While I would definitely say that the majority of the books that I read are young adult and middle grade, I still do sprinkle in the occasional adult book (one or two a month, on average). Therefore, in the process of compiling this list, while looking back on the books I read this year, I was happily surprised to find that 6 out of my top 10 reads of 2011 were actually adult books! A bumper crop! However, on second thought, this was not that surprising, as I feel that, with the exception of a few standout titles, a lot of the YA books that I read this year were fairly middle-of-the road. But here are my year’s best, a collection of spectacular books that stood out in their own ways:

10. Circle of Fire, by Michelle Zink (YA): I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Michelle Zink’s lush, gothic trilogy so far, the tale of two sisters and their fates to be both the ‘guardian’ and the ‘gate’ of an ancient prophecy. Circle of Fire was no exception. This trilogy manages to distinguish itself from other paranormal fiction in its stunning writing, strong supporting characters, and satisfactory, all-ends-wrapped up conclusion.

9. The Weird Sisters, by Eleanor Brown (Adult): When their mother is diagnosed with cancer, the now-adult Andreas sisters, Rose (Rosalind), Bean (Bianca), and Cordy (Cordelia), so named by their Shakespearean scholar father, return home to shoulder the physical and emotional load of the household. But more than their mother’s illness draws each woman home–Cordy, single and flighty, has just found out that she is pregnant; Bean has quit her high-powered job in New York City in the wake of a personal scandal; and Rose, forever the caretaker, is struggling to figure out how to move away from her family and into her new role as an engaged woman. Brown perfectly captures the unique personalities of each daughter, and the way their lives both revolve around and push away from each other. A lovely, heartfelt depiction of growth, pain, and family.

8. The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh (Adult): This novel shifts back and forth between two times in Victoria’s life: the present, as an eighteen-year-old woman, just aged out of the foster care/residential home system and learning how to navigate life on her own, and the past, when as a child, Victoria was fostered by a woman named Elizabeth on her vineyard, learning about the language of flowers and trying to trust for the first time. Though it has been years since her time with Elizabeth, this experience fully informs Victoria’s present, as a Elizabeth-related tragedy and betrayal are constantly hinted at throughout the novel and the language of flowers still permeates her life. In fact, Victoria lives her life by the rules of this language (thistle represents misanthropy, sunflower represents false riches, etc.), take a job as an assistant florist, and forms a relationship with a man with a link to Elizabeth. Victoria’s growth from a broken girl to a broken woman to someone who finally begins to heal herself and love others is gradual and believable and the narrative shifts are seamless. Diffenbaugh’s gorgeous prose is rendered even more beautiful on audio, as well. A great book for teens as well as adults.

7. Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner (Adult): Jennifer Weiner is one of my consistently favorite authors, and, in my opinion, her latest novel is her strongest since her debut, Good in Bed. Then Came You weaves together the strands of three different individuals, whose lives all revolve around the birth of one tiny baby. There is Jules, the college student who donated her eggs to earn the money to help her alcoholic father; Annie, the surrogate who hopes to earn enough money to help her financially struggling family, yet hurts her relationships in the process; and India, the 43 year old trophy wife who has escaped her ignominious past and now hopes to find true happiness with her aging husband by having a baby. Weiner’s writing is sharp and incisive, the voice of each woman is unique and heartfelt, and the author is truly the master of capturing modern women, with all their desires, hopes, and insecurities.

6. What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen (YA): After Mclean’s parents’ divorce, she decides to live with her father, a restaurant consultant who moves from town to town rehabilitating failing restaurants. And at each new school Mclean attends, she changes herself–both her name and her personality–trying on various identities, since she herself is not quite sure who she is. But this latest town is different. For some reason, she told Dave, her next door neighbor in Lakeview, her real name. And now she is forced to be herself. This book is on the quiet side, but Dessen truly gets into the heart of Mclean; the reader truly feels her anger at her mother and her fear of opening up to her new friends. The supporting characters (especially Deb) are vivid and unique and the little details of daily life in Lakeview make this book truly feel homey and comfortable–exactly what Mclean was seeking all along.

5. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (Adult): A plain old FUN read. When the creator of the virtual world OASIS dies, leaving behind a contest for all of humanity (find the Easter Egg he has hidden in the game and win full ownership of the OASIS, along with billions of dollars), 18-year-old Wade Watts (avatar name: Parzival), along with millions of others, take up the gauntlet. But to win, they must master the 80’s pop culture references, video game, movie, and music knowledge that Halliday was so fond of and beat the evil corporation Innovative Online Industries to the final reward. Another adult novel that teens will thoroughly enjoy. Full review here.

4. Divergent by Veronica Roth (YA): In a world full of The Hunger Games knock-offs, Divergent is truly one of the only original, fully captivating dystopians I have read thus far, a book that kept me turning pages frantically. Beatrice (Tris) lives in a world divided into factions, each based on some aspect of the personality: Candor (honesty), Abnegation (selflessness), Dauntless (bravery), Amity (peacefulness), and Erudite (intelligence). At age sixteen, each person must take a test and choose which faction to spend their lives with. When Tris leaves her Abnegation family members for a life in Dauntless, she is catapulted into a series of challenges to complete her initiation into this seemingly brutal faction, on the way uncovering a plot that could destroy society as she knows it. A spectacularly entertaining book that has me eagerly anticipating the sequel.

3. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (Adult Nonfiction): This fascinating true story by Rebecca Skloot (read by me as an audiobook), made me

want to keep driving around for hours. Henrietta Lacks, a poor black woman who died of cervical cancer, now lives on as HeLa, the name given to her tumor cells, which, unbeknownst to either Henrietta or her family, were taken from her and became the precursor to many medical treatments throughout the years, from fertility to cloning to polio. Mixing Skloot’s modern day narrative of tracking down the history of the Lacks family with the life of Henrietta herself, this book was endlessly fascinating, covering issues of race relations, poverty (the Lacks descendants did not see any money from the use of Henrietta’s cells), medical ethics, and family relations. Reading more like a novel than a nonfiction text, this book kept me rapt. Amazing.

2. How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr (YA): When Jill McSweeney’s mother decides to adopt a baby, Jill doesn’t know how to react. Her father has only recently died, and Jill feels like he is being replaced, when he has even been grieved properly yet. But things get even worse when the baby’s pregnant mother, Mandy, comes to stay with them until the birth of the baby. Mandy, on the other hand, is just grateful to find a place where she feels cared for and at home, after a lifetime of a careless mother and her revolving string of boyfriends. Sara Zarr, a master of contemporary fiction, has written a stunning depiction of two girls who could not be more different, but who still manage to navigate their own unique place within this evolving definition of family. Each girl’s voice is distinct and precisely rendered, and their evolutions throughout the novel are thoroughly believable. My favorite of Sara Zarr’s yet.

1. Faith by Jennifer Haigh (Adult): Sheila McGann grew up in suburban Boston, the daughter of an uber-religious mother and the sister of two brothers, one, Mike, who grew up to be the typical suburban father, the other, Arthur, who grew up to be a Roman Catholic priest. But when Arthur is accused of pedophilia by a single mother he has befriended, Sheila, a single English professor who hasn’t been close to her family in years, sets out to investigate the circumstances of the event and to clear her protesting brother’s name. Jennifer Haigh’s writing is captivating and the plot pulls the reader along eagerly, as we are never quite sure what the truth is. While the subject matter of Faith sounds heavy and depressing, the resulting book itself is truly a stunning character study, of Sheila, of Arthur, and of Catholicism and family themselves. My favorite book of 2011.