Read in 2011

Of the books I read in 2011, a few favorites, in publication order.

Fiction:

• Jim Thompson, The Getaway (1959). Scary and increasingly surreal. Arguably a dark fantasy novel.
• Stephen King (as Richard Bachman), The Long Walk (1979). Relentless. A lifetime ahead of The Hunger Games.
• Ted Chiang, The Lifecycle of Software Objects (2010). As with all Chiang's best work, it's not only moving but keeps you thinking for months after you put down the book.

Non-fiction:

• Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry, Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders (1974).  A spellbinding police procedural, courtroom drama, and personality study. 
• William R. Corliss, Science Frontiers: Some Anomalies and Curiosities of Nature (2 vols., 1994 and 2004). An annotated bibliography of thousands of eyebrow-raising articles in the scientific literature. Astonishment on every page.
• Ed Cray, Ramblin' Man: The Life and Times of Woody Guthrie (2004). Honest about the man's countless flaws, but awe-inspiring nonetheless.