Top 10 Best Seller Books 2011

Keep up to date with the top 10 best selling list of books in 2011. Always know what book has become the most talked about, the most read, and usually, those books are the best of the bunch.

Everybody enjoys a good read, but it can be confusing knowing what books are good and which ones aren't. Books aren't cheap and you could spend a small fortune buying books that end up disappointing you.

Usually, the top 10 best selling books contain a mixed bag of reading matter. Not everybody wants to read a romance or a thriller. Indeed, some people prefer non fiction or diet books.

This list has a mixture, and among some of the gems below, you are sure to find a book you like. Whether you prefer to buy hardback or paperback, or even a Kindle edition, there is sure to a choice, just for you.

UK Readers Click here for Best Selling Books

Alone: A Novel of Suspense by Lisa Gardner

Described as Lisa Gardner's best book to date, its a thriller about a police sniper who shoots dead the husband of a woman who had called the police to protect herself and her son in a hostage situation. Fast paced and exciting, the book is filled with twist and turns. The dead man's parents are a judge and his wife who are convinced their son was shot because the policeman was having an affair with their daughter-in-law. The police sniper himself finds problems with her peers, and the main characters have suffered extreme childhood trauma which intertwines with the story as it unfolds.

This seems to be a love or hate book according to the reviewers through on Amazon.Several people complained about the over-use of expletives like 'Christ almighty' peppered throughout the book, so don't read if this offends you.

Protector by Laurel Dewey

Alcoholic and stressed out Homicide Detective Jane Perry finds herself being the only person young Emily Lawrence will confide in after the sudden death of her parents who are brutally murdered. With the little girl's life in danger, Jane finds herself having to put her own not inconsiderable problems on the back burner while she sets out to not only protect young Emily, but track down the murderers.

Action-packed, this book is a thoroughly enjoyable read despite its heavy use of crude street language which, to my mind, adds to the authenticity.

Tick Tock (Michael Bennett) by James Patterson

Suspense thriller where the book's hero, New York detective Michael Bennett pitches his wits against an ingenious mastermind who seeks to wreak havoc on city dwellers by carrying out a series of horrifying crimes.

Enlisting the help of his old friend, FBY agent Emily Parker, Michael Bennet sets about tracking down and bringing the killer to justice in a race against time.

Meanwhile his own family is put at risk...

Water for Elephants: A Novel by Sara Gruen

Delightful novel set largely during the Depression year after the First World War, but told from the reminiscences of 93 year old Jacob Jankowski as he languishes in his hated nursing home.

As a young man, finding himself penniless after the sudden death of his parents, Jacob drops out of veterinary college where his is about to sit his final exams, and joins a circus - The Flying Squadron of the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth.

Here he not unexpectedly finds himself drawn to taking care of the exotic animals who up until this point have not been well cared for.

The book describes the colorful nature of the circus characters, while weaving a tale that enriches the reader's life with well researched facts of what life was like in those years, with an illicit love story intertwined.

This is a must-read book which will leave the reader wanting more.

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

This fantastic book tells the amazing and true-life tale of Louie Zamperini, who was a gifted athlete in the 1930s who may have gone down in history as a world-record breaking runner, had not World war II started and caused the cancellation of the 1940 Olympics due to be held in Japan.

Instead, Louie joined the US Army Air Corps as part of the War Effort, and his plane was shot down in shark-infested waters in the Pacific Ocean in 1943.

An amazing voyage ensued which lasted an incredible 47 days, with just himself and his pilot, Russell Allen "Phil" Phillips, adrift in a life-raft in seas that were sometimes mountainous, sometimes quiet and flat, and always with the added danger of encircling sharks.

Finally they spotted land, but their nightmare was only just beginning, because when they reached the shore and what should have been salvation, they found them prisoners in a sadistic Japanese prison-of-war camp.

This book is unputdownable.

You Can't Stop Me by Max Allan Collins and Matthew Clemens

Small town sheriff J.C Harrow achieves fame when he captures a criminal intent on assassinating the president of the USA, and that same night goes home to find his wife and child murdered.

Six years later he hosts a TV reality show where with the help of viewers tip he tracks down criminals.

One psychopathic viewer who is desperate for attention decides to play a cat and mouse game with Harrow criminologist team, and so begins a horrific killing spree with the killer taunting Harrow through the TV show.

Fast-paced and action packed, this is one pychological thriller you will not want to put down.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

The last book in the Millennium Trilogy by the late Stieg Larsson, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest is sure not to disappoint. It is strongly recommended that you read the first two books The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl who Played with Fire first, if you haven't already.

Follow the exciting exploits of Lisbeth Salander, the brilliant but oddball computer hacker and disgraced newspaper journalist Mikael Blomkvist, in a at times terrifying quest for the truth.

This trilogy is sure to go down in history as one of the greatest crime thriller fiction works ever, so don't miss out on reading all three books. Due to the unfortunate demise of the author Stieg Larsson, there can never be a follow up to those books, nor is one needed as the finale shows.

Many readers felt that this third book in the trilogy was perhaps not as tightly written as the first two, and that it lacked the pace and action until the third part of the book where the action hotted up to reach its final conclusion, but it is worth remembering that these books were published after the author's death, and that perhaps he intended to edit this final book and never got the chance.

Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back by Todd Burpo, Sonja Burpo, Colton Burpo and Lynn Vincent

This wonderful book has been written by the Burpo family with help from New York Time's bestseller writer Lynn Vincent.

It really is a heart warming and strangely believable tale about a little boy who who had a near death experience when just 4 years old. 

It is actually the true story of one of the co-writer's, 11 year old Colton Burpo who along with his pastor parents have brought his story here.

Colton 'died' on the operating table and while doctor fought to save his life he floated above them watching them, before finding himself in Heaven.

There he met his unborn sister who had died before he was born and could have had no knowledge of, and his grandfather whom he had never met.

On his recovery, he related those tales to his parents along with an incredible amount of detail that he couldn't have known.

I strongly recommend this as reading matter whether you believe or not, because it is beautifully written and thoroughly enjoyable, as well as uplifting.