It’s that time of year…no, I don’t mean the holiday season. It’s the time of year for the “Best Books of the Year” lists. There’s Amazon, Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, among others, already weighing in with what their editors believe are the most important and enjoyable books published during 2011.
Here is a sampling of some of books that are already being considered as the most noteworthy of 2011:
The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht (fiction)
Struggling to understand why her beloved grandfather left his family to die alone in a field hospital far from home, a young doctor in a war-torn Balkan country takes over her grandfather’s search for a mythical ageless vagabond while referring to a worn copy of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book.
The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach (fiction)
A baseball star at a small college near Lake Michigan launches a routine throw that goes disastrously off course and inadvertently changes the lives of five people, including the college president, a gay teammate and the president’s daughter.
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami (fiction)
The year is 1984 and the city is Tokyo. A young woman named Aomame follows a taxi driver’s enigmatic suggestion and begins to notice puzzling discrepancies in the world around her. She has entered, she realizes, a parallel existence, which she calls 1Q84 —“Q is for ‘question mark.’ A world that bears a question.” Meanwhile, an aspiring writer named Tengo takes on a suspect ghostwriting project. He becomes so wrapped up with the work and its unusual author that, soon, his previously placid life begins to come unraveled.
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson (non-fiction)
Based on more than 40 interviews with Steve Jobs conducted over two years—as well as interviews with more than 100 family members, friends, adversaries, competitors and colleagues–the author offers a fascinating look at the co-founder and leading creative force behind the Apple computer company.
Blood, Bones and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton (non-fiction)
The chef of New York’s East Village Prune restaurant presents an account of her search for meaning and purpose in the central rural New Jersey home of her youth, marked by a first chicken kill, an international backpacking tour, and the opening of a first restaurant.
Don’t forget to look for the “Best Books of 2011″ display located on the main floor when visiting the library during December.
- posted by Sonia, Readers’ Services
Syosset owns many books in languages other than English. In the World Language Collection on the first floor we have a selection of books in Japanese on temporary loan. There are popular American titles such as 
…is the theme of our newest main floor display.
