Goodreads users select the best books of 2011

Goodreads, a social network of sorts for readers, has announced its best books of the year according to a poll opened up to more than 6.5 million users. More than pretty much any other literary award, the Goodreads Choice Awards could be considered the People’s Choice Awards of books, since it’s a list decided by user recommendations and votes rather than critical reviews. Think of the books below as strong recommendations from a whole lot of your reader friends:

BEST BOOK OF 2011

Divergent by Veronica Roth

BEST FICTION

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

BEST NONFICTION

The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth by Alexandra Robbins

BEST MEMOIR AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Two Kisses for Maddy by Matthew Logelin

BEST PARANORMAL FANTASY

Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning

BEST TRAVEL AND OUTDOORS

Little Princes by Conor Grennan

BEST HISTORICAL FICTION

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

BEST FANTASY

A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin

BEST HUMOR

Bossypants by Tina Fey

BEST ROMANCE

Lover Unleashed by J.R. Ward

BEST MYSTERY AND THRILLER

Smokin’ Seventeen by Janet Evanovich

BEST HORROR

Graveminder by Melissa Marr

BEST SCIENCE FICTION

11/22/63 by Stephen King

BEST HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL

Vampire Academy: The Graphic Novel by Richelle Mead

BEST FOOD AND COOKING

My Father’s Daughter by Gwyneth Paltrow

BEST POETRY

Horoscopes for the Dead by Billy Collins

BEST YOUNG ADULT FICTION

Where She Went by Gayle Forman

BEST YOUNG ADULT FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION

Divergent by Veronica Roth

BEST MIDDLE GRADE AND CHILDREN’S

The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan

BEST PICTURE BOOK

When I Grow Up by Al Yankovic

BEST GOODREADS AUTHOR

Cassandra Clare, author of the Mortal Instruments series

Follow Stephan on Twitter.

Read more:

‘New York Times’ names 10 best books of 2011: Stephen King makes the cut

What were your favorite novels of 2011? Let’s discuss