Portable Guide to the Anatomy of the Female Customer by Michele Miller
- Fascinate: Unlocking the 7 Secret Triggers of Influence, Persuasion, and Captivation by Sally Hogshead
- The Copywriter’s Handbook: A Step-By-Step Guide To Writing Copy That Sells by Robert Bly
- The Zigzag Principle: The Goal Setting Strategy that will Revolutionize Your Business and Your Life by Rich Christiansen
- I Don’t Want to Talk About It by Terrence Real
- Sudden Fiction edited by Robert Shapard
- Call to Action: Secret Formulas to Improve Online Results by Bryan & Jeffrey Eisenberg
- Persuasive Online Copywriting: How to Take Your Words to the Bank by Bryan & Jeffrey Eisenberg
- Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability by Steve Krug
- Homepage Usability: 50 Websites Deconstructed by Jakob Nielsen
- Aristotle’s Poetics for Screenwriters: Storytelling Secrets From the Greatest Mind in Western Civilization by Michael Tierno
- Designing Web Usability by Jakob Nielsen
Wow, Steve. How do you find the time to read this much? I’ve ordered some of these and look forward to them.
I’ll echo James’ comment – that’s over a book a week!
My favorite reads from 2011 were:
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Unschooling Rules
The Social Animal
Wild at Heart
The Way of the Wild Heart
I Don’t Want to Talk About It
Beyond Capitalism and Socialism
The War of Art
I’m currently reading FreedomShift, with Uncommon Sense in the queue. And I just bought Same Kind of Different as Me – thanks for the tip.
Here’s my list of some of the books and papers I read last year. I have added some from your list to read this year.
The Great Conversation by Robert Maynard Hutchins
A Midsummer’s Night Dream by Shakespeare
The Law by Bastiat
Twelfth Night by Shakespeare
Kitchen Table Wisdom by Rachel Naomi Remen
Hamlet by Shakespeare
The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson
Fields of Home by Ralph Moody
A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller
Macbeth by Shakespeare
The Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare
Leadership and Self Deception by The Arbinger Institute
Apology by Plato
Drake: The Man they Called Pirate by Jean Lee Latham
The Anatomy of Peace by The Arbinger Institute
The Coming Aristocracy by Oliver DeMille
Mary Emma & Company by Ralph Moody
The 5,000 Year Leap by Skousen
Parenting a House United by Nicholeen Peck
Uncommon Sense by Stephen Palmer
The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis
Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson
The Student Whisperer by Oliver DeMille
How to Read a Book by Oliver DeMille
Do the Work by Stephen Pressfield
The War of Art by Stephen Pressfield
A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink
A Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass
Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey