Top Tens 2011


These are annual Top Tens from discerning ANZLL readers.

2011     2010     2009    2008     2007    2006    2005    2004

2011

ANZLL members post their Top Tens during the summer holidays, so this is a work in progress. (Last updated 5 Mar 2012)
NB Titles are not in any particular order, and the concept of ‘ten’ is flexible. We all know how hard it is to choose…

Reviews to many of these titles – especially the Australian ones – are on this blog: if the title has an asterisk, use either the categories list under WHO TO FIND HERE in the RH menu (drop-down at the top of the menu or the long list at the bottom of it)  to search by author’s name.

To find out more about the others, click the links to the online booksellers.  These sites usually feature a brief description of the book, and sometimes also reviews.

If you prefer to buy Australian, click on the title which links to Fishpond (free delivery within Australia but not overseas),  or click on the link to the Book Depository beside it (for free international delivery).   Book Depository links are usually to the cheapest edition; Fishpond links are to Australian editions when possible, which benefits local publishers.  (BTW sometimes Fishpond are noticeably cheaper than the BD since the BD put its prices up, and sometimes vice versa, so make sure you check both sites!) Where an online source couldn’t be found, ANZ LitLovers recommends Brotherhood Books for searchable second-hand and out-of-print books, profits to good causes.

NB Australian and New Zealand titles are in bold. (For our definition of ‘Australian’ and ‘New Zealand’ see the About page).

Lisa

I’m not posting my Top Ten until after the Shadow Man Asian Literary Prize has made its decision, but I am posting my Book of the Year now because nothing I read in 2011 will dislodge it from the top of my list.  It’s the book of the decade IMO:

That Deadman Dance * by Kim Scott (Book Depository).  See my review here.

Update (my belated Top Ten, posted here March 19, 2012)

Germinal by Emile Zola
Blindness by Jose Saramago
The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
If On a Winter’s Night, A Traveller by Italo Calvino
The Valley of Masks by Tarun J. Tejpal
The Good Muslim by Tahmina Anam
The Eye of the Storm by Patrick White
The Roving Party by Rohan WIlson
Merry-go-round in the Sea by Randolph Stow
The Book of Rachael by Leslie Cannold
Main Street by Sinclair Lewis 

Jenny

Chris

Lurline

Narelle

Rebecca

Kate

Moira

Sally R

Helen from NZ

Tania

Sally C

Carol

Amanda

A Question of Power by Bessie Head
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Five Bells by Gail JOnes
Lovesong by Alex Miller

More recommendations to come in due course!

Responses

  1. Some great books here – loved Dog boy too (but read it last year) and others here. Would like to read Unbroken. Hillebrand tells a good story.

    By: whisperinggums on December 27, 2011
    at 4:32 pm

    Reply

    • I reckon if you went back through these Top Tens for the past few years, you’d have enough good books to last a lifetime!

      By: Lisa Hill on December 27, 2011
      at 4:37 pm

      Reply


What do you think?

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out / Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 173 other followers