My Favorite Books Read in 2011

2011 is the year I re-discovered my passion for reading when I read "The Pact" by Jodi Picoult and fell in love. Over the course of 2011 I devoured as many of her books as possible and, using the library, branched out to other authors and genres. There were some duds, but there were also some fantastic books and I'll share my favorite, 5 star reads from this past year with you here.

• Songs Of The Humpback Whale. Jodi Picoult. A powerful novel portraying an emotionally charged marriage that changes course in one explosive moment.
• Sing You Home. Jodi Picoult. One miscarriage too many bought an end to Max and Zoe's marriage. But when she remarries she must battle Max over her decision to have a baby. Emotional and powerful.
• Salem Falls. Jodi Picoult. Jack, finding himself at the center of a modern-day witch-hunt, is forced to defend his innocence again. But will his secrets and lies condemn him? A haunting novel.
• House Rules. Jodi Picoult. A charged novel exploring a family as they question whether their teenage son, whose Asperger's syndrome traits present as guilt to the police, committed murder.
• Handle With Care. Jodi Picoult. Emotionally riveting and moving, this is an unforgettable novel about the fragility of life and the lengths we will go to to protect it.
• The Tenth Circle. Jodi Picoult. A powerful chronicle exploring the unbreakable bond between parent and child, and questions whether you can ever reinvent yourself in the course of a lifetime.
• The Pact. Jodi Picoult. A suicide pact between two friends who have been soul mates since birth tears the families apart when one lives and one dies. Devastating, tear-jerking and hugely powerful. A must-read.
• Nineteen Minutes. Jodi Picoult. This novel asks what it means to be different in our society, who has the right to judge someone else, and whether anyone is ever really who they seem to be.
• Before I Go To Sleep. S.J. Watson. Every day, Christine must begin the reconstruction of her past. The closer she gets to the truth, the more unbelievable it seems. A gripping psychological thriller.
• The Family Tree. Barbara Delinsky. When Dana Clarke's daughter is born, what should be the happiest day of her life turns out to be the moment her world falls apart. A tense exploration of family and roots.
• The Hour I First Believed. Wally Lamb. A novel exploring a teacher badly affected by the Columbine school shootings. She flees to an illusion of safety, but discovers some traumas are not so easily put right.
• While My Sister Sleeps. Barbara Delinsky. A moving and deeply satisfying novel exploring the unique and emotionally complex world of siblings. A masterful family portrait.
• The Midwife's Confession. Barbara Delinsky. An unfinished letter is all Noelle's friends have left to understand her suicide. A moving story of love, betrayal, compulsion and deceit.
• Angelica. Arthur Phillips. A spellbinding Victorian ghost story, an intriguing literary and psychological puzzle, and a meditation on marriage, childhood, memory and fear.
• The Story Sisters. Alice Hoffman. A novel charting the lives of three sisters - Elv, Claire and Meg. Each has a fate she must meet alone. A coming-of-age tale, family saga, and a love story of erotic longing.
• Not My Daughter. Barbara Delinsky. The emotional ties between mother and daughter are stretched to breaking point in this emotionally charged story of love and forgiveness. A powerful novel.
• The Resident. Francis Cottam. A chilling horror story based on the premise that "every year, three million single women in America move into an apartment for the first time. Few of them change the locks..."
• The Lovely Bones. Alice Sebold. The story of a family devastated by a gruesome murder - a murder recounted by the teenage victim. A compelling exploration of a fractured families need for closure.
• Madeleine: Our Daughter's Disappearance And The Continuing Search For Her. Kate McCann. Kate McCann's personal account of the agonizing search for her missing daughter.

A good year with lots of brilliant reads. And now I've discovered, or re-discovered, my passion for reading, I hope there'll be many more good ones in the years to come!