Bill's Favorite Books of 2011

• 11/22/63 by Stephen King -- King at his best. In the vein of The Body (Stand By Me) and Shawshank.  King takes you back in time and makes it real and alive. A very compelling love story and some great Kennedy elements. There's also some It references for the hardcore King fans. Truly fantastic.
• Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand -- Truly the most interesting man in the world. He lived out 7 or 8 amazing lives, all wrapped in to one. You won't believe how quickly you'll devour this book.
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot -- Moving, amazing, funny, and sad. Should be required reading.
• Blood Red Road by Moira Young -- YA dystopian fiction with a Cormac McCarthy feel to it. Of course, I loved it.  Add a splash of Mad Max and his crazy Thunderdome, a sprinkling of a Hunger Games type badass female lead, and heavy dose of Cormac McCarthy in style and substance and you've got Blood Red Road. Good stuff.
• A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle -- One of the greatest books ever written.
• Lord of Chaos  (The Wheel of Time) by Robert Jordan -- The Wheel of Time books vary greatly in quality from book to book as the story ebbs and flows but this one is great start to finish and the last chapter is the stuff that really separates this series from the rest of the fantasy genre.
• Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand -- an amazing story. I felt like a shadow member of Seabiscuit's team. From the same author as Unbroken.
• Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy -- McCarthy's villain in this book (The Judge) makes Anton Chigurh from No Country for Old Men look like a softy. Terrifying. You'll feel hot, dusty, and tired the entire way. Not a likable character or setting to be found and still it will keep you turning the pages.
• World War Z by Max Brooks -- The first book of the year. It's not my normal style (zombies aren't my bag), and it's not literature, but it might be one of the funnest reads you'll ever lay your hands on. Good times.