BookJingle Blog

I have previously posted a link to a list of the best-selling books of 2011, as compiled by Nielsen. Today I am posting about the  best books of 2011, which sounds similar but is completely different. Best-selling books don’t always equal best books, and many bestselling books of the previous year were not recent or new books. Of course people have different opinions, so I have gathered a few lists compiled by the New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and the Washington Post to give a wide range of opinions.

New York Times Best Books of 2011

Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2011

Washington Post Best Books of 2011

It is interesting to note that the only two books to appear on both the bestselling books list I previously posted and a best book list are Tina Fey’s “Bossypants,” and “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson. Additionally, there is no one book that appears on all three of these lists, but the following books do appear on two of the lists:

“State of Wonder” — Ann Patchet (Publishers Weekly & Washington Post)
“Hemingway’s Boat” — Paul Hendrickson (Publisher’s Weekly & Washington Post)
“The Marriage Plot” — Jeffrey Eugenides (Publisher’s Weekly & New York Times)
“Arguably” — Christopher Hitchens (Publisher’s Weekly & New York Times)

If you are interested in reading more about the best books of 2011, the New York Times has a great article about the 100 most notable books of 2011 you can find here. Or you can just compile your own list. What, in your opinion, are the best books of 2011? I’ll think about that, and share my own list soon.